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Well, well...just in time for the last few months I have to save for college costs for my daughter! I assume I should notify the college financial aid offices, but what about changing FASFA? And so far as I know I can't make changes to CSS. I wonder, how will the colleges treat this situation? Will they impute income of a certain amount anyway, expecting I'll finad another job before school starts this fall? I am so confused, and still in a state of shock. Any advice would be appreciated...

By Northstarmom (Northstarmom) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 12:54 am: Edit

Just letting you know that you have my sympathy.
If no one here knows the answer, call any financial aid office where your child has applied, and I'm sure they will give you good advice.
Best of luck as you look for a new job.

By Jenniferpa (Jenniferpa) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 12:08 pm: Edit

Well, there would be no point in changing the FAFSA since that deals with last year's income not this years. The best (only) thing to do is write to each financial aid office explaining the situation. I can't say how they will handle it (we're in a similar situation in that we know our income is going to drop substantially this year) but that's all you can do.

Good luck, and my sympathies.

Jennifer

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 04:06 pm: Edit

We were almost in the situation of having one income gone. We were told to write a special circumstances letter to the office of financial aid explaining what the special circumstances were...drop in income, reason, expected duration, etc. This was in response to a call made to the finaid office. They were wonderful...and said they do read these letters and consider them carefully. Call the finaid office at the college and ask them what they need to have. They will be able to tell you. Good luck to you in your job search and my it be a quick one!!

By Emeraldkity4 (Emeraldkity4) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 04:23 pm: Edit

FAFSA wont change since it is last year, not the upcoming year.
My husband was laid off after my daughter began college, but we submitted updated documentation to her college and they adjusted amount of aid
( I also suggest using afford.com)
they permit you to make payments now to stretch it over longer period of time, and also will make payments to college for you

By Angstridden (Angstridden) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 06:22 pm: Edit

We had a similar situation. My husband lost his business and investment due some poor decision making on his partners part. (His partner owned a greater %)
Basically we could have taken the loss last year or this year.
But thats because we had an investment loss which was huge.
You cant change the income on the FAFSA which reflects your earnings..only the taxes that you would have to pay on it due to losses.
So we could have reflected the loss on the FAFSA and it would have meant we owed 0 in taxes.
However we decided to wait and see what happens this year before deciding which year to take the loss.
We wrote a letter to one of the schools and I called them and they said that they would try to consider it in July..but packages were almost ready now for the students so it would not be reflected in the package we get this month.
BUT may play a role down the road.
So I would write a letter of explanation to the schoo.

By Iflyjets (Iflyjets) on Sunday, March 07, 2004 - 03:14 pm: Edit

Ouch!! Sorry to hear the difficult news, Starbucksfreak. I would quickly contact the fin aid offices at your D's top choice and "most probable" schools and ask them for advice. Some of them (other than state schools) may be able to offer some suggestions, even some help. Wish I had some better ideas or could help in a more substantive way! You'll be in my thoughts with good vibs going out.