Gap year and financial aid

[Juliegmom]

My dd is pretty sure that she wants to take a gap year.

 

Does anyone know how this may affect her federal and state aid? I'm anticipating that she will qualify for a Pell grant and Cal grant. Would these remain in place if our financial status remained unchanged and if she waited a year to enroll?

 

The university she is considering will allow deferred enrollment and retain academic scholarships so there is no problem on that end.

[Tsuga]

I don't think that affects financial aid, though you will want to speak with the financial aid officer at the school. The big things that affect aid:

 

1. Independence (financial): if you are married or 25 you are independent, and your parents' income doesn't count.

2. Parents' income if not independent, plus yours, including merit aid.

3. Some assets and savings--they can't ask you to mortgage your house but they can expect you to sell other stuff.

4. How much aid you've already received, including whether you are simultaneously in other state programs such as Running Start / dual enrollment if it was free in some cases. GI Bill stuff would factor in here.

5. How many credits you take (you have to take a minimum and some require full-time status, though it depends).

6. Whether you're making progress towards your degree.*

 

That's what gets you Pell, state need (Cal) and subsidized loans.

 

Those go for all students no matter when they were last in school. You could be 35, get your GED paying cash, and then go back at 37 to start your associates. You get the same aid, dollar for dollar, in federal grants, as someone who's fresh out of high school, if you have the same need (income:need ratio).

 

* I.e. don't take 60 credits in underwater basket weaving then decide you'd like to try underwater welding instead, and also you failed algebra but got a waiver from underwater basket weaving department and now you need to take algebra for the third time, and then change your program again so that you're at 180 credits with a cumulative GPA of 1.9, and have four more years to go to major in German.

 

[Lori D.]

On 6/5/2015 at 1:47 PM, Juliegmom said:

My dd is pretty sure that she wants to take a gap year.

Does anyone know how this may affect her federal and state aid? I'm anticipating that she will qualify for a Pell grant and Cal grant. Would these remain in place if our financial status remained unchanged and if she waited a year to enroll?

The university she is considering will allow deferred enrollment and retain academic scholarships so there is no problem on that end.

I believe the path you take is to:
- go through the normal admissions process during 12th grade
- make it clear from the beginning that a gap year is planned on
- be admitted and offered the financial aid package
- submit any paper work they may require for gap year status and to hold the student's aid
- DO NOT TAKE ANY COLLEGE COURSES of any kind from any school during the gap year (no online courses, no community college courses, no overseas courses, etc.) -- that knocks the student out of gap year status AND knocks the student out of freshman status and loses the student all of the freshman status college scholarships

The school should have a process and policy in place, and should be able to guide you through it. Good luck! ?

Edited September 17, 2018 by Lori D.

[Tsuga]

I believe the path you take is to:

- go through the normal admissions process during 12th grade

- make it clear from the beginning that a gap year is planned on

- be admitted and offered the financial aid package

- submit any paper work they may require for gap year status and to hold the student's aid

- DO NOT TAKE ANY COLLEGE COURSES of any kind from any school during the gap year (no online courses, no community college courses, no overseas courses, etc.) -- that knocks the student out of gap year status AND knocks the student out of freshman status and loses the student all of the freshman status college scholarships

 

The school should have a process and policy in place, and should be able to guide you through it. Good luck! :)

 

Freshman status will not affect federal aid, though. It could affect acceptance and scholarships, though.

[Juliegmom]

This is so helpful. Thank you so much! My daughter will be a senior next year, but I am looking ahead and planning as best we can. She may go to bible college in Hungary for a year.

 

Hmm... could this possibly affect her freshman status if she tranfers to a Christian university? I imagine it could if some of the courses are transferable.

 

Any thoughts?

[G5052]

This is so helpful. Thank you so much! My daughter will be a senior next year, but I am looking ahead and planning as best we can. She may go to bible college in Hungary for a year.

 

Hmm... could this possibly affect her freshman status if she tranfers to a Christian university? I imagine it could if some of the courses are transferable.

 

Any thoughts?

 

You can ask, but most colleges will change her status to "transfer" if any credit courses are taken.  This may mean less financial aid because most aid is oriented towards freshmen.  Federal aid won't be affected, but she may not be eligible for college 4-year scholarships in that situation.

 

I know of a few schools that do primarily 1-year scholarships that are available to any level, but that's not the norm.  The disadvantage there is that you have to reapply every year.

[JanetC]

This is so helpful. Thank you so much! My daughter will be a senior next year, but I am looking ahead and planning as best we can. She may go to bible college in Hungary for a year.

 

Hmm... could this possibly affect her freshman status if she tranfers to a Christian university? I imagine it could if some of the courses are transferable.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Yes, whether the credits transfer or not, if she enrolls in a college after high school, she is a transfer student if she changes schools.  You are only a first-time undergraduate once.

[Lori D.]

On 6/6/2015 at 2:21 AM, Juliegmom said:

… My daughter will be a senior next year, but I am looking ahead and planning as best we can. She may go to bible college in Hungary for a year.

 

Hmm... could this possibly affect her freshman status if she tranfers to a Christian university? I imagine it could if some of the courses are transferable.

Whether or not any courses taken at the Hungarian Bible College are *accepted* as credit by any future colleges is NOT what affects freshman status. Taking even ONE college level course, from any school in any format, AFTER high school graduation turns the student into a college student. Ever after that, the student is no longer considered a freshman, but a transfer student. Federal aid would be unaffected, but the student would only be eligible to apply for transfer academic scholarships from the college. (Note: there are far fewer transfer scholarships, and fewer of them are renewable -- the bulk of scholarship money is awarded to freshmen.)

If DD attends Bible College in Hungary for a year, it will not be a gap year, but rather freshman year of college done as overseas study. Speak directly with the U.S. Christian university of interest to find out which, if any, credits from the Hungarian Bible College they would accept as transfer credits. They may accept none, meaning DD would still need 4 years at the U.S. school (after a 1 year of school in Hungary) to earn a Bachelor's degree.

Also, be checking now about what credentials DD would need to attend the Hungarian Bible School -- they may require an accredited high school diploma, which means you would need to sign up with an accredited cover school or organization for this coming year.

BEST of luck as you plan for post-high school graduation and college! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Lori D.

[lllll]

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/dependency-status.png

 

To be classified as Independent, age must be 24yo (or older) by Dec. 31 of the school year for which you are applying for financial aid.

 

 

[Juliegmom]

Thank you so much!!

[Corraleno]

Does anyone know if *auditing* a college class during a gap year has the same effect on freshman status as taking a class for credit? DS is considering a gap year, and would like to be able to audit some foreign language classes if that were an option. 

[katilac]

Does anyone know if *auditing* a college class during a gap year has the same effect on freshman status as taking a class for credit? DS is considering a gap year, and would like to be able to audit some foreign language classes if that were an option. 

 

Gap year policies vary wildly. I personally would not want my student to risk it. Instead, I would encourage self-study, looking for meet up groups, checking out recreational classes, and so on. Most people can't get to fluency via self-study, but there are an abundance of resources that will take you through the beginner level. 

 

Here's a link to a bunch of policies school by school; it focuses on gap years in general, but I scanned it and some of the specifically mention taking courses (or not): 

 

http://www.americangap.org/fav-colleges.php