If college is in the near but not immediate future and you want to estimate your family’s EFC, you can use the FAFSA4caster here to do so. But if you want a more accurate estimate and you have your tax documents handy, use the actual 2014-2015 FAFSA worksheet to do it. That is available here. Make sure you use the…
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(Is that alliteration or what?) Did you get an aid award that’s not what you’re hoping for? Recently the New York Times wrote about appealing financial aid awards. For the article, Ron Lieber sent a questionnaire to aid officers at some of the priciest private schools asking about their appeals process. Occidental College’s completed questionnaire is extremely helpful for understanding…
Divorced parents tend to have a number of questions about aid issues and college applications in general. Let’s start with the basics: Do both parents’ incomes count? And what about new spouses’? As is so often the case, the answer is different depending on the aid form. The FAFSA is simple so let’s start there. The FAFSA only counts the…
So you’ve calculated your EFC and are breathing a sigh of relief, telling yourself, “We can do this.” Hold on a second. “E” is “Expected,” not “maximum” or “guaranteed” or anything like that. There is no requirement that your school of choice meets your financial need, or if it does, that loans aren’t part of the aid package. That’s why…
If you are among those fortunate individuals whose parents want to help pay for their grandchild’s education, it’s worth figuring out the best way for them to do so in order to avoid the law of unintended consequences. In the college world, unintended consequences include losing financial aid as a result of a grandparent’s gift. First, you need to know…