The 2010-2011 FAFSA Worksheet has been out for a while now.  You can get a PDF copy here. Frankly, it’s simplicity concerns me.  Let me explain.

For years, most colleges and universities have relied upon the FAFSA for the needed information to determine not only a student’s eligibility for federal financial aid sources, but the state’s, and the college’s own money as well.  The feds in their attempts to make the financial aid system simpler have stripped the FAFSA down to such little information that it will be useless for the colleges and states.  What families can expect to see in response to the stripped down FAFSA are far more complex institutional forms, more state forms, and more colleges being forced to subscribe to the CSS Profile.

What we are about to see is another great example of the law of unintended consequences.

Tweet This Post

College Finances 101: Introduction to college funding and financial aid is now available for review.  This recording was made on the evening of December 8th, 2009 and covers the following:

• The college funding environment
• The college financial aid system
• Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
• FAFSA
• CSS Profile
• Financial Aid Priority Deadlines
• College Financial Track Records
• College Application Strategies
• College Financing
• Strategies and Tactics to Minimize College Costs and Increase College Financial Offers
• Negotiating the College Financial Award

This overview runs about 71 minutes. After you have finished watching, click the link below the video to request a PDF of the presentation be emailed to you.

Should you have any problems viewing the video, you may need to update your computer’s flash player.  You can do that at the Adobe website.

Webinar Response Form

Tweet This Post

When is a student supposed to file their FAFSA and other financial aid forms?  This is a question families are asking all across the country right now.  Their admission applications are pretty well done.  Now it’s on to the financial paperwork… but hold on a minute.  Many parents and students are jumping the gun.

The CSS Profile has been available to file for the coming school year since October.  This gives families plenty of time to complete what is arguably the most complex of all financial aid forms.  Only about 350 colleges want the Profile filed, so the large majority of families have nothing to do with this form.  But you better be sure and double check with the schools to which you have applied to make certain you haven’t overlooked it.

The 2010-11 FAFSA will not be available until January 2010 however, and this creates some confusion.  In their zeal to get on top of all the details, many students and families have completed the already available 2009-10 FAFSA thinking they were completing the right paperwork for the next college year.  I hate to tell you this, but you just wasted a good chunk of time and energy on a form that is useless to you.

If you are one of the unfortunate students or families that were confused by the FAFSA forms, you will have to wait until January 2010 and redo the new FAFSA.  There is no way for the schools to hold over or transfer your information.  A new FAFSA must be completed.

The good news is you will be much better prepared to complete the FAFSA than your neighbors will.

Tweet This Post

People often ask “what is the annual FAFSA or CSS Profile income limit that still allows my student to get college financial aid?”  This is a logical question, right?  The IRS uses all kinds of income limits for taxes.  Loan companies have income limits for borrowing money.  Colleges have grade point, ACT, or SAT limits for awarding money.  So what’s the income limit for getting college financial aid?

There is none.  There are no income limits for college financial aid.

College financial aid is a very complex calculation which utilizes student and parent income and assets, number of students in college, the cost of the college, amount of taxes paid, and a whole host of other information to determine what a student is eligible for.  There are no hard and fast rules that says one family will get $5,000, but the family making X number of dollars more will get nothing.  In fact, I have seen situations where a family with income around $70,000 per year received no financial help from a college, while a family making $200,000 received a pretty good chunk of money.  The money the student is awarded is dependent upon the unique factors of that student’s individual family.

Now there are some pieces of financial aid which have EFC (expected family contribution) limits attached to them such as Pell Grants, SEOG grants, and certain subsidized loans.  But EFC and income are not directly correlated.  There are also some individual colleges and universities which will have their own internal policies keyed to specific income levels, but these individual policies are not universal by any means.  For example, Harvard University will cover the total cost of college for student’s whose families make less than $60,000 per year.  But again, this is specific to Harvard.  Also, students whose families make more than $60,000 will be eligible for substantial amounts of financial help specific to their unique circumstances.

Do not get hung up on any kind of income limits.  Always complete the financial aid paperwork.  If you have heard about some income limit above which students don’t get any help, then your listening to useless rumor and inuendo.

Tweet This Post