My family has this little issue right now and I'm hoping that somebody can offer me some info.
Trying to make a long story short here...
My 22yr-old brother was kicked out of my mom's house when he was 19 or so because he became an alcoholic. We (BD and I) took him in for awhile until things got out of hand. We couldn't handle him anymore and he was taken to a homeless shelter (I know that sounds horrible, but I can't really go into details right now). Anyway... he was there for 3 months and I have to say it was the best thing for him. He has totally turned around and my mom has taken him back in. He has been living with her for 9 months now and things are going great.
He works full-time, but he really wants to go to college (community college). He sees that my schooling is completely paid for (by means of scholarships and grants) and he is trying to get some financial aid for himself. He pays my mom rent and everything. He's completely independent, but FAFSA still wants my mom's income info because he is still considered a dependent for a couple more years.
Now they are worried because my mom made a little under $50,000 last year. Should they even bother filling out the FAFSA? Will he get any aid?
He should file. When i was living with my parents and first applied to college i got some of it paid for even though my parents made about 65 k a year.
If you want me to be honest, I don't think he'll get anything (depending on the standard of living where you are at...). However, filling out the FAFSA is always a good idea. Is there any way he could wait a couple of years until he would be considered an independent student? I know that is a lot to ask...
I may have more to say later, kid is still up so I can't think!
At the very least, he could still qualify for loans. I know it's not as good as grants/scholarships and I don't know that he would want to be in debt, but it's better than nothing.
It's kind of sad. I really wish he could get some help with it. But community college over here isn't that expensive anyway. So even if he took out loans, it wouldn't be too much debt.
I'm going to tell him to fill it out anyway.
Schools have a independent for other hardship which he would have to show that he is not on her IRS forms for about 5 years and a statment why he should not be constitered dependant. He should talk to his college about how to go about this. If he has got state assistence for the last year in some states he's consitered independent. You should always apply for FASA even if you don't get anything. Apply early will also help in getting more aid
I agree that filling out a FAFSA is important, at my school it's a requirement for aid (and there is aid that is given to not just "at need" students). There should be a fin. aid office at the college, tell him to make an appointment and find out all his options, they would know more than we do about what kind of aid he can be eligable for.
Have him fill out the FAFSA. Usually he'll be considered dependant until 24, I think. But in Cali, as long as you have maintain a GPA of 3.0 a family with an income of up to 60k is eligible for the CalGrant.
There's lots of different financial aid programs and he may want to contact the financial aid office at the school. Sometimes they can make a determination that a person is independant, even if they don't meet the traditional criteria.
I was considered independent at 18 since my grandparents signed a letter saying they would no longer finacially support me.
I agree- talk to the financial aid office- the one I dealt with was awesome. The best part of the college in fact- now THAT'S sad.