FAFSA information - if I am planning on quitting my job?

Question

If I am planning on quitting my job to go to school full time - my financial aid amount would be increased since I will have NO income for the time I plan on attending school --- my question is -- How do I get the money I need if I have to report LAST years income? It doesn't seem fair since I wont even have an income and they will be basing my grant on the amount of money I brought in last year. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. THANKS! =)

Answer 1

Weird isn't it- it's to your advantage to report low income, but once you are out, boy do they want their money!

Answer 2

Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do except see if you can stay at your job part time, just for awhile. That will lower your income for next year. If you apply now using your 2005 return, it may be lower, but probably not enough. I don't get Pell Grant, but I still get a stipend check every quarter of the funds not used. Try to keep the expenses to a minimum the first year. You may even consider waiting until you can better afford the drop in income. BTW, does your employer have tuition reimbursement? It may be worth staying for that. My employer paid my entire tuition including books and fees for my BS. I left them when I got the degree. There are ways around it, like starting at a community college where classes are usually cheaper. Try to avoid the colleges that charge the same that the financial aid pays. You can do better. Those schools are more a business than a school. You will learn, but they have it set up so they get every penny. Also, many of those schools are not well respected, even the bigger ones. I went to ITT Technical Institute for my AS & BS, but I regret it. My degree wasn't really respected as much as the one from the big state college. I couldn't get anything above a Tech, even with the BS and 7 years experience. Even though I had 2 hours of theory and 2 hours of lab, 5 days a week, they just kept hiring their engineers from the state college.

Take some advice from someone who knows, find a good school who won't charge by what FAFSA pays and you'll find a better school.

Answer 3

FAFSA is flawed in this way, unfortunately. When my fiance was in school, his father was unemployed for most of the year and finally got a job toward the end of the year. FAFSA based their aid amount on his father's new income, and not his small income of the previous year like they usually do.

FAFSA also thinks that if parents own a business, then they can just sell the business to pay for college, even if it is their livelyhood and they don't make enough profit to pay for 4 years of school.

And, of couse, it is nearly impossible to prove you are independent if you are under 25, so they use your parent's income even if they never give you a dime.

It's really unfortunate that FAFSA penalizes students for working before college. And unfortunately you can't do anything about that in regards to your aid package. My advice is to save as much money as you can now, try to apply for scholarships, and take advantage of student loans which have low interest rates. Good luck!

Answer 4

File the Fafsa as you are suppose then immediately file a financial aid appeal to the financial aid office of the school you are going to attend. I used to work in a finacial aid office and that is what we would tell students to do. However, mean this strongly, file your FAFSA as quick as you can and then contact the school's financial aid office as fast as you can as well. Don't hesitate.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 5

I think they must assume that you will quit your job. I was working when I applied and got the max grant and loan. I would ask someone in the financial aid office

Answer 6

they are going to supply student loans to virtually everybody at the instant. they actually dont concentration alot on credit, because of the fact alot of 18-21 365 days olds dont have extremely some credit. You dont pay back your student loans until in many circumstances 6 months after commencement, and if with the aid of then you definately have not gotton a job to start protecting the month-to-month fee. you could defer it back, until you could arise with the money for to pay it back.