|
Financial Aid?
What is financial aid for college based on?
Does debt factor into it at ALL?
Because my mom makes $85k a year before taxes, but we have SO MUCH to pay off (house, car, etc) that we're nto too far away from living paycheck to paycheck.
How much finaid would my family qualify for?
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Work & School category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Colleges & Universities?
financial aid depends on a whole lot of different factors. You have to fill out the FAFSA, and once you do, it will give you an EFC (expected family contribution). From there, they deduct that amount of money from however much the estimated cost of attendance is, and thats how much financial aid you will get.
I don't think the form specifically asks how much debt are you in, but it does ask things like how much money is saved in various accounts (including your parents retirement, anything saved at all) and how much is in escrow (the amount of money your parents have already paid on their house). So obviously the more money they have saved and make, the less financial aid you will get (because the expected family contribution will be higher).
Most of the time, the EFC seems too high for people and parents are often unable to contribute that much. But the form also asks about if you have siblings, and if theyre in college. Or if your father provides an income, or childcare payments or whatever. The form asks a lot of questions, but more than likely you will qualify for some kind of loan if nothing else. At $85k/year, I'm not sure if you'll qualify for any kind of grant (the money you don't have to pay back), but the only way to know for sure is to fill out the FAFSA.
There are also certain loans that if you meet certain requirements, you don't have to pay them back. Just do your homework. Apply for scholarships early. There are lots of ways to pay for college, its just basically a huge pain in the butt.
Here is a quick estimator of what you can expect your EFC to be
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
]
More Questions: |