FAFSA and Tricks

As many Parents and College students know paying for college is a very challenging task. Just attending a community college it could cost a few thousand dollars a year. Because of related expenses such as books, transportation and any many more. Also not to mention the lost of wages that a college student could be making working a their local McDonald's. So if you are a parent or a student whose funds are low and simply cannot afford education for yourself or your child, then Federal Financial Aid might be your best option to pay for expenses incurred while you or your child is in school.



How Financial Aid works is you have to meet certain Financial requirements.

* Be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen.

* Have a valid Social Security Number (unless you’re from the Republic of
the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau).

* Be registered with Selective Service if you are male and 18 to 25 years of age (go to www.sss.gov for more information).

* Have a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED) Certificate or pass an exam approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

* Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a degree or certificate in an eligible program at a school that participates in the federal student aid programs.

* Not have a drug conviction for an offense that occurred while you were receiving federal student aid (such as grants, loans, or work-study).
If you are dependent or independent student you may be asked to summit your tax information as well as your parent's tax information. Parents information will only be asked if for dependent students. It is very important parents must not claim child on their income taxes if their child is lists themselves as independent. This could result in the loss of Financial Aid.

If you do not meet some of the FAFSA requirements or need a little extra help with the college expenses there are more programs that can help. If you are attending a local community college that school may have something called a Board of Governors Fee Weaver. It is a program that the name varies from school to school and what is required of the student. The program is designed to help low income students that are either independent or dependent students pay for their classes, excluding health and other fees. With dependent students, parents will be asked to summit their tax information to the school and must make under $24000.00 a year. For independent student the bar is set much lower. Students who have no income simply have to write a letter stating how the generated income from the last year. Again parents of independent students must not claim their child on their taxes.

Both Financial Aid and Board of Governors Fee Weavers have age requirements in order define if a student is independent or not. They are also implemented differently because of how the school conducts it adminstrative activities. 23 is the age a student is considered independent most by school's Financial and the U.S. Government. The student must also not be listed on any income tax statement when the filing. If the student is listed he will be consider dependent and may be disqualified. This age restriction is not valid if a student has gotten emancipation from his or her parents.