<p>hello–
Would appreciate feedback on the following:
Divorced. Have twins applying for college. Steady modestly-paying job. Back child support is now in low six figures.
Colleges may allow for multiple children impact, but also worried about my choices. For example, have spent uncomfortable amounts on life insurance --because if I go, my children have no other support. If I die,they can afford college! Is a letter with the finaid application the best way to go? Not trying to whine, but cannot afford any assumptions about how and why this is the situation. Does FAFSA allow attachments? Other thoughts or ideas?</p>
<p>FAFSA does not allow attachments. I’m not sure what you are asking. If you don’t RECEIVE the child support than it is not listed as a source of money on the FAFSA. I’m not an expert, but that would be my interpretation. If you do NOT get the money…why would it be on the FAFSA? Your income, whatever it is, WILL be on the FAFSA. </p>
<p>I have life insurance too…enough that it would pay for both of my kids to go to college in total for four full years (and they go to expensive private universities). I don’t think I pay $1500 a year for this coverage. Are you paying more than that? If so, I would check into term life insurance through one of your professional associations (if you are a member), through your own college alumni association, through your credit union (if you are a member) or through AAA which I think has some kind of term life insurance.</p>
<p>If you feel you have a “special circumstance” beyond the lack of child support, you can request consideration from the college for that. You would need to provide documentation that what is on the FAFSA does NOT reflect your income. I have to say…from what you’ve posted, that doesn’t sound like it’s the issue.</p>
<p>I don’t think life insurance premiums would be considered a “special circumstance”.</p>
<p>So…I’m confused…what is it that you want to know. Your income and assets will be reported on the FAFSA…nothing else (unless you DO receive money from the EX). I would suggest that your kids apply to FAFSA only schools that do not require the non-custodial parent info.</p>
<p>Thank you.
One of the online calculators indicated my contribution for one child would be in the 20K range.Just wondered what I was missing and what justification might be required for additional help.</p>
<p>You can ask for what is known as professional judgment after your kids are accepted. You submit proof of your exceptional expenses and ask the school to consider them in reevaluating your family’s need.</p>
<p>Most people are shocked by their EFC. If you have home equity most private colleges will expect you to draw on it which is often the source of the surprise. You can also ask for a waiver for the colleges using your ex husband’s income and assets to calculate EFC if he is not paying child support.</p>
<p>creole—did you indicate on the calculator that you would have two college students attending college same year. this has a significant impact in reducing EFC—estimated family contribution. </p>
<p>and of course if you aren’t receiving child support then that isn’t included on FAFSA–and if applying to only colleges requiring the FAFSA you only include your information as the custodial parent. whatever expenses, like life insurance would have reduced your assets, savings and investments that are listed on FAFSA. good luck…</p>
<p>Creole, I did not find the online calculators to be very accurate. Don’t know if they’re not updated for the 09/10 changes or if it’s because I’m a single parent too. Since it sounds like you have 'til December 31 to make changes that would benefit their EFC, I’d recommend doing a paper FAFSA as it’ll give you a much better idea of what’s going on and how it works. There’s a link to the formula guide and worksheets (just use the ones marked A) here:
<a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/111408EFCFormulaGuide0910.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/111408EFCFormulaGuide0910.pdf</a></p>
<p>I’d also recommend a book called “Paying For College Without Going Broke”, which is updated every year.</p>
<p>If EACH of the twins has a $20,000 EFC (assuming you indicated that you would have TWO students in college at the same time)…your total EFC is about $40K which would indicate an income of at least of well over $100,000 a year…either that or very significant assets (bank accounts, a second home…something). If that is the case, that IS likely close to your EFC. The FAFSA (and other finaid forms) do not take your consumer spending into consideration and that would include life insurance. LOTS of us have life insurance for ourselves…just like we have health insurance, utility bills, and either a mortgage or rent. These are debts and are not factored into the financial aid equation.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that the EFC is the MINIMUM you will be expected to pay, not the maximum. Many schools do not meet full need and your actual out of pocket expenses will not match your EFC.</p>
<p>I would suggest you recheck your figures to make sure you indicated that TWO students will be in college (if that is the case). Then what you REALLY need to do is figure out what you can reasonably contribute to your kids’ college educations annually REGARDLESS of what the EFC says. </p>
<p>When we had two kids in college, one had an EFC of $20,000 or so, but our actual out of pocket expense was more like $35,000.</p>
<p>Also, you need to look at options for your kiddos. If they are highly competitive for college admissions, look for schools where they would be at the top of the admissions pool and might qualify for merit aid. Momintexas (or something like that…someone here will know the exact screenname) did a great search for schools where he kids could get substantial merit aid…full rides in fact (or close to it). Search for her posts (once someone tells you if I have that screenname correct). Her search would be a helpful place for you to start.</p>
<p>I agree with these posts except for one item. Most private colleges do not assess your home equity. Those private colleges which utilize the CSS Profile will assess your home equity, but this is a long way from most.</p>
<p>Agreed for FAFSA…home equity on your PRIMARY residence is NOT considered an asset. BUT home equity on a second home or any other real estate IS an asset.</p>
<p>Here are the links to momfromtexas’s threads:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>I’d recommend reading the update thread first!</p>
<p>What private colleges don’t use Profile or their own IM?</p>
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<p>Things used for additional help would be reduction or loss of income, or high medical expenses. To be honest, I can’t think of anything else.</p>
<p>If your FAFSA EFC is based on what is really accurate in terms of income and assets, the college would not have any basis for giving additional money UNLESS your income was reduced or lost…or you had extensive medical expenses.</p>
<p>hmom5…University of San Diego is a private college. It uses the FAFSA only, and a very short financial aid questionnaire from the college. No Profile. Only about 300 schools use the Profile. There are thousands that don’t and many of those are private schools.</p>
<p>Creolecookie, FAFSA is just one step in determining where you stand in terms of getting financial aid for your kids for college. What FAFSA give you is your EFC per child. It does not give you any money. All the EFC does is determine eligibility for the PELL grant. The rest is determined by the individual colleges. </p>
<p>In order to be PELL eligible, your EFC has to be under ~$5K. That is government grant money. Depending on the college, state, program, being PELL eligible can also mean eligibility for other grants as well. But again, that can vary from college to college, state to state.</p>
<p>If your kids’ cost of attendance is greater than the EFC, subsidized Stafford loans are also available. Again, depending on the school and state, there can be other subsidized loans as well. In any case, each student will be eligible for $5500 in unsubsidized Stafford loans a piece. </p>
<p>EFC is determined largely by income. What you are owed is not going to be an issue for the upcoming year as it is determined by income as reported on the tax return for the previous full year. It can become an issue, when you do recover the amount owed in one big lump sum as it would distort your earnings for that year.</p>
<p>You cannot send an attachment with your FAFSA, but you can send letters to the college financial aid offices where your students apply to school. They are the ones who determine your aid, and they are allowed quite a bit of latitude in making determinations. </p>
<p>When you have kids applying to college and you know that they will need outside money, they should pick their schools accordingly. If you can see that you cannot afford what the colleges are going to expect you to pay after filling out some on line calculators, then you need to discuss the situation with your kids and start looking at other options such as schools likely to give your kids merit money, state schools, schools with low sticker prices, and commuting to college. Other options are ROTC, going part time, schools with unusual opportunities that can pay the way.</p>
<p>All of your responses have been helpful. I did indicate --for the online calculator --that I would have two children in college. That’s why I was totally stunned by the result. Kids are good students, so that will help. Apparently, also need sheer determination and grit, and prayer. And thanks for all the good explanations and information. I will work on all the options.</p>
<p>The Profile schools tend to be the private schools CCers are interested in. I do know some like NYU don’t use Profile, but it’s because they are not planning to meet need for most.</p>
<p>hnmom, we started a thread here asking if there were ANY schools using the FAFSA ONLY (no profile, no school finaid form) that met full need. No one seemed to be able to think of one.</p>
<p>But remember too, those FAFSA only schools include some fabulous public universities…many at instate costs for the residents…and some also have scholarship programs for instate students who attend. </p>
<p>In addition, many of the privates that don’t meet full need also award MERIT aid. Most of the schools that meet full need do not.</p>
<p>Chapman uses the FAFSA only and meets full need for all students. Adrian College is FAFSA-only and currently meets 100% of need for freshman and 98% for all undergrads. I’ve come across other colleges that are FAFSA-only and meet a percentage of need in the high 90’s. I’ve posted examples in previous discussions.</p>
<p>But it looks like these schools are not need-blind in admissions. Also, with some FAFSA-only schools that meet a high percentage of need, you have to watch out for the ratio of grants to self-help and check the average debt at graduation, which can be high.</p>
<p>I believe Chapman has its own finaid form also…in addition to the FAFSA (or at least it did the year MY kid applied).</p>
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I’ve been led to believe that most privates that don’t use Profile, do not meet 100%-need.</p>