My Mom Is Pregnant...Update FAFSA?

[ready2go2]

<p>My mom announced that she is pregnant and will be having a baby in July. Should I update the total members in household on FAFSA? Or wait till she gives birth?</p>

[sylvan8798]

<p>Sounds like an episode of the Maury Show…I’d wait until after the delivery.</p>

[ready2go2]

<p>Alright, I’ll answer my own question.
You cannot make changes to household size after submitting the FAFSA and the CSS does not even allow you to make any changes at all…
Guess I’ll wait till next year.</p>

[CPUscientist3000]

<p>You can contact your colleges and let them know. </p>

<p>Especially since you’ll likely be incurring additional costs (more frequent doctor visits, any medication, etc)</p>

<p>And congrats!</p>

[mom2collegekids]

<p>Even if you hadn’t filed FAFSA yet, I don’t know if the baby would have to be born by a certain date to have been counted…like July 1st or something…but I could be wrong.</p>

[thumper1]

<p>The is “no certain date” but the baby does need to be born. If your mom had a baby january 10 and you submitted your FAFSA that day, the baby counts. </p>

<p>Your new sibling will be listed as a family member next year. Right now, you do NOT have an additional household member.</p>

[sybbie719]

<p>from Finaid.org and FAFSA</p>

<p>

Unlike most questions on the financial aid application, which focus on the base year, the questions about the number of people in the household and the number of family members in college are concerned with the award year. So if the mother is pregnant the unborn child counts toward the household size</p>

<p>[FinAid</a> | Financial Aid Applications | Maximizing Your Aid Eligibility](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/maximize.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/maximize.phtml)

</p>

<p>

Who is included in the student household size?</p>

<p>Your household size should include yourself, your spouse (if married) and children and other people (not your children or spouse) who will receive more than half of their support from you (and your spouse) between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013. You may also include any unborn children if they will be born during the school year.</p>

<p>[Who</a> is included in the student’s household size?](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fotw01d.htm]Who”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fotw01d.htm)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Since OP is filing the FAFSA for the 2012/13 school year which is from July 1, 2012 thru June 30, 2013, she should include her unborn sibling.</p>

[mom2collegekids]

<p>I don’t think the OP can change a filed fafsa for this</p>

[thumper1]

<p>Thanks Sybbie…is this a field that can be changed?</p>

<p>To the OP…you CAN update the Profile…you need to contact the schools to see how they want this done…they will tell you.</p>

[ready2go2]

<p>Thanks for the input everyone!
I attempted to make corrections to my family size, however FAFSA does not allow that particular field to be changed.</p>

<p>I guess I will just wait to get financial aid packages and will attempt to get more aid by calling each school that I was accepted to and will update them personally to “negotiate for more money”</p>

[thumper1]

<p>readytogo, you can and should contact the schools now. Tell them about the change in your household number. If this field cannot be changed on the FAFSA/Profile, the schools should be able to make that “adjustment” when they are computing your aid award…IF THEY KNOW about it. Give each school a call.</p>

[kelsmom]

<p>Yes, you can make a change to the number in household. You should not have any trouble updating the field on the FAFSA - it was never an issue in the past.</p>

[mom2collegekids]

<p>how many are in your family without counting the baby.</p>

<p>What is your EFC with the smaller family size.</p>

<p>Someone earlier said that once your family size is a certain number, additional members don’t change EFC. </p>

<p>What schools did you apply to?</p>

[njfootballmom]

<p>I don’t think many agencies will let you count your chickens before they are hatched. My Sis in Law was pregnant and trying to get her mortgage changed. They didn’t care when the baby was due and she had to fill out the forms with the current info. The baby had a SERIOUS impact on her situation, but that’s not the topic here…</p>

[romanigypsyeyes]

<p>^ But FAFSA does and that’s what counts here.</p>

[mom2collegekids]

<p>Last year my mother made 72,000 dollars a year but keep in mind that is for a family of 8 and one of which is already in college.</p>

<p>==============</p>

<p>From what someone posted in another thread (Kelsmom), large families aren’t going to see a drop in EFC when adding another household member. If that’s true, then going from 8 to 9 is not going to make much (if any) difference.</p>

[kelsmom]

<p>That is true.</p>

[CalmlyiChaotic]

<p>My husband was taking some college courses when we found out I was pregnant with my youngest son. The schools told us to go ahead and list him as a member of the household even though he wouldn’t be born until the following July.</p>

[ready2go2]

<p>Yes, my family size is 8 without the baby and my EFC is 3,051. I think I will leave it alone for now because when I use multiple calculators to see how much my EFC would drop for many of the schools, it is only a few hundred dollars. (I am applied to some very selective schools such as Swarthmore, Amherst, Rice, UPenn, Vanderbilt etc)</p>

[2collegewego]

<p>ready2go2, </p>

<p>First, congratulations!</p>

<p>Even though your EFC will not drop by much, I would inform colleges and tell them that you anticipate the following impact on your family’s financial situation:</p>

<ol>
<li>increased medical costs this year</li>
<li>possible decrease in mother’s earnings (if applicable, since your mom will have to take time off of work)</li>
<li>increased child care expenses (if your mom will be paying someone to watch the baby)</li>
</ol>