Back to School?
It is that time of year when social media is filled with posts of youngsters heading off to the first days of kindergarten, high school senior year, and everything in between. I’m squarely in the middle of the grade school years with my girls, slowly settling into the rhythm of the new fall semester.
If you are embarking on a child’s senior year of high school, moving into the fall semester is definitely not slow! The calendar is jam-packed with events and celebrations thrown in along with ACT testing dates, college application due dates, and now FAFSA/SAI (Free Application for Federal Student Aid/Student Aid Index) due dates. This last due date might not necessarily be on the top of the list, but as the year progresses, it definitely moves up in priority.
There are scores of pages online advising how to pay for college, such as obtaining scholarships and seeking financial aid. College funding can primarily be broken down into two broad categories: needs-based and merit-based funding.
Needs-based funding will be based on the FAFSA and Student Aid Index (SAI). These formulas take into consideration the parent’s income and assets, as well as the student income and assets.
Not everyone will qualify for needs-based aid. However, just because a family does not believe they will qualify for financial aid, does not mean the FAFSA should be skipped. Many schools require a FAFSA as part of the application to obtain school-specific funding. |