<p>Help me see the light on this…I am a widow (2 1/2 years ago) in her late 40’s making $16,000. My first child went to college with no financial assistance thanks to Fafsa, but I thought it might be because my youngest was earning SS. Fast forward two years, now both of them will be in college, no longer on SS, and received no help from Fafsa. No Pell, was told might qualify for Stafford, but not probable. EFC’s were $19,000 on each child. Why? Because I have $450,000 in life proceeds to get me through the rest of my life! I sold some stock options last year that inflated my salary. (Gross income now= $50,000) The stock sale was a necessity… to pay the mortgage and bills of course. It will be worse now that my kids no longer get SS. To top it off,my son also has high medical expenses. With two kids in college, I will go through my funds like water! Furthermore, I cannot send my youngest to just any school…he has diabetes and aspergers (a high functioning autism), so the school has to have strong disability supports. Both kids are smart, so I feel education is a good fit, not willing to tell either of them to stay home! Yet, I feel as though all my assets will be depleted in an attempt to get my kids through school (or at least by another $150,000 to $200,000). Why I am being penalized for PLANNING for the worst scenario…screw life insurance! Or am I just acting like I have a silver spoon in my mouth?</p>
<p>I would encourage you to speak to each financial aid office. This is why there are financial aid officers, because individual cases vary. You may be eligible for more help than you think. I certainly hope that turns out to be the case.</p>
<p>Well… you are not really being penalized for having life insurance. Without it you might be starving. </p>
<p>Please do call the college… they may be able to adjust things based on the stock options being a one-time income spike.</p>
<p>First…I am sorry to hear about the loss of your husband.</p>
<p>Your children may need to go to schools that they can commute to. They CAN take out student loans. You got misleading info. They may not get subsidized federal loans, but they CAN get unsub federal student loans. Even the child in school RIGHT NOW can get one for the CURRENT school year…if he applies using last year’s FAFSA app…and he applies very soon (before June 1st I think). So, that may help for next year’s costs. The kids would also get loans for next year, too. </p>
<p>I understand that your second son has special needs, but since he’s not going to be in high school anymore, it’s really not the taxpayers responsibility to pay for some kind of special needs college experience for him. Nor, is it the taxpayers responsibility to pay for a “sleep away” experience for either of your kids. </p>
<p>Even if you could get each EFC to be about $6k or so, you still wouldn’t qualify for free (Pell) federal aid. </p>
<p>what kind of schools did your kids apply to? Local state schools? far away state schools? private schools? </p>
<p>Do contact the schools to see if some adjustment can be made, but I doubt they’re going to ignore your large asset.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your comments. For a bit of information, my D is currently a sophomore at University of IL…approx. 3 hours from our home. She is studying to be an Occupational Therapist, U of IL is one of the top programs in the nation…she worked hard to get to this point; I do not think pulling her out of the program to attend the community college makes sense at this point. I am not asking for taxpayers to help with my youngest child to get a special needs college experience…he is very bright and high functioning in life. The problem with asperger students is that they need structure and certain schools do a better job than others. I am looking a local public schools, but need him to stay on campus because he cannot drive based on his present state of his diabetes. I plan to pay for his special needs services via fee based tutoring/help through my money…that has always been a given. I never, ever thought that I would get assistance with either child in terms of room and board…it really doesn’t work that way for anyone! I really thought that I would get a stafford loan that I would not need to pay until they got out of school…and maybe they could pay with their earnings. Furthermore, to cosign on a privately held bank loan…it would likely be declined based on my salary and that I am a widow (high risk for bankruptcy…probably because we pay for college!) I would have been better off if my spouse were still alive, a maxed out mortgage, two car loans, and a vacation home in Greece. I imagine the taxpayers enjoy paying for all of those people.</p>
<p>You might really get better aid from a private school that uses the CSS Profile.</p>
<p>^^Not necessarily. The CSS Profile EFC figure is generally higher than the FAFSA figure because it takes into account home equity, non-retirement investments accounts etc. If the OP’s life insurance is in the form of cash or bonds and equities that are not specifically labeled as retirement accounts, the CSS will assess it as available income for college, even if it’s really not. There was another thread in the financial aid forum recently about a widow who was in a similar position and discovered that the money she had counted on living on was considered fair game by a CSS school.</p>
<p>There might be some benefits at forgottendependents.com</p>
<p>And if the kids can get student loans, get them and pay them off after graduation. At least you are earning interest on your money while they are in school.</p>
<p>My mother ran into the same thing almost 30 years ago. She was 56 and had never worked a day in her life. She was told the same thing (except that she was also told to mortgage her house). At the time I had a brother in law school, one in med school, and one an undergrad. By the time I got to college most of the life insurance was gone (med school pretty much did it) and I got a call the end of my Junior year that she was now broke. I got a job and managed to graduate with no debt.</p>
<p>She is now 89 and has still never done anything more than volunteer work. The doctor and lawyer paid her back for their school expenses and each continue to give her money beyond her SS. She has never gone without.</p>
<p>So, maybe your children can pay back part of their college costs. Your D should be able to get a part time job to help out with expenses. It sounds like your son may need to stay at home, so that will cut down on a lot of the college cost. If your in your late 40’s maybe you can get a better paying job that you can build into a career. You might find you’ll need something to keep you busy once your children have left the home.</p>
<p>Good luck, I am sorry for your loss and you having to deal with this difficult situation.</p>
<p>qbq, I don’t have answers, and I wish I did. I just want to say that I am sorry for your loss. I want to wish you and your children well.</p>
<p>UIC financial aid department has a form for extenuating circumstances. Just call them, and they will send it. I used it and the EFC was adjusted.<br>
If she makes it into UIC’s OT program, she’ll be considered to be an independent student. Unless, she is also going for a PhD, OTs are considered to be professional students. The only financial aid you qualify for is loans. It is a tough program to get admitted to. There are only 33 seats and over 300 applications per year.</p>
<p>Sorry for your loss. I am also widowed (almost 11 years) and have two children, my oldest starting college in 2012. After reading several very conflicting messages and posts about EFC and social security survivor income (which stops for each child upon reaching 18 or graduating high school, whichever comes later), I called FAFSA and spoke with a rep. I also asked the financial aid rep at the high school. They both said that Social Security Survivor income is “not” included as student income on the FAFSA. As it is untaxable on the income tax return, it does not need to be reported. This makes sense as the income stops before the child goes to college anyway. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, investment income (including benefit from life insurance) is accounted for when calculating the EFC. I understand your concern about going through funds like water. It does feel like a penalty for good planning, etc. (and I know people who save rather than spend feel the same). Basically, if you spend rather than save, you end up with a lower EFC and your child can qualify for more grants (like the Pell). Not really fair, but that is the way it works.</p>
<p>If you use your savings to pay for college, who is going to help you when you need it? In an effort to feel more secure, I am going to contribute the EFC amount and the rest will have to come from student loans, etc. My hope is that the current economic situation will improve and that my investments (or my job income) will grow to a point where I can help my kids pay back the student loans later. After talking with a few different investment advisers and also listening to Suzie Orman on this topic, they also recommend not depleting your own security to pay for college. If you are in a position later to help out the kids, you can certainly do that.</p>