"Work-study is part of a financial aid award" - if you are not eligible for FA, you are NOT eligible for work-study. Why bother?
https://www.goalinvestor.com/insights/6-reasons-skipping-the-fafsa-can-cost-wealthy-families-thousands
6 Reasons Skipping the FAFSA Can Cost Wealthy Families Thousands
Don’t skip applying for college financial aid because you think you make too much money. Just about all families, even those earning six figures, can benefit by filling out the FAFSA.
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By Janet Stanton Burt
Higher-income parents of college-bound students sometimes don’t file the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, because they assume they make too much to qualify for tuition assistance. That can be an expensive mistake.
Check out these six reasons why just about every parent with a college-bound child should fill out the FAFSA:
1. The formula for determining financial aid is too complicated to accurately predict.Contrary to popular belief, there is no income cutoff used in the college aid calculator. Many factors besides income and assets can influence financial aid awards, including:
- The cost of the college your child will attend.
- Whether other siblings are in college.
- The age of the oldest parent.
Nearly 87% of students who applied for financial aid received some help paying for college, says Mark Kantrowitz, a college financing expert and senior vice president at Edvisors.com. As they say of the lottery, you have to play to win, or in this case, you have to fill out the FAFSA to see whether you qualify for aid.
2. A FAFSA is required to get institutional need-based aid from the school your child is attending.
Colleges are often more generous than Uncle Sam (that won’t surprise you if you went to a private college with a big endowment). According to the most recent data available from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (2011-2012), for full-time students at 4-year schools whose parents earn $106,000 or more per year:
- About 25% received institutional aid at public institutions.
- A whopping 72% received institutional aid at private, non-profit colleges.
- The average amount of institutional grants from those private colleges was $13,800.
3. You’ll forego non-need based loans.
If you want to get non-need based federal unsubsidized Stafford or parent PLUS loans (options even wealthiest families can use to help pay for college), you have to follow the federal government’s rules. Rule #1 is to fill out the FAFSA.
If you’re borrowing at all, these federal loans have the best interest rates and repayment terms, far preferable to private loans.
Sometimes loans are necessary to bridge the gap between what you’ve saved and what you need to pay for college. Still, every dollar you save is a dollar you don’t have to borrow. Let Goal Investor help you create a realistic savings plan.
4. No FAFSA, no state money.
Many states have ceilings for financial aid eligibility that are higher than federal benchmarks, or they provide grants and merit scholarships (money given for being above-average in academics, musical talent, leadership or other characteristics besides family income).
To get those state dollars, you have to fill out the FAFSA.
5. Your student won’t be eligible for a Work-Study job.
Many of the jobs on college campuses go to students with Federal Work-Study status, including jobs that are career- or community-service oriented.
Work-study is part of a financial aid award, which is based on FAFSA. So, if your student might like a part-time job during college, fill out the forms. Don’t worry that he’ll be forced to work. Your child doesn’t have to accept a Work-Study job just because he’s offered one.
6. You’ll have no safety net if family income falls.
If you have a financial aid application on file, some colleges will reconsider your financial aid award (or lack thereof) if you hit a financial speedbump like losing your job.
However, many won’t reconsider giving assistance after the published deadlines if you never applied for aid in the first place.
Have we talked you into filling out that FAFSA? For this year, do it as close to Jan. 1 as possible, even if you haven’t filed taxes or your child hasn’t been accepted to college yet. You can use estimates for your first FAFSA filing and update the forms with hard numbers after you complete your taxes.
And get ready for changes in the form that go into effect for the 2016-2017 school year. The FAFSA will be available earlier, on Oct. 1, and will be easier to complete because you’ll be able to use your tax information from the prior year in the final application.
Be sure to reapply each year. Colleges recalculate financial aid annually, so even if your child didn’t receive aid one year, the next year might be different. Even subtle changes in your circumstances can have an impact on how much you pay for college.
The bottom line? Don’t try to read the financial aid tea leaves yourself. Fill out the FAFSA to make sure you’ve pursued every financial aid option you can.
Financial aid can be an important part of the picture when financing a college education, but it’s foolish to depend on it entirely. Goal Investor gives you college savings clarity. Try it now.
This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide investment advice. SEI does not claim responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of the information provided.
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