HOW CAN I DISPUTE THE DETERMINATION OF FINANCIAL NEED WITH FAFSA?
I submitted an online focus for FAFSA for my eighteen yr old, as well as perceived a formula with an EFC of 8088, which done him incompetent for grants. I’ve oral to a series of people who pronounced which can’t be right. I’m a singular primogenitor with dual young kids (age eighteen & 6 months) as well as done reduction than $60K final year (before taxes). Does any one know if a preference sounds right or should we try to brawl it? Serious answers usually please.
Posted on July 19, 2009 at 2:07 pm by admin · Permalink
In: Tips · Tagged with: Determination, Dispute, Fafsa, Financial, Need, with
In: Tips · Tagged with: Determination, Dispute, Fafsa, Financial, Need, with
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on July 19, 2009 at 2:07 pm
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Are you questioning your EFC or how it relates to your eligibility?
$8,088 sounds right based on the information that you provided here (obviously, there is much more to it than just income and # in household). If you think the computer system calculated your EFC incorrectly and would like to calculate your EFC *by hand* to double-check it, the forumla isn’t a secret — it’s available online here: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcinformation/at…
If you’re questioning whether an $8,088 EFC should make your son eligible for grant aid… Well, unless you’re prepared to undertake a massive political campaign, you probably don’t want to dispute the FAFSA formula. And disputing a school’s institutional financial aid awarding process certainly won’t get you their good side.
There are some types of aid that the Financial Aid Office has limited power to adjust, even on appeal. Pell Grants, for example are only available to families with EFCs of $3,850 or lower, which means that your income would have to decrease A LOT before you became eligible.
An EFC of $8,088 probably puts you on the cusp of eligibility for other types of aid. For example, there is a certain class of funding known as “Campus-Based Aid” that includes the Federal SEO Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, and Federal College Work-Study Program. Unlike other federal aid programs where the student’s eligibility is predetermined, the *school* is given the authority to allocate campus-based aid. Of course, they do have to offer SEOG to Pell-eligible students first but, after that, they are allowed to extend eligbility to other needy students. It may be the case that your $8,088 EFC “doesn’t make you needy enough” to obtain SEOG at that particular school. That said, most schools DO have an “appeals” process in place by which you can request an adjustment to the aid package that you have been offered. Your school may be able to adjust your EFC slightly if you submit documentation that your FAFSA results do not accurately reflect your ability to pay for your son’s education. Before appealing, you might want to read this http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;… or this http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/negotiation.… Remember that even if they can’t adjust your federal aid package, your appeal may increase your eligibility for scholarships or grants from the college itself.
Keep in mind also that loans are still considered “Financial Aid” and that no applicant should expect a financial aid package comprised completely of grant aid. Even families with $0 EFCs should expect to receive “self-help” financial aid (i.e. loans or Work-Study).
on July 19, 2009 at 2:07 pm
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how much did your student earn from their job (if they had one)? this will greatly effect the efc. for every dollar above $1,750 (i think, that’s what it was last year) that your student earns, the fafsa gurus feel that they should have to pay half in the efc. they also take into consideration any savings either of you have, how old you are, any other property you might have, etc. otherwise, the efc sounds about right. you might want to talk to the school about any scholarships your student is eligble for.