Comments on: Is the FAFSA Fair? http://studenomics.com/application/is-the-fafsa-fair/ Mon, 21 May 2012 04:32:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jenn http://studenomics.com/application/is-the-fafsa-fair/#comment-120474 Jenn Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:51:41 +0000 http://studenomics.com/?p=3580#comment-120474 Among my boyfriend, my best friend, and I, I have seen first hand the flaws in the FAFSA. I have actually thought about complaining to someone at a government level to see if someone can bring up the flaws and have them fixed. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that we live in a country that will help us go to school and get our lives together, but it really makes me ill that the government help doesn't help the people who really need it, and its given to those who don't. I am about to graduate with an Associates Degree from a Community College and transfer to my dream school in Missouri to go to one of the best Equestrian programs in the US. I stayed home for two years to save money and ended up saving about $80,000. I couldn't afford to move to Missouri as a Freshman because I had NO help what so ever from my family. My dad is VP of a tobacco company and my mom is an secretary at the college I am attending, and they make together about $100,000+ a year. Because my family is middle class and makes a good amount of money the FAFSA just expects that they are going to give it to me to pay for my college. What the FAFSA doesn't realize is my family has their own bills to pay and that money is spoken for. I will be 21 by the time I am in Missouri and I am getting no government help because I am STILL considered a dependent until I am 24. It really frustrates me. To make matters worse my boyfriend, who decided to move with me to go to a different college, is 22 and filed the FAFSA on his mom's tax papers (because his parents are divorced) and she filed for bankruptcy and they still gave him NO HELP. So, no help for me, no help for him. Then later this past semester, I get a phone call from my best friend who tells me she was just standing in line trying to figure out why they cut her financial aid, and the African American girl in front of her was talking about how she got $5000 to go to a college that cost about $1000, because of her financial aid. I am not racist or anything like that but to get more money because of your skin color is CRAZY to me. Especially in a place that you aren't really a minority. Our government needs to stop basing things on race and on who your parents are. I just want enough money to go to school and I really don't want to be paying back student loans the next 20 years in an economy that I may not be able to get a job in. Thanks for letting me vent! Among my boyfriend, my best friend, and I, I have seen first hand the flaws in the FAFSA. I have actually thought about complaining to someone at a government level to see if someone can bring up the flaws and have them fixed. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that we live in a country that will help us go to school and get our lives together, but it really makes me ill that the government help doesn’t help the people who really need it, and its given to those who don’t. I am about to graduate with an Associates Degree from a Community College and transfer to my dream school in Missouri to go to one of the best Equestrian programs in the US. I stayed home for two years to save money and ended up saving about $80,000. I couldn’t afford to move to Missouri as a Freshman because I had NO help what so ever from my family. My dad is VP of a tobacco company and my mom is an secretary at the college I am attending, and they make together about $100,000+ a year. Because my family is middle class and makes a good amount of money the FAFSA just expects that they are going to give it to me to pay for my college. What the FAFSA doesn’t realize is my family has their own bills to pay and that money is spoken for. I will be 21 by the time I am in Missouri and I am getting no government help because I am STILL considered a dependent until I am 24. It really frustrates me. To make matters worse my boyfriend, who decided to move with me to go to a different college, is 22 and filed the FAFSA on his mom’s tax papers (because his parents are divorced) and she filed for bankruptcy and they still gave him NO HELP. So, no help for me, no help for him. Then later this past semester, I get a phone call from my best friend who tells me she was just standing in line trying to figure out why they cut her financial aid, and the African American girl in front of her was talking about how she got $5000 to go to a college that cost about $1000, because of her financial aid. I am not racist or anything like that but to get more money because of your skin color is CRAZY to me. Especially in a place that you aren’t really a minority. Our government needs to stop basing things on race and on who your parents are. I just want enough money to go to school and I really don’t want to be paying back student loans the next 20 years in an economy that I may not be able to get a job in.
Thanks for letting me vent!

]]> By: Steph http://studenomics.com/application/is-the-fafsa-fair/#comment-91463 Steph Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:41:41 +0000 http://studenomics.com/?p=3580#comment-91463 I'm having some of the same issues. My father lost his job to outsourcing a couple years ago and because of the low income I received quite a bit of help from FAFSA. However, this last year he was finally forced to take out money from his 401k (way prematurely) to keep from going under before he gets settled as a freelancer. Problem is, you still have to report that income on the FAFSA so my EFC went skyhigh despite the fact that my financial situation is actually even worse since I've moved out on my own, thus rendering me ineligible for anything but loans. I don't understand why I can't label myself as an independent. After all, I pay all of my bills myself, and work several jobs to do so. My brother, who is officially independent, however, is fine. FAFSA covered just about as much as he needed, meanwhile I'm not getting anything because I'm too young. I’m having some of the same issues. My father lost his job to outsourcing a couple years ago and because of the low income I received quite a bit of help from FAFSA. However, this last year he was finally forced to take out money from his 401k (way prematurely) to keep from going under before he gets settled as a freelancer. Problem is, you still have to report that income on the FAFSA so my EFC went skyhigh despite the fact that my financial situation is actually even worse since I’ve moved out on my own, thus rendering me ineligible for anything but loans. I don’t understand why I can’t label myself as an independent. After all, I pay all of my bills myself, and work several jobs to do so. My brother, who is officially independent, however, is fine. FAFSA covered just about as much as he needed, meanwhile I’m not getting anything because I’m too young.

]]> By: AB Rutherford http://studenomics.com/application/is-the-fafsa-fair/#comment-20785 AB Rutherford Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:40:23 +0000 http://studenomics.com/?p=3580#comment-20785 I really appreciate the swift reply. I am not the kind of person to ask for handouts but getting my degree has been a nightmare. The first two years were just great. Then parents got a divorce, and the one I moved with had a severe financial disaster - so dropped out for 2 years and hustled for work. so hard to get anything solid or decent where I lived at the time. then I got a decent job and started saving, wanted to finish. So I applied and got full grants to go back. I even had some refunded to me(which I am paying for summer school with). Then I reapplied only to find out I wouldn't qualify. Saddening. again, thanks a lot for your help. The school has closed down due to a snowstorm(I'm in the south, heh) so I will call them Monday to find out what I can do from here on out. I had no idea there was even a possibility of adjusting the EFC, I thought I was simply shit out of luck! I really appreciate the swift reply.

I am not the kind of person to ask for handouts but getting my degree has been a nightmare. The first two years were just great. Then parents got a divorce, and the one I moved with had a severe financial disaster – so dropped out for 2 years and hustled for work. so hard to get anything solid or decent where I lived at the time. then I got a decent job and started saving, wanted to finish. So I applied and got full grants to go back. I even had some refunded to me(which I am paying for summer school with). Then I reapplied only to find out I wouldn’t qualify. Saddening.

again, thanks a lot for your help. The school has closed down due to a snowstorm(I’m in the south, heh) so I will call them Monday to find out what I can do from here on out.

I had no idea there was even a possibility of adjusting the EFC, I thought I was simply shit out of luck!

]]> By: AB Rutherford http://studenomics.com/application/is-the-fafsa-fair/#comment-20778 AB Rutherford Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:25:06 +0000 http://studenomics.com/?p=3580#comment-20778 I am in a weird situation. This past year 09-10, I qualified for full pell and all my tuition was paid for becuase I didnt make any money in 2008. I had returned to school after a 2 year layoff. Almost all of 2009, I worked full time and made about 23k for the year. Now I had changed to a part-time schedule from August - Now and will be losing this job next month because they will not work with my school scheduleanymore(they were letting me work 20hrs/weekend) and the commute to work is about 35 miles. Thankfully, due to the good advice here and elsewhere, I've saved a good amount to take care of my living for the next entire year in case I cannot find work, assuming I stay in the same apartment and my roommate stays(he will cuz he has about 1.5 yrs left of school, too). I live in an incredibly small apartment 1 mile from school. I am extremely frugal, never spending money on worthless shit, just the bare essentials. My problem is when I filled out the FAFSA this year my EFC was like 6100 while it was ZERO last time. After it was processed they said I would recieve no federal pell's this year. I am an independent. It's just kind of disheartening because I worked my ass off to get back into school to finish my degree and was hoping I would get some more help for my final 2 semesters. Now that I am losing my job, I know that money is for sure going to be tight. I just wonder how I would go about getting them to adjust my EFC? I am in a weird situation. This past year 09-10, I qualified for full pell and all my tuition was paid for becuase I didnt make any money in 2008. I had returned to school after a 2 year layoff.

Almost all of 2009, I worked full time and made about 23k for the year. Now I had changed to a part-time schedule from August – Now and will be losing this job next month because they will not work with my school scheduleanymore(they were letting me work 20hrs/weekend) and the commute to work is about 35 miles.

Thankfully, due to the good advice here and elsewhere, I’ve saved a good amount to take care of my living for the next entire year in case I cannot find work, assuming I stay in the same apartment and my roommate stays(he will cuz he has about 1.5 yrs left of school, too). I live in an incredibly small apartment 1 mile from school. I am extremely frugal, never spending money on worthless shit, just the bare essentials.

My problem is when I filled out the FAFSA this year my EFC was like 6100 while it was ZERO last time. After it was processed they said I would recieve no federal pell’s this year. I am an independent.

It’s just kind of disheartening because I worked my ass off to get back into school to finish my degree and was hoping I would get some more help for my final 2 semesters.

Now that I am losing my job, I know that money is for sure going to be tight. I just wonder how I would go about getting them to adjust my EFC?

]]> By: Edwin http://studenomics.com/application/is-the-fafsa-fair/#comment-20716 Edwin Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:39:52 +0000 http://studenomics.com/?p=3580#comment-20716 When I went to college my parents paid not a single penny. Yet they are middle class (around 80k a year) so the amount of assistance I received was much less than friends in the exact same situation but who's parents had less money. Of course my person experience is only anecdotal so doesn't have much impact on how well the system is actually working. I believe that college should be very attainable to anyone, which it currently isn't because not only do people have to go through the work of college itself (as they should), but they also have to deal with living a life like anyone else while doing that. This can be helped if they are getting a grant but can be much more difficult if they are working full time. When I went to college my parents paid not a single penny. Yet they are middle class (around 80k a year) so the amount of assistance I received was much less than friends in the exact same situation but who’s parents had less money. Of course my person experience is only anecdotal so doesn’t have much impact on how well the system is actually working.

I believe that college should be very attainable to anyone, which it currently isn’t because not only do people have to go through the work of college itself (as they should), but they also have to deal with living a life like anyone else while doing that. This can be helped if they are getting a grant but can be much more difficult if they are working full time.

]]> By: Edward - Entry Level Dilemma http://studenomics.com/application/is-the-fafsa-fair/#comment-20702 Edward - Entry Level Dilemma Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:00:03 +0000 http://studenomics.com/?p=3580#comment-20702 The system is pretty flawed. It also is biased against pursuing advanced degrees. With the same income, my EFC as an independent student was $0 for the last year of my bachelor's degree. And $1800 to start my master's. Since I didn't have $1800, I've put off graduate school for a few years. If you can prove that your income is going to change , they will review your application and make an adjustment. A few years ago, my mother had a heart attack and had to quit her job, i.e. household income went down 30%. After my parent's contacted the Department of Education, they asked for some documentation and adjusted the EFC. The system is pretty flawed. It also is biased against pursuing advanced degrees. With the same income, my EFC as an independent student was $0 for the last year of my bachelor’s degree. And $1800 to start my master’s. Since I didn’t have $1800, I’ve put off graduate school for a few years.

If you can prove that your income is going to change , they will review your application and make an adjustment. A few years ago, my mother had a heart attack and had to quit her job, i.e. household income went down 30%. After my parent’s contacted the Department of Education, they asked for some documentation and adjusted the EFC.

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