Unemployed - how do I keep my son in college ?

[sallystyle]

My son was recently accepted to
Berkeley. He received a scholarship and a couple of Federal Grants. They covered most, but not all, of the expenses. I was looking to refi with about $10k cash out to cover the balance. But now, refi is out of the question and also co-signing for a student loan. I was on the internet most of the night looking for some kind of help, direction and links. It is very confusing and there are also a lot of scam sites out there. Does anyone know if he can revise his fafsa to state I am unemployed and maybe get more grant money? I haven't told him yet. He needs to concentrate on his studies. I figured I would first give him the bad new and then hopefully give him the good news where to find money to stay in school. He is good through October and that's it. Thanks.

[tinpadro]

All he has to do is tell the financial aid officer at the school about your change in income. They will have a form which must be accompanied with documentation of unemployment, etc. They will then determine if his FAFSA needs to be corrected which it probably will. Then he will get more money.

I did it myself and it works. You just have to go in and tell them because they don't know unless you say something.

[sallystyle]

I didn't know you could do that. That is great news. The more they give him, the better. I wil tell him to go to Financial Aid and get what ever form he needs. Haven't gotten my paper work from UE yet, but it should be soon. Thanks so much for the info.

[tinpadro]

good to hear. the form is usually called verification of loss of income or something like that. Upon verification of the documentation it allows the financial aid officer to disregard the fafsa and look at the current income which of course is laughable. if they accept it then they submit that to the dept of education and a new fafsa student aid report is generated after a couple days. it will state that the family's EFC or expected family contribution has been changed. It is then up to the school to determine exactly how much the student will be eligible for based upon the new information.
All of this is due to the Stimulus Money that was passed in FEB of this year. This is the first time you can actually get a break that I know of and not be screwed in a catch 22 with the fafsa prior year tax data and current year being broke.
Check the school's website under the financial aid tab to see if you can download the form yourself otherwise just pick it up at the office but turn it in ASAP since fall term is maddening at the financial aid office and you have to get on it pronto.
Hope this helps.