For some reason, FA convos around here get really heated really quick. Let me just throw this out here. I am an independent student by both FAFSA and CSS standards but I recently talked to an Ivy league FA officer and discovered that not only do I have to pay a student contribution of 20% of all assets I will also have to pay 5% of all my assets for a parental contribution.
To be perfectly honest, I find that this to be very unfair. Even if it were only the 20% student contribution, it puts me in a position of being completely dependent on the college for housing. How am I to save for something like a housing deposit in addition to a summer work contribution in addition to having 25% of my assets taken each year?
I feel like this policy limits my ability to take advantage of internships and study abroad which may come at a significant up front price tag that I would be unable save up for with these policies.
I don’t think the information you received from the financial aid officer is correct. Call and speak to someone else higher up on the food chain.
You will be assessed ONE amount %age for your assets, not two different amounts.
You will have ONE family contribution calculated by each college.
This individual was the head of the financial aid department though and we met in person at the University.
At one point they did say they did not know the answer to my question but another issue I ran into too was the fact that as a student without adequate health insurance I will also have to purchase their health plan, which is about 3,000 dollars and only half of it at the very most could be covered with FA.
I’m really irritated in a lot of ways because I was recruited by a CBO and they told all of us not to worry about it, paying for college that is, because we were all so low income that any top school would take great care of us. After meeting with an FA officer I am in fact VERY worried about it because I have only just been documented and I have no one who could co-sign for a loan and no history whatsoever to apply for a loan with, were I to need it.
The answer is because you are an independent student for federal aid, does not necessarily make you an independent student for institutional aid (the college’s money). They can put whatever policies in place when it comes to giving out their money.
Dartmouth considers you an independent student if you meet the following:
At the end of the day, if you don’t like their policies, don’t attend their school.
This is not about Dartmouth specifically, and as stated above I qualify as an Independent for both FAFSA and CSS which are the two tools that almost every school I have interacted with uses to determine independence. This is interesting what you posted above though, at a local Dartmouth FA meeting one of my foster siblings was told that she would not be considered an independent even though the above listing would apply to her.
It would depend on her age when she was in foster care. She would also check the box on the FAFSA regarding foster care and they would automatically make her independent. Was she in court ordered foster care/ward of the court or was she in temporary guardianship (she would not be eligible if it was temporary guardianship). She will will have to go through the verification system where she would have to bring her court document, agency letters, etc.
She was actually put in Foster care under an abandonment clause, her parents literally left her and disappeared when she was 14. I honestly can’t say anything about what documents she may or may not of had.
So by FAFSA’s definition an adopted foster child is also independent?
There is an important distinction in the financial aid world. One can be considered independent for federal aid but not be considered independent for institutional aid. Schools may have any policies they want for awarding their own aid. That’s the way it is. I do have a huge problem with advisers who tell students not to worry about money when it comes to college, for this reason and many others.
This link contains links to state programs that help foster kids: https://www.tuition.io/blog/2014/01/from-foster-care-to-college-state-programs-help-at-risk-youth/. I suggest contacting the state organization, which may provide excellent advice and support. I live in Michigan, and I know that there are some colleges in our state that work very hard to assist foster kids. I would rather see a young person in a school that is committed to helping them succeed than at a name-brand school where they will rack up debt and perhaps lack the unique support services those who age out of the foster care system often need.
Thanks!
Again, while she can check the box on the FAfSA to what she thinks she is, she will have to submit paperwork to prove her situation or she will not automatically considered an independent student. Under the situation you stated, she will have a caseworker through the city/state children’s service agency or the foster care agency that she is a part of. In addition, if she attends public school, they will be able to see in their records that she is in foster care and her GC can advise her accordingly.
If she does not have paperwork to prove her status as a foster care student, then she will have to request a dependency override from the financial aid office at each school she is considering. Each school will have their own criteria for what she needs to submit.
As Kelsmom (who is a financial aid person) stated she needs to look to see it there is state agency help for students in foster care/at risk youth.
Do you have any assets? It’s not really a problem to pay 20% plus 5% of assets if you don’t have any. ‘Assets’ for FAFSA purposes will be calculated as of the date you file, so make sure you don’t have any assets on that day - pay your bills, stock up on groceries, buy your school books. Plan carefully to have little money in the bank on that day.
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not only do I have to pay a student contribution of 20% of all assets I will also have to pay 5% of all my assets for a parental contribution.
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What assets do you have???
Savings and Bonds
What I mean is, how much do you have in assets? A few thousand or $20,000+
between 5 and 6 k
Well, if you go to the school that is going to require you to pay 20% + 5% of assets as part of your family contribution, it will expect $1000-1500 of that savings. It may not seem fair to you, but that’s their policy. If you don’t like it, you can try a different school with a different policy.
Everyone thinks there is something unfair about it no matter what the schools do. Single parents don’t get the same tax benefits as married, but yet pay the same tuition. Self employed people think it is unfair that they don’t get credit for their business expenses. Those saving in retirement funds don’t think the current contributions should be added back in.
When I’m King, things will be different.
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between 5 and 6 k
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Well then, if you can time the filing of FAFSA and CSS, you may be able to “spend” that $5k on various essentials (rent, car repairs, groceries, light bill, new computer, etc), and then replenish the savings right after (thru a tax return or paycheck or whatever).
If you have 6k in assets, we are talking about $1500 (25%).
Why is it such a travesty to contribute $1500 toward your education when the lion’s share of the cost is going to be paid by others (tax payers, alumni, parents who are full freight payers and parents who are getting those annoying phone calls asking to contribute to the parents/grandparents fund for financial aid, while we are still paying to send our own kids to school)? At the end of the day, it is a blessing and no one is holding a gun to your head to make you attend a school where they are asking you to pay this $1500.
If my child only had to pay $1500 of a 60k education, I would be running to get it to them. I would work 8 jobs, get a paper route, sell cans, and lemonade to make it happen.
I am willing to be money that you can’t go to your local CC for $1500, while other school are going to have more than a $1500 gap because they don’t meet full need. Pick your poison .(rant over)
@sybbie719 1500 in assets of my yearly income of less than 12,000 a year is very significant, especially considering that I cannot touch most of my assets until I am 20 years old. 1500 dollars a year for you is clearly very different than 1500 dollars for me. You can get 8 jobs to pay these sorts of things, I can’t. I don’t have a support system and any money I make I make on my own while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. I have medical expenses that my insurance company refuses to cover, I have rent to pay, utilities to maintain, school supplies to purchase, the prospect of even paying the 15 dollars it costs to send my scores to a college weighs on my mind, yet you would imply that I am unreasonable for complaining about 1500?
Furthermore, that is far from the only cost. 1500 PLUS the mandatory 4500 students contribution plus the 1500 I expect to pay in health insurance (which is after the University pays half with FA) adds up to over half my yearly income and more than my total assets. This is not including the everyday cost of college attendance, the incidental costs I may acquire, any dental work I may need done, anytime my meal plan is maxed out, anytime I want to go on a school trip, study abroad, intern in another city, when my Cello bow needs re-haired, when I need new shoes and all of those little expenses in everything from toothbrushes to airfare.
It’s really great that for you 1500 seems perfectly reasonable but please be advised that to some of us, even if that were the ONLY cost, which it is not, it would still be very difficult for us to afford an education. I think it is unfair because it takes away any sense of financial security I could possibly have, not that I’m feeling too secure in my day to day life. College is hard enough as it is, let alone when you compound a low income student with fees that add up to over half their yearly income and tell them that in these matters there will be no exceptions.