Fafsa?

[ncat]

Another college related question - is it always worthwhile to fill out the FAFSA? Is there some level of family weath at which it becomes pointless? Are there any issues with providing schools with sensitive financial information?

[marinkitty]

You should fill it out no matter what. Lots of schools require it in order to consider kids for merit aid.

[ncat]

You should fill it out no matter what. Lots of schools require it in order to consider kids for merit aid.

That was my understanding from college visits and the financial aid presentation from DD's high school, but it would be helpful to hear some info on actual experience from parents who have kids in college now. DH was yelling at DD and I about how its a scam and we'll get nothing and they (Big College?) will use our sensitive information for some nefarious purpose.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We attended a financial aid planning meeting at our high school a few years back. A dad, who I know to be in the same type of income bracket as us, said he bailed on the FAFSA when his daughter was a sophomore because they qualified for nothing freshman year and had no expectations or that year. Well, his bill went up for college. Called the school, they said to fill out the FAFSA, he did and they knocked a few thousand off the bill. So, unless you really don’t care about cost and are cool leaving money on the table in some fruitless pursuit of privacy protection (the government has all that info already from your taxes…) then that’s your choice. It’s a racket but it pretty much needs to be done.


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[PunkyBoo]

The guidance I've seen says it is always worth filling out, but the theoretical "cap" is $350,000/ yr. But even if you make that much, that doesn't mean you can "afford" comfortably to spend full price on tuition.
The reality is that higher education is mostly a high priced racket. May as well get some financial help if possible.

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[essnce629]

You should fill it out no matter what. Lots of schools require it in order to consider kids for merit aid.

Yes, this is true at many schools and merit aid has nothing to do with a family's finances. Also, you have to fill out FAFSA if you need to take out any loans. You never know if a catastrophic event could happen (like another pandemic, sky high medical bills, etc) where all of a sudden you need to take the federal loan but can't because you didn't fill out the FAFSA. It takes like 20 minutes, I'd do it.

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[WatchingThemGrow]

I just have to thank you all for the recommendations of that book The Price You Pay For College. DH is reading it now and teaching ME as he reads.


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[bnme]

As others have stated,may be needed for merit and loans. If your child is going to take the minimum loan that all students can get it is required. $5,500 for freshman and it is in their name so good for building credit I believe. It is the federal government so they have your info anyway.

[nfceagles]

I watched a presentation by college counselors just a week ago that covered this topic.

What I learned is
-FAFSA is not required if you’re confident you won’t qualify.
- There are calculators online that will help you estimate your expected contribution if you are unsure.
- It is required for merit aid by a small number of colleges (not sure how small or which ones)
- It is required for the guaranteed federal loans you might want regardless of need.
- Saying that you won’t be seeking financial aid on the common app can improve your admissions chances bc schools need some full pay students.
- If you think you possibly might ever need it in the future (job loss, divorce, savings runs out, etc…), you definitely should fill it out. Because of the admissions advantage above they don’t want people playing games and not requesting in their first year and then seeking aid in future years once you’re already admitted. They can and often will refuse it if you try to seek aid in the future after not filling it out as a freshman. Or a 1 or 2 year penalty before they will reconsider.


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[Gracemom]

My daughter is a freshman in college. She was offered a generous merit scholarship upon admission before the FAFSA was due. We did not fill out the FAFSA because we have a 529 savings plan for the remainder of the tuition and would not be taking out loans etc. If our financial situation changes we would definitely fill it out.