<p>My mom is a single mom who has to support my sister (21) her baby and me. We have no support from my father. My friends say she makes way to much and FASFA will reject me. Im a senior in high school. What is a income that would be eligible?</p>
<p>For a family of 4 with an income of $30,000 the EFC would be $7,000 according to the calculator I found- so to get a PELL grant, income would probably have to be less than that, because EFC to get PELL is $5,273.</p>
<p>Your Mom’s income is too high for you to be eligible for the Pell (unless there were several in school at the same time). However FAFSA does not “reject” people. You still need to file it to be eligible for federal student loans and any aid your school may offer.</p>
<p>There is not a particular income that would be low enough for the pell as many other factors also impact the EFC - family size, number of students in college etc. But the EFC for any Pell grant eligibility is around 5200 which requires a fairly low income (or multiple students in college at the same time).</p>
<p>My sister is in college but I guess that wont make a difference to FASFA but thanks anyway</p>
<p>Your sister with a child is in college? Did she fill out her own FAFSA?</p>
<p>FAFSA is an application to be eligible for federal grants and federal loans. As is mentioned above, you cannot be “rejected” by FAFSA. However, if your EFC is higher than the eligibility standard you will not be eligible for Federal grants, only loans. As a freshman you will be eligible for a $5500 Federal loan in your name. Some states that have grant and loan programs also use the FAFSA to determine eligibility for those loans and grants. Colleges themselves may also use the FAFSA EFC to determine eligibility for need based aid from the school. Most colleges do not meet full need, and many schools that do meet full need will also require their own form of the CSS profile which often ask for evan more specific information than the FAFSA.</p>
<p>It cannot hurt to fill out the FAFSA. At the very least doing so will make you eligible to take out the Stafford loan. </p>
<p>You may also want to look into schools with guaranteed merit aid for your stats. What are your academic stats?</p>
<p>mom2…the sister would need to fill out a FAFSA but is not eligible to be independent because she does not support her dependent child.</p>
<p>Even with the sister in college, the income is too high to be Pell eligible.</p>
<p>thanks everyone my sister fills out her own fasfa using her income since she works and files taxes. I will talk to my mom about it but thank you for the info</p>
<p>I fliled it out yesterday but the baby was just born so it wont make a difference.</p>
<p>Even if the baby wasn’t born until 2012, he/she is still counted as a dependent on the Fafsa. Even if the child wasn’t born yet, a baby who will be born in 2012 and will be a dependent is counted for the 2012-2013 Fafsa, even though the child was not listed as a dependent on the 2011 tax returns.</p>
<p>It sounds like the sister did file as an independent and counted the unborn child. The mom may be counting the sister on her taxes, but it sounds like the sister did file as an independent using her own income.</p>
<p>If so, I don’t see how this student can include her sister on her FAFSA. It doesn’t seem right for a student (and her baby) to essentially get counted twice…once on her own FAFSA (independent) and then again as a sibling in school and larger household. If that’s ok to do, then the system is screwy.</p>
<p>If the sister receives federal assistance and child support from the father that totals more than 50% of the amount required for the child’s needs, the sister can be independent and be a household of 2. However, in that case, the grandmother cannot claim the baby in HER household … because the only reason mom is independent is because she says SHE is supporting the child at least 50%.</p>
<p>My sister is not on my mom’s taxes she just lives with us.</p>
<p>That is different from your first post: “My mom is a single mom who has to support my sister (21) her baby and me.” Just sayin’…</p>
<p>Well she has to pay bills etc sorry for the confusion</p>
<p>It sounds like your mom is NOT supporting your sister or the baby. Kelsmom will correct me if I’m wrong…but if your sister is supporting her little babe, the sister is independent for financial aid purposes. If the sister is paying her own way…then she cannot be counted on the little sister’s FAFSA, and neither can her baby be counted in the household number.</p>
<p>So…it would be a single mom with ONE child…a household of two, not four.</p>
<p>Well either way- I think we can agree she won’t qualify for a Pell grant.</p>
<p>I agree, household of two. And defiinitely no Pell (although the sister may qualify herself).</p>
<p>Regardless, you are too rich.</p>
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<p>Exactly. What the OP is trying is say is that her mother has help provide for the expenses of the OP’s Sister and OP’s Sisters child. I am sure two more people in the household, especially baby with diapers and other expenses cost money to feed and house. </p>
<p>What Thumper1 is saying is that as far as the Govt is concerned, those expenses do not count. They are not going to give special consideration for the circumstances. </p>
<p>FAFSA as others have pointed out is a form that is an input to a calculator. When the calculator estimates your EFC, it will assume that the only person your mother is supporting is yourself.</p>