My thoughts on federal student aid.
1/29/2009 04:48:00 PM
•
EFC,
FAFSA,
federal student aid,
Tiffany
•
6
comments
Let’s talk FAFSA.
I am a 21 year old, self-supporting, full-time college student. I have no children, no husband, and I am not a veteran. My parents have five children and have adopted two of my cousins. All in all, they financially support 6 children.
The FAFSA is used by the government to determine eligibility for federal student financial aid (grants, certain loans, and work-study programs). FAFSA uses the Expected Family Contribution, EFC, calculator to decide if a student needs grants and what the family should be able to contribute financially. Family size, income, number of children in college, and assets are all used to determine their EFC. My first issue with FAFSA is that it does NOT take into consideration if a student is self-supporting, and what the parents actually contribute financially to a student.
When you file the FAFSA and they calculate the EFC, that is assuming that your parents do and will contribute financially to your education. …what if they don’t?
“Most students in the United States attending college are above the age of eighteen, which relieves their parents of any financial responsibility for them whatsoever, according to US law. This brings the question of why parents' assets are a factor at all, because of the fact that they are no more legally related to the student than is a complete stranger. Students who will not be receiving parental aid for college expenses may be able to appeal directly to their school of choice for a reevaluation of aid awards based on their personal circumstances.” www.wikipedia.com/fafsa
Don’t get me wrong, my parents are great people and want me to succeed in life, but do not have an extra $3000 to dish out every six months for me to attend WTAMU. This is one of the reasons I’m so passionate about Amarillo College. I come here, get a great education, best professors ever, at a reasonable price. However, I won’t be at AC for all four years to receive my Bachelor’s degree. I have to go to WTAMU eventually. In comparison to other universities, WTAMU is reasonable in price but still- costly.
Unfortunately, my parents didn’t start me a college fund when I was born; they were 17 years old and trying to put food on the table. When my grandparents past away, they didn’t leave money for their grandchildren to go to college; “we didn’t go college- why do they need to?” I don’t have money saved up for college and I should not have to take out loans when certain people are getting college tuition for free.
This would be my second issue. On FAFSA, in order for you to file without using your parents income you must be: 24 years old, veteran of the Armed Forces, currently on duty with the Forces, working on your Master’s or Doctorate, married, a ward of the court until 18, or have children that are dependent on you.
I think it’s great that veterans and people in the Forces get this advantage, as well as wards of the court. But… married? Children? This is what I need to be able to apply on my FAFSA and not list my parents income?
Well, IF I WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT I WOULD HAVE HAD A CHILD AT 18 SO I CAN GO TO COLLEGE FOR FREE! Or maybe I’ll just get married so I can get a few PELL GRANTS.
As I said before, my parents were 17 when they had me and that is a very unfortunate situation but they made a mistake. I am not judging young parents or people who get married young, I am only saying that it is not fair that they get this FAFSA advantage because chose to start their family life early. I do not want children for a few years (to my parent’s relief) and I have not met anybody that I would even consider for marriage. However, if it’s going to save me $40,000 (4 years of college tuition), I might start thinking of finding a husband!
I work just as hard as young parents and I don’t receive financial assistance from my parents- but I have to “act” like I do on the FAFSA.
I have a relative that is not 24 yet, but she has 3 children and is married. She now stays at home with her children and her husband does all the working. On a personal level, I think it’s great that she is able to stay home with her children and see them grow up. Because they don’t make much money, they receive HUD housing from the government and for an estimated $300/mo they rent a 3 bedroom town house. They also receive thousands of dollars in grants each semester (which also enables her to stay at home). On a fair level: I’m mad. Her first child was an accident… BIG accident. After that, they enjoyed it and recently got married. Now, she gets cheaper rent than me and gets her entire college education paid for by the government? Does anybody see how this is not fair?
I don’t hope that young parents or young married couples get their FAFSA advantages taken away from them, I just hope that it can be for everybody. I hope FAFSA will start taking into consideration everybody’s personal circumstances.
I can’t even imagine what kind of a pain that would be for FAFSA but if they’re going to make it possible for some people, I think it should be available to all people.
Please let me know, respectfully, if I am off-base here. I can’t imagine that I’m the only person that feels this way?! Feedback—please!
In case you're curious, here is a link to the EFC Calculator: http://calculators.collegetoolkit.com/College-Calculators/resCalcEFC.aspx
I am a 21 year old, self-supporting, full-time college student. I have no children, no husband, and I am not a veteran. My parents have five children and have adopted two of my cousins. All in all, they financially support 6 children.
The FAFSA is used by the government to determine eligibility for federal student financial aid (grants, certain loans, and work-study programs). FAFSA uses the Expected Family Contribution, EFC, calculator to decide if a student needs grants and what the family should be able to contribute financially. Family size, income, number of children in college, and assets are all used to determine their EFC. My first issue with FAFSA is that it does NOT take into consideration if a student is self-supporting, and what the parents actually contribute financially to a student.
When you file the FAFSA and they calculate the EFC, that is assuming that your parents do and will contribute financially to your education. …what if they don’t?
“Most students in the United States attending college are above the age of eighteen, which relieves their parents of any financial responsibility for them whatsoever, according to US law. This brings the question of why parents' assets are a factor at all, because of the fact that they are no more legally related to the student than is a complete stranger. Students who will not be receiving parental aid for college expenses may be able to appeal directly to their school of choice for a reevaluation of aid awards based on their personal circumstances.” www.wikipedia.com/fafsa
Don’t get me wrong, my parents are great people and want me to succeed in life, but do not have an extra $3000 to dish out every six months for me to attend WTAMU. This is one of the reasons I’m so passionate about Amarillo College. I come here, get a great education, best professors ever, at a reasonable price. However, I won’t be at AC for all four years to receive my Bachelor’s degree. I have to go to WTAMU eventually. In comparison to other universities, WTAMU is reasonable in price but still- costly.
Unfortunately, my parents didn’t start me a college fund when I was born; they were 17 years old and trying to put food on the table. When my grandparents past away, they didn’t leave money for their grandchildren to go to college; “we didn’t go college- why do they need to?” I don’t have money saved up for college and I should not have to take out loans when certain people are getting college tuition for free.
This would be my second issue. On FAFSA, in order for you to file without using your parents income you must be: 24 years old, veteran of the Armed Forces, currently on duty with the Forces, working on your Master’s or Doctorate, married, a ward of the court until 18, or have children that are dependent on you.
I think it’s great that veterans and people in the Forces get this advantage, as well as wards of the court. But… married? Children? This is what I need to be able to apply on my FAFSA and not list my parents income?
Well, IF I WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT I WOULD HAVE HAD A CHILD AT 18 SO I CAN GO TO COLLEGE FOR FREE! Or maybe I’ll just get married so I can get a few PELL GRANTS.
As I said before, my parents were 17 when they had me and that is a very unfortunate situation but they made a mistake. I am not judging young parents or people who get married young, I am only saying that it is not fair that they get this FAFSA advantage because chose to start their family life early. I do not want children for a few years (to my parent’s relief) and I have not met anybody that I would even consider for marriage. However, if it’s going to save me $40,000 (4 years of college tuition), I might start thinking of finding a husband!
I work just as hard as young parents and I don’t receive financial assistance from my parents- but I have to “act” like I do on the FAFSA.
I have a relative that is not 24 yet, but she has 3 children and is married. She now stays at home with her children and her husband does all the working. On a personal level, I think it’s great that she is able to stay home with her children and see them grow up. Because they don’t make much money, they receive HUD housing from the government and for an estimated $300/mo they rent a 3 bedroom town house. They also receive thousands of dollars in grants each semester (which also enables her to stay at home). On a fair level: I’m mad. Her first child was an accident… BIG accident. After that, they enjoyed it and recently got married. Now, she gets cheaper rent than me and gets her entire college education paid for by the government? Does anybody see how this is not fair?
I don’t hope that young parents or young married couples get their FAFSA advantages taken away from them, I just hope that it can be for everybody. I hope FAFSA will start taking into consideration everybody’s personal circumstances.
I can’t even imagine what kind of a pain that would be for FAFSA but if they’re going to make it possible for some people, I think it should be available to all people.
Please let me know, respectfully, if I am off-base here. I can’t imagine that I’m the only person that feels this way?! Feedback—please!
In case you're curious, here is a link to the EFC Calculator: http://calculators.collegetoolkit.com/College-Calculators/resCalcEFC.aspx
If I may leave a comment on my own blog (lol)- this will probably be THE longest blog I EVER write. I just feel very strongly about this. :)
Very thought provoking, I don't think your off base in any way shape or form.
What makes me really mad (on the topic of financial funds) is it seems like when a student really wants to go (or continue go) to school it seems, to me, like they make it harder for them.
Why not take into account self-supporting, grades, classes completed, and how long student has been in school?
It's like the more mistakes you make, the more you get. If you do everything right you don't get anything.
I completely agree with you. I was able to receive financial assistance thru federal grants but ONLY because I was a single mom. I think it is great when moms or dads go to/back to school. BUT at the same time it should be equal for the teens who didn't get pregnant in highschool or immediately there after.
Ok, coming from me... I am a full time student, I work full time, I have a 7 year old daughter, I get no child support because of the states/dad, I do not get any type of government assistance, I pay all of my bills and do not ask for help from anyone. Now if I were to try to pay for school all by myself I couldn't.
The way you make this sound it's like you are attacking the people that are trying hard and need a little assistance. School's it. That's all the help I get from anyone. I don't make very much money at all and it all goes to bills, etc.
Here's one item to consider. What are you doing with the money you're saving on not taking care of a child/children? I would be personally saving $400 a month if I didn't have my one child. That's $4,800.00 in 12 months. That would more than cover that cost of $3,000.00 you mentioned.
You could view it like a car loan. Don't most individuals starting out need a co-signer? Well, this is the same situation. Same as why insurance is so much higher when you're younger. It all has to do with the risk. So many of us are flighty at a young age. What's to say that you wouldn't get your Pell grant and the moment you get your check you drop out of school and keep the money? That means the government just handed over a large chunk of money to someone. The young are not to be trusted when it comes to corporations/banks. They are a huge risk.
I know it sucks really bad right now. It's hard for everyone (except a privileged few). I know the things I am saying are not comforting and in fact they may anger you but do know, there's more like you out there, like me. It may not be paying for school that I'm struggling with but it's everyday life. It does seem to get easier though the more I work at it. It will all work out in the end and eventually you will get the assistance you need.
When reading your blog I saw some info you put in there: "Students who will not be receiving parental aid for college expenses may be able to appeal directly to their school of choice for a reevaluation of aid awards based on their personal circumstances." www.wikipedia.com/fafsa
Try to appeal to the school. I know it doesn't sound like much fun but it sounds like it would be worth it to you.
Hi...my name is Crystal Baptista and I am wanting to do a student profile from someone at AC...would you be interested? Im curious on how the local economy is affecting you/how are you balancing college cost ect. My email is clbaptista22@my.actx.edu Look forward to talking to you.