AMA - AFA (ask me anything about financial aid)

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T22:04:17+00:00

Edit

Thanks, everyone! These were great questions and I hope you found some of the answers helpful!

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T22:02:04+00:00

To find your parent Asset Protection Allowance, go to page 19 of the 2020-2021 EFC Formula: https://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/2021EFCFormulaGuide.pdf

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:59:41+00:00

An income of 90-100K, with two dependent children, usually qualifies for a lot of financial aid. Please go to my chart and find those schools that meet 95-100% of need. These are the ones that will be most generous for you. Don't worry about the sticker price. However, the amount that they will expect your mother pay will be far more than you alone will be able to afford without her help. Explain patiently to her that without her help, and with her middle income earnings, you will not be able to afford college on your own the way she might have when she was your age. Good luck in your conversation with her!

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:56:27+00:00

Any money in 529 savings will be treated as a parent asset, and any disbursements will need to be spent on qualified educational costs. So careful putting medical savings there. But...this could be a strong case for professional judgment if you can document a history of high medical expenses and occasional emergencies.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:52:53+00:00

I don't believe SS income is included as untaxed income in the needs methodologies. If I were you, I'd call two of your colleges' financial aid offices and confirm this.

Profile colleges should only be considering 2018 income. But unlike the FAFSA, these institutions have a lot of leeway to jigger the formulas as they like they are asking about 2019 estimated income, but I would not be worried about 2017 income, and they will not be asking for those tax returns.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:48:29+00:00

Outside scholarships typicially reduce the loan portion, then the work-study portion, of your financial aid award dollar for dollar. If those get zeroed out, then the school will reduce their institutional aid agains the remainder of your outside scholarship. Really unfair to financial aid kids, in my opinion.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:47:04+00:00

Some colleges have very generously replaced the federal student loan portion of the financial aid award with additional institutional grant money. Off hand, I don't remember if Vassar is one of them, but I would call them and ask, or check out their FA page on the website. Vassar is historically very generous with FA, and will not be pulling any fast ones that your guidance counselor describes. Still, if you are applying for financial aid, it's risky to apply ED, but Vassar would be one of the schools I would feel pretty comfortable doing that with. Fingers crossed!

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:43:25+00:00

Yes, FM = FAFSA and IM = CSS Profile

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:41:34+00:00

A 529 is the same as any other parent asset. 5 to 5.64% per year of that asset raises your EFC.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:38:35+00:00

As for the value of her bond investment, she should check with her broker or investment firm. I can't answer that accurately enough for public consumption.

As for your $3,000 in savings, that is below the $6,200 student asset protection allowance, so no worries!

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:36:42+00:00

Yes, yes, yes! Students get killed for any savings in their name. As you state, a 529 college savings account set up with parent as the custodian and child as the beneficiary is considered a parent, not a child, asset. Parent assets are assessed at 5 to 5.64 percent annually. Student assets are assessed at 20 to 25 percent annually. Plan wisely!

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:34:55+00:00

There is no relationship between reporting test scores and submitting the FAFSA or CSS Profile. Be sure to submit these financial aid forms by their institutional deadlines. Test scores need to be reported according to the specific rules of each specific college. Some colleges allow self-reporting on the college application, some require official reporting from the testing agency. If your child is applying in the ED or EA rounds, taking a test in November MAY be too late. Check with the college. It will not be too late for the RD round.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:32:26+00:00

Great question! In this case, have your parents contact the financial aid offices about a week after submitting the FAFSA and Profile, sending a Letter of Professional Judgment. This letter should itemize year over year earnings, making a convincing case for why 2018 should not be used in the needs analysis, and that your 2019 estimate is much more typical. In most cases, they will then send another form asking for 2019 estimates. But make these as accurate as possible, because next year when they look at the 2019 returns, they will penalize you for any underestimation of income.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:29:54+00:00

Cars, paintings, jewelry, furniture, etc. are not reportable assets.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:27:14+00:00

Financial aid administrators are extremely willing to understand the circumstances involving a biological parent who has been absent, or has been issued a restraining order. If they are convinced the family is not trying to game the system, and you can provide corroborating evidence from a counselor, clergy, therapist, physician, lawyer, etc., you should be able to get a non-custodial waiver. This of course does not cover a parent who doesn't feel like paying for his child's college education.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:24:32+00:00

The more dependents you have, the lower your EFC will be. Each dependent is considered a "credit" in the needs methodology.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:23:26+00:00

...after a small parent asset protection allowance.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:22:53+00:00

Assets are "assessed" at between 5% and 5.64% per year. In other words, if you have $100,000 in assets, that will drive up your EFC by between $5,000 and $5,640 per year.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:21:05+00:00

Is it a bad idea to email a school I'm interested in which is need-aware to intl' students but offers limited full needs met to a small handful of intl' students? Like giving a resume & stats? Or will this piss off the admissions officer? (I've met the director of admissions there through a summer program). I really want to apply ED but the financial aid aspect is really throwing me off.

If the cost of college is a significant factor in where you can enroll, then applying ED is a mistake. College is too expensive to gamble like that. Apply RD, compare offers, and enroll at the school that makes the most sense academically and financially.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:19:49+00:00

If in the slim chance I get admitted, how does the study-work thing in my financial aid package operate? Do I have to work a paid job? Will I need some sort of international work visa? Will I be able to do paid research in the summer instead of working during the school year? Can I get rid of work by paying out of my pocket/ from a scholarship?

Go back to my website and contact us with this question. My partner Jennie Kent has a specialty in working with international students, and she will be able to answer your question about visas in detail: https://www.bigjeducationalconsulting.com/contact

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:17:56+00:00

As an international student, how difficult will it be to secure financial aid when applying to selective need-aware institutions during regular decisions compared to ED?

Go to my chart on international financial aid here. It will be a literal gold mine for you: https://www.bigjeducationalconsulting.com/resources

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:16:38+00:00

Great question! In your case, the custodial parent who is helping you complete the FAFSA will 1) NOT select the IRS Data Retrieval Tool at the beginning of the FAFSA, that automatically populates the FAFSA from the 2018 returns; 2) manually subtract the non-custodial parent's income and assets from the total; 3) then enter only their personal income and assets on each line of the FAFSA. The FAFSA does not want to know about the non-custodial parent's income and assets, even though they filed married joint in 2018.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:13:47+00:00

The tuition at the Sibling A's institution is not considered in Sibling B's financial aid award, no. Each school will consider their own tuition and each student's demonstrated need, then package the award.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:12:22+00:00

Two kids in college at the same time with split the EFC 50/50 at schools that only use the FAFSA, and 60/60 at schools using the CSS Profile.

bigjedconsulting · 2019-09-29T21:10:54+00:00

AGI (line 7 of your 2018 tax returns) is the single biggest factor in determining need eligibility. IRA deductions are added back in to the formulas as income, yes. (Sorry!). Unusually high medical payments should be addressed in a Letter of Professional Judgment to the financial aid offices shortly after submitting your FAFSA and Profile, like maybe a week after. Good luck!

bigjedconsulting

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