Hello people - A moot point asking this question now that deadline for FAFSA for some colleges we are aiming for are DONE.
But just so I can feel bad even more , wanted to know if procrastinating on applying to FAFSA was a blunder !
We were pretty sure we wont be eligible for any need-based aid as both of us (parents) earn good here in CA. Hence we didnât bother to apply for FAFSA giving away ALL our info , just for them to say we are not eligible.
BUT ⊠we didnt consider the fact that we have two college-bound this year and hence the ballgame MAY be different for financial-aid . will that change eligibility of things?
I still fell some private colleges dont care about offering financial aid to you unless you have like 1 earning parent or you are one from among those with minority status. !
So , requesting parents of âtwinsâ to chime in here please.. that have âbeen there done thatâ with 2 earning parents and if they got financial aid for the fact that they are sending 2 to collegeâŠ
Iâm tagging our resident FA expert @kelsmom
My understanding is that the new FAFSA rules donât account for having multiple kids in college simultaneously. CSS (used by private schools) may handle it differently.
AFAIK, an applicantâs race doesnât factor into determining financial aid.
We have twins plus 3 more, in the past 11 years weâve had 1/2/3 in college at the same time (so before the fafsa change which eliminated the benefit of having more than 1 child in college at the same time). We have 3 in right now, so some of their federal loans are subsidized (with 1 or 2 theyâve been all unsubsidized). One income. If you are comfortable in CA you are most likely not leaving money on the table, we are not able to fully fund our kidsâ education here in NJ so they have loans, but no financial aid for us besides the federal loans every student qualifies for just for filling out fafsa.
We have 3 in college right now, one singleton and a set of twins. We are comfortable in TN and knew we wouldnât qualify for any financial aid, and we didnât, (we did fill out fafsa). The only thinkg we needed to fill it out for is the TN hope scholarship that our oldest son qualifies for through the state of TN since his grades meet the mark and he attends an in-state school. So we needed to do the FAFSA for that.
I think some schools may offer scholarships and they use the FAFSA applications to determine who gets those, but other than that, I REALLY donât think you are missing out on any financial aid.
All students who file FAFSA qualify for the federal direct student loans so you can still file FAFSA if either student wants to take out those loans. As others have said some of the loan could be subsidized, but you wonât know until you file. Total first year loan a student can take is $5.5K, $27K in total allowable for most students during undergrad. FAFSA deadline for the loan is June 30.
Plenty of two-earner families earn less in total than many one-earner families. As a former financial aid professional who worked at a large public university, I can tell you that lots of two-earner families have income low enough to qualify for a Pell grant. I think itâs important to point this out.
As far as minority status goes, financial aid is awarded without regard to minority status. At least until this particular point in time, some colleges do/did have endowed or privately funded scholarships to award for diversity - these funds are/were different from aid awarded from the schoolâs own funding (which is essentially a tuition discount).
If you would like your students to take out the federally funded Direct Loan, itâs NOT too late to file the FAFSA for that. Once they make a matriculation decision, just complete the FAFSA and submit to that college. You might need to contact the financial aid office to let them know your student is requesting the Direct Loan be givenâŠactually, the student can do that.
Yes, the student can actually file the FAFSA later in the year, should you decide you want them to take out a loan. Most schools will offer the loans in the student financial aid portal once they receive the studentâs FAFSA, and all steps required to borrow are typically able to be completed online.
You can still file FAFSA, right up until about 3 weeks before the end of the school year (so mid-April?) or even in the summer if that school considers the summer to be part of the prior school year.
My kidsâ schools (one public, one private) used the FAFSA to give grants and to qualify them as US citizens which was a requirement for some aid (or if not a citizen, a qualified non-citizen). Some schools have aid or scholarships that can only go to qualified students, and if your kid were to qualify for one, they might have to prove citizenship with a birth certificate, passport, certificate of citizenship, etc. before those funds could be released. The FAFSA can make this step easy.
Thank you so much for all your responses. I/kid is going to reach out to the college to know what our options are before we drop the college from our list , especially since there isnt even a merit scholarship extended.
, wanted to know if procrastinating on applying to FAFSA was a blunder !