What if I remarry? Will it effect my childrens FASFA benefits?
I am currently receiving social security disability and because of my very very low amount of annual income (less than 10K) my children (3 currently enrolled in college) receive student grants and fasfa loans. If I were to remarry would this effect the benefits they receieve? I would not file federal taxes with my new husband so my annual taxable income would not increase in any way but is there any other issues of remarrying that would effect their student loan benefits which are based on my meger income?
Yes, as soon as you remarry you would be required to include your new husband’s income and assets on the FAFSA (and any other required financial aid forms, if any.) It would be considered fraud if you didn’t. Whether you file a tax return with your new husband or not, his income and assets would still need to be reported.
A Pell Grant is typically only available to families with an EFC of $4,000 or less. If your husband’s financial info will cause you to lose eligibility and If you are truly dependent on the federal aid for paying for your children’s college education, you should consider putting off your marriage until the last financial aid form is filed.
How Online Degrees Affect your Financial Aid Eligibility
Whether you are looking for an undergraduate degree, graduate degree, or just want to take a few online courses to improve your chances for promotion, online colleges and universities provide the flexibility you need.
Despite these advantages, the cost of tuition, both online and at traditional brick-and-mortar institutions, is on the rise. Knowing this, online learners generally depend on financial aid to finance their education. If you are considering pursuing a degree online and need financial aid, there are a few things you should consider to ensure that you will qualify.
Minimum eligibility requirements
1. U.S. citizen, or eligible non-citizens
2. Possess a valid Social Security number
3. Selective Service registration, if you are male
4. High school diploma or GED
5. Cannot have certain drug convictions
Accreditation
The college or university must be an approved, degree-granting institution. There are plenty of institutions on the internet who come up with fancy sounding names, but they are not accredited by one of the six regional accreditors. Without this accreditation, you will not be eligible for financial aid, and in most cases, your college credits will not transfer to regionally accredited universities. If you are uncertain of your college’s accreditation, ask.
Program of study
You must be pursuing a degree or certificate to be eligible for financial aid. Even if you are unsure of your desired major when you enroll, you will need to select a major, or at the very least, enroll in an eligible certificate program. You can always change your mind later.
Term length
Ensure that your online courses have a definite start and end date. In most cases, this is not an issue. The exception will be courses deemed “correspondence” where a student has the option of taking up to eighteen months or more to complete the course. Most online colleges operate on a semester schedule. If your college does not, you will need to contact your college’s financial aid office to ensure that you will be eligible to receive federal aid.
Enrollment
To be eligible for Federal financial aid, you must be enrolled at least half-time. In most cases, this means taking a minimum of six credit hours per semester. Colleges vary in what they deem half-time, so check with your online college’s financial aid office to be certain.
Applying for financial aid
Once you have verified that your university and program of study meet these criteria, you may begin the financial aid process. For more information and a free step-by-step financial aid guide, visit http://www.online-college-blog.com.
Eliminating tax on grants gets 2nd look
COLUMBUS – State Rep. Tim Derickson, R-Oxford, had a second hearing on his proposed bill to eliminate some taxes on needs-based grants for college. Property Tax Exemptions Video for Nonprofit, Faith-based, Welfare and Veterans’ Organizations
How Does One Hire A Financial Aid Expert To Guide You Through The Private Loan World?
Does such a consultant even exist?
The school has a financial aid office. They can help with federal aid. But there one is on one’s own re: the private loan world.
Is there a financial aid adviser one can hire?
In general, hiring an expert usually pays off and prevents costly mistakes.
I’m in MA (Boston-area). How would one go about finding one?
Anyone know?
Yea, yea, yea … the scare mongers can just go and rent a horror film.
Just stick to the question at hand.
In general paying for what you can receive free is sort of unnecessary, in my opinion. Your school’s aid office is an authority on federal loans, but they are also pretty knowledgeable about private loans as well. I would go to them first and hear what they have to share with you about private loans. It is free advice, and while they are not “experts” of finance per se, most of us working in the business have a lot of experience with private education lending, and the lenders that are available.
Barring that, I think what you are looking for is a financial consultant or financial planner. Try looking for one of these either at your local bank or in the yellow pages (or google the term with boston ma). I am sure they will have good insight on the matter, as well as other financial aspects. Just remember – money you spend on this sort of advice is money you could put toward your tuition bill.
I’m thinking about starting to attend school. However, I know that I can’t afford it on my own as it is right now. So without contacting the school themselves that I want to attend just yet…only because I don’t want to be constantly bothered by an admissions recruiter, before I’m ready to make a commitment to attend their school.
My question is this…if I were to go to the Federal Financial Aid site (fafsa.gov), would I be able to fill out an application, just to see if I’m eligible and to find out how much I might be eligible for? In other words, say they come back to me telling me I’m eligible to receive $5,000 per year (just a figure I’m using here for this example)…would I then have the option of leaving that on the table, in case I then decide to start attending the school, at a later point in the year…or is it like, as soon as they tell me I’m eligible to receive $5,000 per year, they automatically start sending me payments right away?
Thank you!
colleges.mywebcommunity.org – it has detailed info how to apply for financial aid and scholarships to get more cash.
TUJ Vlog #11: Advanced Payment and Certificate of Eligibility
I’ve had a full time job and want to go back to school full time. How do I do this? ?
I graduated from a 4 year college 6 years ago and went into the teaching profession. After teaching for awhile I’ve decided to go back to school, but the problem is that the degree I’m looking into is a full time program- you can’t work. But, with the economy the way it is, my question is how do I get the money to do this and go back to school if I’ve had a full time job for the past 6 years? For example, my classes would start in the summer ‘09 full-time, but I’ll have had a full time job since Jan. 09 and I don’t think that they would give me any grants or loans from either the government or a private institution since I’ve made “x” amount of money that year. This is a 1 1/2 year program.
Is there anybody on here that is a financial aid consultant that could help me?
Just thought I’d add that this is for an associate’s degree. =)
First you’ll have to do a FAFSA. On the FAFSA you’ll have to report how much you made. However, because your situation will change drastically, the results of the FAFSA will be misleading.
What you can do, is contact your school and inquire as to how to file a “personal judgement” or “special circumstances” form. At my institution what that means is that you’ll report that you’ll have a change in employment in 2009-2010. You’ll have to include a letter that says ‘my program is full time, i will no longer be employed, my income will be $0.’ You may also want to include a letter from your employer stating that you left your job at such and such a date–I’d ask your school if they would require that.
The form will be reviewed and should be approved. They’ll adjust your EFC to probably about 0 and then you’ll be offered the maximum amount of loans. If this is a grad program you’re going into you’ll probably be offered subsidized, unsubsidized, and a grad-PLUS loan.
Don’t worry too much; we see this situation a lot. good luck :)
