1Togo Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Dd will begin college August 2016. When should we file FASA for her? My husband began building her file, and the tax info is for 2014. Based on our 2014 income, she won't qualify for anything. However, my husband may be unemployed by the end of the month which means a huge drop in income. If we update her file after he files the 2015 tax return, is there any possibility she may qualify for grants for 2016 because our income change? Does any of that make sense? Thanks. 1togo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 The FAFSA for the 2016-2017 school year will be available starting January 1, 2016. It would use your tax information from 2015. So, the timing sounds like it would work well for you since your 2015 income will be lower than 2014. The sooner the better for filling out and submitting the form once it is available so most of us use estimated tax information and then later update it once we have officially done our taxes. Keep in mind that I've seen something recently that President Obama is trying to make it easier to complete the FAFSA earlier by allowing (requiring?) the previous tax year to be used, starting with the 2017-2018 FAFSA. . .so 2015 info would be used for the 2017-2018 FAFSA and would be available starting October 2016. It's causing a little confusion because it seems like 2015 info would be used two years in a row. I'll try to link to the article on NPR. http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/09/14/440283994/obama-makes-college-aid-application-earlier-and-easier Edited to add: If you have started the FAFSA already you are using the wrong form. No harm done but you will have to start over with the 2016-2017 form in January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 If you become unemployed after filing the forms, you can appeal to the financial aid office for the school your DD is attending. Some schools are "first come first served" for aid, but many can adjust the financial aid award to reflect your new circumstances. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 Thanks so much. Dh started dd's FASA form, but I thought it was too early. We will file in January and keep the appeal on the back burner. I knew I could ask here and get a quick answer. I appreciate the work that others have done investigating. We have a health crisis in the family, and I am barely keeping everything together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Thanks so much. Dh started dd's FASA form, but I thought it was too early. We will file in January and keep the appeal on the back burner. I knew I could ask here and get a quick answer. I appreciate the work that others have done investigating. We have a health crisis in the family, and I am barely keeping everything together. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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