So I guess I have to be dirt poor in order to receive financial aid!?

Question

I have filled my FAFSA, but apparently I made a mistake on my student income section of the FAFSA. There is two spots within this section where you are required to enter your adjusted gross income and I must have accidentally left off the 1 in front of 9,859.

The correct income should have been 19,859 in both spots. Due to this correction my EFC went from 0 to 05051. Why? Is $19,000 too much income to be considered for grants from the gov't? Are loans my only option to pay for college now?

Please help!! My colleges financial aid office is closed and i'm looking for answers.

Answer 1

Try looking here. It’s an excellent site with some wonderful options for you. You won't regret opening it. It will definitely help you. Have a look.

http://financial--aid.blogspot.com/2008/...

Answer 2

There is also merit-based aid, which is based on your grades, extracurriculars, etc.  This has nothing to do with how much you've earned, so I would look into that through your school's financial aid website.

Answer 3

You never had the option of grants if the info on your fafsa was incorrect.

Sorry.

Also, those two questions are not exactly the same (and not always the same amount) ... be sure you answer them correctly.  One is AGI, the other is "income earned from work".  This amount can be taken off your W2 forms or if you filed the 1040, lines 7 and two more lines I can't remember right now.

An example where the numbers may be different is if you have income from a savings account, checking account, or other investments.  That income is NOT earned from working.

Hope it helps.

Answer 4

Are you an independent or dependent student? If you are an independent student (married, parents are dead, or over the age of 24) who should be receiving a lot of aid if your income in only 9,000. However if your parents are also earning money anywhere over 100,000 then you might only get loans. Remember there is always work-study, scholarships, part-time jobs etc. Other ways of paying for college. Just make it work. Finally, alot of schools now have great financial aid programs for  students w/ incomes under $60,000. Good luck