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Financial Aid for College Not Enough?

If your financial aid for college is too low- you can appeal.

Of course, you must have a situation that you feel is not addressed in your FAFSA application.

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

But before you call or write and request a change, you need to know what they can't do. They cannot

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.

give eligibility for federal student financial aid to someone who is ineligible by law

make a student who is classified as "independent", "dependent" (but they can make it go the other way)

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)

cannot change anything for future years- only the current award year

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

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

Well, they can give you more institutional aid of course. But they will want to give you every possible penny of federal and state aid, first.

(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.

Getting more financial aid for college can depend on how well you describe and document your situation in your financial aid appeal letter. Prepare your appeal to make it easier for your financial aid administrator to decide in your favor.

A Pell grant is a college funding lifesaver.

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