FAFSA Question...

[PreciousHamburgers]

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a quick FAFSA question. I gather that even though I am independent, some schools want to see parental info. So, I indicated that my parents are divorced, but also that my mother files Married-Joint (remarried). However, then all of the questions ask things like, "What was your mother's adjusted gross income for 2014? This amount is found on IRS Form 1040-line 37." This number on her 1040 would be the combined income of her husband and her on the 1040 she filed, not just her. Should I not go by their joint income since it asking what my mother's gross income was? It is just confusing me because the question is asking about my mother, and then telling me to look at the 1040 which is not just her.

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[baxt1412]

yeah the FAFSA sucks. might be best to just talk to your school directly as they would have someone who is well-versed in finaid.

I'm not even sure the expected contribution they gave me isn't an error.

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

I emailed someone at the school I work at. Hopefully they are nice enough to help.

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

I am supposed to include my parent on it though, right?

 

[Satire5Texul]

My understanding is that they are asking about parents to make sure that your parents arent making 200k, and you are claiming independent to gain an edge and get financial aid. So I wouldnt worry about it too much. But you should definitely check. Call FAFSA or financial aid. To be honest, you can call up pretty much any university locally that has a financial aid department and tell them you are a former student and have "general questions" so they dont ask for your student number. I did this a couple of times, even to double check info my own university was telling me.

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

Well I submitted it with my parents' info because people told me I will be considered independent, but schools want to see my parents' info. I make about 50K, and my mom and her husband made about 90K in 2014. My mother is currently unemployed, so that includes unemployment. My EFC was more than 14K. I don't understand where that is supposed to come from unless I start selling drugs or a kidney. In undergrad my EFC was almost always zero.

Seems strange that they don't take student loan debt into account. Also, 50K in San Francisco is not 50K in suburban Toledo, OH...

 

[Pusheen]

Tax-independent and FAFSA-independent are different. You are tax independent if you support yourself or whatnot, but the FAFSA only counts you as independent if you are 25 (?), married, homeless, in the army, or some other rare circumstances. It's the questions at the very beginning of the FAFSA. If you end up answering no to them, then you are dependent according to FAFSA.

Also, I don't think unemployment shouldn't count against your mom. There are questions that ask about income from welfare/unemployment/govt assistance. Make sure you indicate that the money your mom makes is from there.

They hit your personal income pretty hard :/ I think you get an allowance of 9k or whatever before it starts counting against you. Hence the 14k

This is all from my undergrad FAFSA experience, so not sure if it all applies. I've spent way too much time on this thing

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

Tax-independent and FAFSA-independent are different. You are tax independent if you support yourself or whatnot, but the FAFSA only counts you as independent if you are 25 (?), married, homeless, in the army, or some other rare circumstances. It's the questions at the very beginning of the FAFSA. If you end up answering no to them, then you are dependent according to FAFSA.

Also, I don't think unemployment shouldn't count against your mom. There are questions that ask about income from welfare/unemployment/govt assistance. Make sure you indicate that the money your mom makes is from there.

They hit your personal income pretty hard :/ I think you get an allowance of 9k or whatever before it starts counting against you. Hence the 14k

This is all from my undergrad FAFSA experience, so not sure if it all applies. I've spent way too much time on this thing

I'm older than 25. Unemployment insurance is not government assistance like welfare, so there is no where to indicate that other than my mother's gross income being greater than what she made working.

Oh well, I'll figure it out...

 

[lovemango]

All medical (and graduate) students are considered independent for FAFSA purposes and everyone should be eligible for federal loans, but most schools will only provide institutional scholarships/grants/loans if you provide parent information.

 

[demystifie]

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a quick FAFSA question. I gather that even though I am independent, some schools want to see parental info. So, I indicated that my parents are divorced, but also that my mother files Married-Joint (remarried). However, then all of the questions ask things like, "What was your mother's adjusted gross income for 2014? This amount is found on IRS Form 1040-line 37." This number on her 1040 would be the combined income of her husband and her on the 1040 she filed, not just her. Should I not go by their joint income since it asking what my mother's gross income was? It is just confusing me because the question is asking about my mother, and then telling me to look at the 1040 which is not just her.

I had a similar problem as well. I ended up just looking at my parents' W2 forms individually to get the approximate individual adjusted gross incomes. When I did this, the sum of the values I had for both parents were within $1 of the combined adjusted gross income on their joint IRS 1040 form.