College Financial Aid FAQ's: The Answers you Need Today!
College Financial Aid FAQ's: The Answers you Need Today!
College Financial Aid FAQs: The
Answers You Need Today!
Part One
The end of the school year is always a time when parents feel like a huge weight is being dropped on their shoulders. Whether your child is getting ready for the first year of college or the last year at high school, this is an important time for you. While your child focuses on studying, you have to worry about paying the college bills.
And applying for aid isnt easy. Youll have to complete a giant stack of forms. Youll have to keep an eye on your childs grades and exam results. And youll have to arrange all of your tax and money issues to make sure that you can afford the fees that the colleges demand.
Here are the six most important things that you must know as this school year comes to an end:
1. Is it too late to ask for funding?
While its certainly best to get your FAFSA and Financial Aid Profiles in as early as possible, not everyone manages to complete all their paperwork on time. By the time Spring rolls around in your childs senior year, if youve still got forms to fill out, it is still possible for you to get the help you need.
But dont delay another minute! You do need to get those forms in quickly. Its very likely that a large chunk of the available funds will already have been disbursed; you need to move now if youre going to get a piece of whats left. Any award can only help your situation, so make sure that you ask - if you dont ask, you wont get!
And theres another reason not to give up on applying this year: many colleges wont consider funding applications from parents who didnt apply for aid during their childs freshman year. If you dont send off your forms now, you could well find yourself cut out of college funding help for your childs entire college career.
If your child is a senior and your forms are still half-filled, you havent got a minute to lose.
Get those forms off today.
2. Do financial aid forms have to be filed every year for every child?
Many parents believe that once theyve completed their forms and received their answers, their work is done.
Theyre wrong.
Your financial situation can change from year to year. You could get a pay raise, a promotion or your business could pick up new clients that rocket your income. The financial aid administration is fully aware of this. Theyll want to see your financial situation before the start of every school year.
If youll be earning more money next year or if the value of your assets will have increased, thats bad news: youll end up with less need-based aid. Of course, its also possible that your future applications will bring you even more help than in the past.
Either way, its important to remember that the financial aid process doesnt stop at the beginning of the freshman year; it continues every year your child is in college.
3. Are there income limits for financial aid applications?
Financial aid comes in two forms: need-based aid and non-need based aid such as scholarships and merit-based aid. Obviously, high-earning families are unlikely to receive much, if any, need-based aid. But they can certainly get a share of the non-need based funds.
When the financial aid department allocates loans and scholarships, etc., they dont only look at income. They may, for example, take into account the extra expenses of having more than one child at college. They could even look at your age to see whether or not you qualify for additional help.
Its also possible to position your assets so that when your application is submitted you present your best financial front. In fact, if you take the correct action now, you might find that its possible to fund your childs education, pay off your mortgage, keep putting money away for your retirement and maintain your current lifestyleand do it all on a tax-favored basis. The Financial Aid Process can actually give some people an opportunity to do all of this. Most accountants have no idea how to put these things together, especially once you add in financial aid. Wed be happy to explain it to you.
Part two will cover the remaining three FAQs.
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