Financial Aid for College Not Enough?

The needs of your individual circumstances can be considered by a financial aid administrator when deciding how much aid to give.

During this economic recession, the government is actively encouraging financial aid administrators to use their professional judgment to adjust the components of:

• calculating FAFSA EFC
• modifying the Cost of Attendance
• dependency and homelessness
• satisfactory academic progress
• eligibility for an unsubsidized Stafford loan without parental information
• loan certification

1. go in and simply change your FAFSA EFC- they can only adjust data in the formulas (which will probably result in changes)

   So, take a look at these formulas and know which components need to be changed.

2. give eligibility for federal student financial aid to someone who is ineligible by law
3. make a student who is classified as "independent", "dependent" (but they can make it go the other way)
4. establish a guideline to reclassify students as a group, for instance, to lower the income levels of all recently laid-off state workers (but they can do this individually, if asked)
5. cannot change anything for future years- only the current award year
6. do anything without documented proof to back it up

There is only one exception to the rule about documentation: a determination of homelessness can be made with just an interview of the student.

Situations Not Covered on College Financial Aid Forms

• Loss of income for any reason- if you can prove it, it can be considered.
• Loss of assets
• Death of a family member
• Serious illness of the student or a family member
• Additional dependents since the FAFSA was filed
• Marriage or divorce
• Relocation
• Homelessness

Some of these situations are written into the guidelines- some are covered by the phrase, "special circumstances as determined by the institution (school)". There are countless other reasons why a student may not be able to meet their FAFSA EFC (expected family contribution) and might qualify for more financial aid for college.

If your FAFSA application was chosen for verification (about one-third are) this will have to be done before any professional judgment changes are made.

Can't My College Give Me More Money Without Changing Federal Financial Aid Forms?

(Changing your federal financial aid information will likely make you eligible for more state college loans, grants and scholarships, too.)

Financial aid administrators have to balance their accountability to their schools, the Department of Education, and to students and families. They have to make consistent decisions that will stand up to review.

Fortunately for students, there is no number of professional judgment decisions that is considered to be too high or too low. And schools know that students will compare college costs to get the best deal they can.