Reporting parent income as an older student?

[Ihave Nonamè]

I just learned in a pre-med panel at my University that they, and most others, require parent income information for financial aid purposes. The only exception, they stated, was in the event that you have a spouse....

This doesn't seem accurate to me. I was under the impression that an independent adult of several years could apply with their own income information. Have any of you been given the same information (that your aid will be determined by your parents)? Almost seems now it would be better to wait for my parent to retire within the next few years.

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[deleted367183]

Yep. To play ball with institutional grants, you need parent info. I was 37 when I started and not realistically in the running for my school’s limited grant aid, so I didn’t provide it. As an anecdote only, I heard of Yale (read: huge endowment) having an age cutoff in the mid-30s for parent info, but even if that’s really true, it is very much not typical. Parent info is how it goes.

Of course you can still get loans without parent info. That’s why I specify institutional grants.

 

[m222222]

Yep. To play ball with institutional grants, you need parent info. I was 37 when I started and not realistically in the running for my school’s limited grant aid, so I didn’t provide it. As an anecdote only, I heard of Yale (read: huge endowment) having an age cutoff in the mid-30s for parent info, but even if that’s really true, it is very much not typical. Parent info is how it goes.

Of course you can still get loans without parent info. That’s why I specify institutional grants.

There are some schools that don't require parent info if you're over 30.

 

[Ihave Nonamè]

Yep. To play ball with institutional grants, you need parent info. I was 37 when I started and not realistically in the running for my school’s limited grant aid, so I didn’t provide it. As an anecdote only, I heard of Yale (read: huge endowment) having an age cutoff in the mid-30s for parent info, but even if that’s really true, it is very much not typical. Parent info is how it goes.

Of course you can still get loans without parent info. That’s why I specify institutional grants.

Wow, this definitely wasn't the case for undergrad financial aid.

I can't figure why an independent adult would be expected to rely on parent income...

 

[GreenDuck12]

I just learned in a pre-med panel at my University that they, and most others, require parent income information for financial aid purposes. The only exception, they stated, was in the event that you have a spouse....

This doesn't seem accurate to me. I was under the impression that an independent adult of several years could apply with their own income information. Have any of you been given the same information (that your aid will be determined by your parents)? Almost seems now it would be better to wait for my parent to retire within the next few years.

i believe parental income is required to be reported on fafsa for medical and dental students to access larger amounts of fed direct unsubsidized loans even though your parents may not be supporting you. These loans are advantageous when compared to grad plus.

 

[Naruhodo]

Sorry, but in my case I was over 30, married and my school's financial aid office still required my parents' financial information. There's a distinction between professional degrees (like MD), where they expect you'll be able to pay loan money back and non-professional degrees (like PhD) in this regard. I think there will be no no age limit to requiring parental info at most institutions, but in the case of some very rich schools (Yale, Harvard) they apparently do have age cut-offs for financial independence as stated above. I know, it sucks for most of us, and you have my sympathies.

 

[vitafusion]

UVA doesn’t require parental info if you’re married and your spouse isn’t a student. If you’re over 30 when you matriculate you can request to waive parent info.

 

[deleted367183]

I thought about it, though, and here’s what I came up with. They’ve got to distinguish between people who have emergency reserves and those who don’t. Like now, I’m a resident at 43, but if my life fell apart for some reason, my parents are lucky to be in a position to throw me a couple thousand dollars. Not everyone is so lucky.

Not only regarding catastrophes—med school is also very heavy on the $50 for this, $100 for that constant stream of expenses. A lot of my classmates came from two-physician families that covered everything. The fin aid office has to have a way to tell who could truly benefit from the limited number of $3000 grants they have to pass out.

 

[emergencydancing]

I thought about it, though, and here’s what I came up with. They’ve got to distinguish between people who have emergency reserves and those who don’t. Like now, I’m a resident at 43, but if my life fell apart for some reason, my parents are lucky to be in a position to throw me a couple thousand dollars. Not everyone is so lucky.

Not only regarding catastrophes—med school is also very heavy on the $50 for this, $100 for that constant stream of expenses. A lot of my classmates came from two-physician families that covered everything. The fin aid office has to have a way to tell who could truly benefit from the limited number of $3000 grants they have to pass out.

Not only this, but there is expected to be a great wealth transfer as boomers pass on an inheritance to their children. It's just how our familial norms are, and I think this should be factored in when figuring out whom to distribute the limited aid to.

 

[Ihave Nonamè]

I thought about it, though, and here’s what I came up with. They’ve got to distinguish between people who have emergency reserves and those who don’t. Like now, I’m a resident at 43, but if my life fell apart for some reason, my parents are lucky to be in a position to throw me a couple thousand dollars. Not everyone is so lucky.

Not only regarding catastrophes—med school is also very heavy on the $50 for this, $100 for that constant stream of expenses. A lot of my classmates came from two-physician families that covered everything. The fin aid office has to have a way to tell who could truly benefit from the limited number of $3000 grants they have to pass out.

It's not an accurate assessment of need. My parent is entering retirement with slim savings unfortunately and it truly cannot be thrown my way throughout med school...despite them having had a 6 figure salary. California cost of living..

 

[emergencydancing]

It's not an accurate assessment of need. My parent is entering retirement with slim savings unfortunately and it truly cannot be thrown my way throughout med school...despite them having had a 6 figure salary. California cost of living..

I think the original comment was in reference to the financial safety net you'd have compared to someone whose parents have nothing, not how much they want to contribute.

In any case, financial aid is reassessed every year, so if they do retire that might affect your aid (though it usually lags a year). I would not recommend delaying just for the sake of financial aid unless you are in a high paying career (which sounds like it doesn't apply here). You're essentially taking away a year(s) of attending salary.

 

[deleted367183]

i believe parental income is required to be reported on fafsa for medical and dental students to access larger amounts of fed direct unsubsidized loans even though your parents may not be supporting you. These loans are advantageous when compared to grad plus.

This is an interesting point. I’m pretty sure I got the special increased med student maximum in Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans without providing parent info, but who knows? Maybe I could have gotten more. Worth checking with your financial aid office for sure.