If 1 Adult Child Receives SSI Do you count them in household on FAFSA?

[Guest guest]

Hi all and Happy New Year to you all!. Well Jan 1st always brings families with

college aged kids to the time when FAFSA applications need to get filed.

So this is year 1 for me to fill out the FAFSA AND have another adult child

getting ready to start college and am in the process of fillining out the FAFSA.

One of the questions asks how many persons in the household? When you click on

the helpful hints it asks you for all persons for which you provide more than

50% of support for.

Ok so with the 1 adult child receiving SSI, by " counting them " in this " number

in household " , will this have any negative affect on their monthly SSI?

They do not ask for the names of the persons in the household on the FAFSA

application, but will they be asking for more information later where I would

have to give my DAC who receives SSI's name?

***FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD,

1) WHAT DID YOU DO?

2) IS THERE ANY IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ADULT CHILD (OVER 18) RECEIVING SSI, ARE

THERE ISSUES?

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

We just did this a few years ago.

FAFSA asks if anyone in the household is receiving Social Security benefits. 

FAFSA does not make distinctions between benefits that are reserved for an

individual--don't ask me why--and does not even ask which family member receives

benefits.

Even the tips on financial aid websites will say that FAFSA doesn't have

anything in its forms to report special circumstances.  So it's up to you to

inform the college directly.  In the past, folks would often do this after the

college issued its financial aid award letter.  Nowadays, with so many folks

who need help, I think you might like to do this earlier. 

I'd suggest that once you fill out your FAFSA (glad you're doing that now), let

the colleges know you've done so.  If it's preliminary, tell them that what

you've done online with FAFSA is preliminary, but you want them to be aware that

the Social Security benefits mentioned are for a disabled dependent child, and

that such money is not available to the family; it's only for a few very

specific expenses for that child.

Here's what we did:  we filled out the FAFSA, including the SSI benefit amount

for that year.  We also included our son as a dependent--he was a dependent on

income tax, so to FAFSA that would square.

Based on what I'd read on online tips for financial aid, we just did the usual

FAFSA in January, notifying the colleges that it was preliminary, and we did not

yet have all the numbers.

When I got the final numbers in, around late February or early March, I sent the

college financial aid person an email saying it had been suggested by several

people that I submit to the college financial aid staff a narrative

about our family's situation, because I felt our family situation merited a

special circumstances review.  And I asked how they'd like that

submitted--email, snail mail?

I then sent them a family narrative.  I mentioned 

- my son's dx and that he was a spec ed student from 3-22

- years of therapy for my son, at our expense

- he was done with school but had no job (true at the time)

- what's listed in the FAFSA as Social Security benefits was SSI money for him

only, with tight federal regulations on how it could be spent

- the inadequate state of housing options open to those with DD in IL, and that

we anticipated that our son would live with us and need our financial assistance

for the rest of our lives

- that our son's 2 siblings were likely to provide financial assistance to our

son after we were no longer living

I also told them (this might not be true in your case) that we had told our

college-age son many years before that we'd pay for 2 years at a junior college,

but the remainder of his college education was to be paid by him.  We clarified

that he was welcome to live at home and use our car during that time, but that

we would not and could not pay his tuition and fees.

I doubt that the last part (his tuition was his responsibility) carried weight

with the college folks.  They probably figured that soft-hearted parents change

their minds.

I got this whole idea from one of those websites like FastWeb.  Search a few

for " special circumstances review " or " financial aid review " .

Here's typical

advice:http://www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/2253-ask-kantro-questions-a\

bout-retirement-plan-contributions-and-help-for-a-student-whose-brother-has-canc\

er?page=2

Bear in mind that a college may ask for copies of medical bills, thinking that

those numbers adequately reflect the situation.  That happened with one college

we dealt with, and I had a hard time making headway with them that this was

different.

-Gail

________________________________

From: Diane S. <swedegrl@...>

IPADDUnite

Sent: Sunday, January 1, 2012 8:44 PM

Subject: If 1 Adult Child Receives SSI Do you count them in

household on FAFSA?

 

Hi all and Happy New Year to you all!. Well Jan 1st always brings families with

college aged kids to the time when FAFSA applications need to get filed.

So this is year 1 for me to fill out the FAFSA AND have another adult child

getting ready to start college and am in the process of fillining out the FAFSA.

One of the questions asks how many persons in the household? When you click on

the helpful hints it asks you for all persons for which you provide more than

50% of support for.

Ok so with the 1 adult child receiving SSI, by " counting them " in this " number

in household " , will this have any negative affect on their monthly SSI?

They do not ask for the names of the persons in the household on the FAFSA

application, but will they be asking for more information later where I would

have to give my DAC who receives SSI's name?

***FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD,

1) WHAT DID YOU DO?

2) IS THERE ANY IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ADULT CHILD (OVER 18) RECEIVING SSI, ARE

THERE ISSUES?

Thanks!