I got my "award letter" from my school yesterday, and I was denied any grants. I am about to be 18 in a couple weeks, and will be leaving my mom's house, and will have little to no financial help from her or other family members.
I had to use her tax information to fill it out, because technically i am still her dependant.
My mom is unable to help me pay for much, her income is very low (less than 20,000) and I am working only part-time. So basically I will have no money for school, unless I take out a loan, which I would like to do as a last resort.
I did apply for some scholarships, but many were need-based, and will also use those same FAFSA results.
Last year I was awarded more than enough to pay for school. My income did not change, and my moms went up less than 1,000. which is not enough to cover school.
is there any action i can take to have my application re-evaluated with out using my mom's financial information?
2007-05-27 08:11:46 · 7 answers · asked by jenni 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Financial Aid
my mom is not remarried, and this is really the income level in our house. my father died a few years back, so there is no help from him. The problem is not that my mom choses not to help me, im sure she would, if she could. she simply can not afford to give me more than a couple hundred dollars here and there.
2007-05-28 21:47:07 · update #1
I would definitely contact the school directly. Talk with someone in the financial aid office, and explain your situation. If they want to keep you as a student, then they may be able to find some money for you.
2007-05-27 14:27:26 · answer #1 · answered by pwernie 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think you may have left some very important information out here, or something else is going on here.
Is your mother remarried and is the total income higher than you are saying it is to make your case? I suspect that may be the case if all you were awarded was loans, or there is some significant untaxed income that was not reported before that is considered this year.
No, you cannot go back and become independent, you have a sufficient relationship with your parent if she filled out the FAFSA and signed it that the aid office cannot ignore. The fact that your parents aren't paying for college for you is also not a factor. You are more than technically still her dependent and will remain so whether you live under her roof or not unless you meet an independence criteria for 0809 that you do not meet in 0708.
If you want to understand why you received the award that you did, contact your school's financial aid office and ask for the reasons. You may also ask them to verify that the information you put on the FAFSA is correct. It is also possible that you made a mistake on a number somewhere, like putting the pennies in rather than round dollars, or transposed a digit when you filled the application out on line (or didn't write clearly on a paper application). Bring your and your mother's (and step-father's if that applies) 2006 income documentation for income from all sources, tax returns, etc. when you go for an appointment with your school's aid counselor. Have a positive attitude with them, please, and don't tell them they *screwed* you. They may have awarded you based on what they had to use or actual information in which they had no choice.
2007-05-28 15:18:32 · answer #2 · answered by mickiinpodunk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not until the age or 24, it all depends on the school to go to as well. Most college students can be carried on their parents taxes up until that age. The only way you would be and independent student was an orphan or ward of the court.
Check with financial aid to get some clarification on it, you may have made an error somewhere.
2007-05-27 15:17:11 · answer #3 · answered by spacityb 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
You can call and talk to a loan specialist, but that's about it. It has nothing to do with FAFSA, really...students everywhere are having trouble getting grants for school. Loans are a different story...ANYONE can get a loan. I dealt with the same thing having to use my family's tax info with no help from them...it's just part of the deal. Sucks, but there will be a lot more you have to deal with at 18 than a crappy day with FAFSA.
2007-05-27 15:49:50 · answer #4 · answered by Tally 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are a number of factors that contribute to your EFC...household size, number in college, earnings from work, money from other sources, assets, etc. If any of these things changed, that could be affecting your aid eligibility. My advice is to review the information you reported on your FAFSA carefully to see if there were any errors. If so, contact your school's financial aid office to see how best to handle the situation.
2007-05-27 16:02:11 · answer #5 · answered by Jdub 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nope not until the age of 24 unless you were to get married or have a child. I understand I went through the same thing with financial aid. I had to take out loans and even then they want you to have a cosigner or get your parents to take out a loan.
2007-05-27 16:01:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
financial aid is there to assist you to going to school. unless, you get married, join the military, have a kid, parents are dead, you will be considered a dependent student. Parents refusal to pay for your education don't make you eligible to have your aid to be re-evaluate. If they do decide, normally, they will just send you a letter stating that your request was denied anyway.
2007-05-27 17:45:33 · answer #7 · answered by sunshine23511 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋