It “can” make a difference. And anyone telling others to check the free lunch box simply because they got free lunch without qualifying under the means test is giving incorrect information. If I were FSA, I would select for verification anyone whose income exceeds the income requirement (based on income & family size) who checks the box.
See this link: Federal Student Aid. This is the information one sees if they click on the information bubble next to “Free/reduced lunch” on the FAFSA, by the way … so anyone saying otherwise is ignoring the information available to them on the FAFSA form itself.
Note: Means tested benefits do not include benefits one received that were NOT means tested and/or would NOT have met the requirements of the means tested program.
But the underlying question would be, how does it make a difference? Is the SAI reduced? Are there questions that are skipped?
And I don’t have a dog in this fight, but many parents report being told by school administrators, state officials and FAFSA representatives (when they called in) to check yes.
There has also been discussion that the link you included was tweaked in the last few days to be more clear.
I think it will be interesting to follow how this shakes out.
I could be wrong, but putting down that you receive free/reduced lunch means that you don’t report assets, which definitely can affect SAI depending on the amount of assets.
It could potentially make a huge difference (thousands of dollars for one family, maybe billions in aggregate), since it could lead to assets not being counted in the determination, when perhaps they should be. To qualify for reduced lunch the family should be at or below 185% of FPL, while full Pell (for 2 parent family) is for at or below 175% of FPL (from a year earlier), so reduced lunch families would typically get at least partial Pell.
And that absolutely would make a big difference. What will be interesting are the tens of thousands of parents who were advised to check yes, and what if any ramifications will happen for doing so.
This could be the billion dollar question (no pun intended) - if a family checks yes for free lunch, and even though tax return is linked showing a high income, are assets (i.e. 529, checking and savings) not asked in the series of questions? Or even if the questions are asked and answered, is the data provided in those answers not included in the SAI computation?
My gut feeling is that a family with higher income than would make them eligible for a means tested benefit…will be selected at least by the college for verification. This is because income doesn’t align with a means tested benefit…and it has to to be a “yes”.
I can confirm, from playing in my FAFSA (which I don’t intend to submit) that I am allowed to skip asset questions when I check that I received free/reduced lunch. If I uncheck that box, I am asked asset questions. Whether or not that would make a difference in my SAI would depend on my assets.
And also your income. If your income is sufficiently high enough that you wouldn’t qualify for a Pell grant anyway…your assets or lack of same wouldn’t really have an impact on your aid.
For a family of 5, Pell phases out to zero at income about $72k (assuming other numbers are zero), and they get full Pell at $56822. The reduced lunch cutoffs are about $60k for 2022 and $65k for 2023. (And there’s another, almost redundant, $60k plus conditions cutoff for asst reporting.) So there is a specific segment of incomes where assets would make a difference.
I’m not sure how important this information is to anyone, but I just felt like geeking out.
Wow, I would have never thought to put yes to the free school lunch. Even though our school is free school lunch for everyone. I knew by income alone we wouldn’t qualify so of course I put no.
Hi all , have couple of questions please help me
We are parents non US citizens living in Canada since last 12 years, have SSN entered in the form field , we have 2 kids , my boy S27 studying in one of US school as international student and we are paying his fee as international fee , he don’t have SSN yet as just completed first semester
Our D28 is US citizen applied to US schools and on which we are filing FAFSA
On parent section at dependent field added number of dependents but their is nothing asking about my son information
How do they get my son info as we are contributor for him also
FYI : only one parent worked in US 14 years back
We are married couple filing taxes as family
Thanks
Quick question for all the expert moms: When the FAFSA pulls info from the IRS, which are they pulling? The numbers from my 1040 filing? Or the info my employer submitted to IRS via the W2?
Reason I’m asking is that I just realized I made a mistake in my tax return filing for 2022, and I haven’t filed a correction yet (was holding off due the new FAFSA launching, don’t want to make this any more complicated than it already is). The mistake I made was not including my 401K / IRA contributions in my 1040 form (but is shown on my W2).
So when FAFSA pulls from IRS, which numbers is it pulling?
Your son should be completing the FAFSA, and he should invite you as a contributor. Did you start the FAFSA as yourself, or did you respond to his invitation for you to be a contributor?
FAFSA pulls from your tax return. But if you made pretax contributions to your 401k, those don’t go on your tax return. I’m confused about what you did wrong.
