FAFSA

Many people do not know if there is an income limit for filing the FAFSA. Or to put it in a better way, the question is if there is an income above which nobody qualifies for financial aid? Well, the answer is there is NO income limit for filing the FAFSA. This means that anyone with any income is eligible to submit a FAFSA form to the Department of Education. This creates another question if there is any absolute maximum income above which a person cannot receive financial aid? The answer to this questions is, it depends.

FAFSA uses a formula depending on your family contribution. There are many variables of which income is a very large part. It will calculate the assets in a family, the number of children in the household, and how many children are attending college. Lets say you have three children in college and your income is $250,000 a year, you will still have a family contribution. This family contribution will be spread across three schools. In this case, a family may qualify for the financial aid for all their children.

On the other hand, if there is a family with an income of $70,000 and one child in college, he may not qualify for the financial aid at certain schools if the family contribution exceeds the cost of attending, like a community college. Everything depends on the financial need of the family. A family having a higher income will have more needs due to number of children in college.

There are many government financial aid programs in which it will be hard to qualify under such scenario; high or low income. Pell Grants have a specific expected family contribution cutoff. Families who are not able to show financial need are not eligible for subsidized federal loans. It doesn’t mean that a family will not qualify for other types of aids including grants and scholarships.

All families should be encouraged to file for FAFSA. Even though you may have a high income, but still you may qualify for the aid. If your family contribution is higher than the cost of attending, the financial aid office comes to know that you are looking for some type of financial assistance. The school may also offer discounted tuition or other programs that will reduce the overall cost. So, its important to file for FAFSA to get some kind of financial aid in one way or the other.

Helpful resources: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/