A lot of people ask about how to prepare for the FAFSA. Doing the FAFSA is a lot like doing your taxes. You can absolutely wait until April 15 to fill out your 1040, but you’ll probably save some money by thinking about your taxes in the fall and taking some steps before the end of the year to mitigate…
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If I were the betting type, I’d bet that the Asset Protection Allowance is the part of the FAFSA that gets the most attention. For this fall’s FAFSA, there’s a little bit of good news: It’s finally going up! This should be tempered by: Not by much! The Asset Protection Allowance is probably the strangest calculation in all of FAFSA…
Currently two tax credits exist to help defray higher education expenses, the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) and the Lifetime Learning Credit. Each is slightly different but for most families, the AOTC is the most beneficial. The maximum annual AOTC credit is $2,500 per student. Eligibility is limited to undergraduates who are enrolled at least half time for at least…
The FAFSA gets a lot of attention right around now, but it’s only one of two financial aid forms. The other is the CSS Profile, used primarily by private colleges and universities. The Profile differs from the FAFSA in several major respects:
The FAFSA offers a “Simplified Formula” that eliminates asset reporting for low-income families– those with household incomes below $50,000. There are some eligibility limitations, primarily designed to limit the Simplified Formula to those who truly have low incomes, not those who are able to manage or artificially reduce their incomes. In the past, in order to qualify for the Simplified…