The FAFSA is still a few months away, so now is a good time to familiarize yourself with it. I’ll go into more details on each element in the coming weeks; for now let’s get started with the big picture of how the FAFSA calculates your Student Aid Index. First and foremost, the FAFSA is not the tooth fairy. The…
The FAFSA now uses income from your tax return only. But “income” isn’t just your wages or your Adjusted Gross Income. It’s all the income on your tax return, whether you pay taxes on it or not. Good news: starting with the 2024-25 school year, the FAFSA no longer considers income that isn’t on your tax return, such as payroll…
Let’s assume that this year’s FAFSA is going to come out on Oct. 1 as scheduled. If you’re filing it this year, now is a great time to get a handle on it. I’ll provide additional details on more complicated assets in subsequent posts. What is and isn’t an asset on the FAFSA? Here’s a quick “is it or isn’t…
Let’s assume that this year’s FAFSA is going to come out on Oct. 1 as scheduled. If you’re filing it this year, now is a great time to get a handle on it. I’ll provide additional details on more complicated assets in subsequent posts. What is and isn’t an asset on the FAFSA? Here’s a quick “is it or isn’t…
Colleges offer two options for students to apply and get an acceptance answer early: Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA). Although both start with the same word, they’re quite different. What’s similar is that applications are due earlier, usually Nov. 1 or 15, and colleges respond earlier, typically by Dec. 15 or 31. Early Action simply means that the…