Financial Aid Applications

Maybe it's not the parents at all. The student may be embarrased in front of you and is saying what he thinks you want to hear. Maybe the parents can't afford to send the child to college and has told the student they will have to get scholerships to go to college. Parents also may not want the school to know how much $ is coming in their house. I worked for a high school 15 years...it was like Peyton Place! Everyone knew everybodies business.

Hi- I have a daughter attending college next fall. I know that our school district has meetings for parents to come and learn more about the whole application process. However, even with that, and with my husband and I being relatively savvy parents regarding this topic, I found the entire college preparation and application process to be extremely overwhelming and sometimes confusing. What if you called a parent after each meeting with a student and had a follow-up meeting with them (at a time when they wouldn't have to miss work)? What if you sent a follow-up letter to parents explaining in layman's terms examples of how students from all different backgrounds and financial standing have been able to attend college? Just some ideas. If you'd like to talk about this, let me know offline.

Hi, J.,

I'll bet a lot of these kids have divorced parents who don't get along and nobody understands that only the residential parent/parent who claims the deduction must provide financial aid info. That's typically the parent who is more involved/invested in the child's education anyway, don't you think? If you can make a point of telling the divorced ones that only one parent's info is needed, that might help. Also, if you have a lot of first-generation college-bound kids, foreign-born parents are often distrusting and suspicious of providing any $ data, so they may need reassurance (though if they and/or the kids are illegal, forget it). Finally, the online process can be confusing and frustrating, and a written ap is surely no better. Are you offering a workshop at the high school for parents? I attended one before my oldest started on this path and it did help a little.

Good luck! You are an angel for those who accept your help!
S.
mom to 2 in college and the oldest just made Phi Beta Kappa!!!!! with plenty of financial aid!

Tell them to ask their parents for the tax forms so they can fill it out. Maybe even suggest that you sit with the highschooler at their home or suggest a meeting at the counselor's office with the parents to fill out the forms. Ask the counselor to call the parents to encourage them to meet to fill out the forms.

Some parents might not do it because they can't figure the forms out. Some parents might be evading taxes so they don't want to be exposed. Maybe some are lying about their taxes and the application for aid would expose them. Some kids might not be asking their parents to fill out the forms.

It could be a multitude of things....some parents might be lazy. It is frustrating though. Not really many reasons that all kids can't go to college these days with all the programs, aid, and work programs available to kids today.

That really is sad, but I have to say I had very little help from my parents and pretty much did it myself. I didn't even know there was an option to go to college until my school counsler told me. HE was like you're an A student, you should be applying for scholarships. I think my Mom didn't like disclosing info either but so what? No one is going to hand you money with no information or proof that you need it. HELLO! Anyway, I basically did it myself and got the info off my parents tax return. I realized it was very important for the rest of my life! So it's too bad that some kids have parents that are so selfish but these are the kids that, if they can be focussed enough to overcome it, will have real character when they grow up.

Students can fill out their own applications. They just need to print out the signature forms for the parnet to sign and their mom or dad s.s.# to do it.

Hi J.,

I too have the same feeling that you have regarding this issue. I am an Associate Director of Financial Aid for an online university and have found that parents are the most uncooperative in the entire procss. What school do you volunteer at?

Well, let me tell you, I have done all I could to encourage my daughter to apply for financial aid and scholarships. I started bugging her before the end of her junior year. She's now almost out of school and to date has only filled out 5 scholarship apps. I've given her lists and lists to apply and nothing. She has said that some require specific things and she really didn't qualify, but I'm sure out of the hundreds that I have given her, more than five were appropriate for her. Now she's been accepted to school and I'm trying to figure out where the money is coming from.

T.

I am just starting to look at colleges for my oldest son. I would like to know about where such applications can be found. You can bet I will be filling them out!!! Thanks.

L.

Because of people like yourself, there are alot of kids that are going to college. When I was in High School, I too, did not get support from my father when it was time to file papers for college. I am the oldest in my family, and found myself overwhelmed with the information that existed. I did not get the help from my dad. I went to a community college took classes, never filled in any financial aid forms and dad had to pay for the classes with his credit card. He hounded me about the balance for years.

As a parent today, I know better. I will help my children fill out any forms needed for their education. I will also help any of my kids friends who have the same situation as I did when I was growing up.

Thank you for caring for the kids in high school. I just wish there was more people like you when I was 17.

God bless you!!

Maybe you could set up a couple of times, nights and/or weekends, for them to come in to receive help in filling the apps out. They could be daunted by the process, maybe English is a second language. It could also be that they are embarrassed either because they make too little and don't want to admit that, or they may think they make too much to qualify. Also consider thier ethnic background, some cultures are too proud to admit they may need financial help. If you can find out why these parents are not responding, you can make a plan to change that.

Parental support can be challenging. I would suggest that establishing a relationship with parents at the begininng of the year is key. One must have creative ways offering incentives to encourage parental support, family friendly times and location. You must remember that parents have "hectic schedules," that includes work, lack of transportation and other children, especially if they are single parents. Considering those factors, you must spark the interest for parents to attend and door prizes are a great. I'm sure you are probably thinking, why should I have to encourage a parent to attend a financial aid seminar for THEIR child. Well, we live in a society where some have poor parenting skills little education and limited resources. When some parents think of college they think of money and when you have little money, the interest is low.
I have experience working with parents from various economic backgrouds. I believe I can share a few ideas to get the parents support and involved, however I need more details about the culture of the students, school and the community it serves. If interested email your number, I will be happy to share.

I used to handle financial aid for colleges. What I would personally do is contact the parents of the child to come in and be assisted with filling out the information. Sometimes parents didnt understand what it meant to fill out the forms and were overwhelmed. Other times you did have the dead beats that didnt want to help there kids and didnt understand that there kids were legally under them until age 22 or 24 I cant remember the exact age. So I had many kids that had to wait until that age to fill out the forms etc.

Calling the parents in for a meeting might help the process. They also may not understand what financial aid is etc.

I think there are a lot of parents who are interested but if you have a child like mine - he is always unavailable, won't let me help him fill out the forms, and somehow the financial director of a college he was accepted to keeps calling him and not me. AS a highschool senior my son is very busy and he hasn't had a job because he is involved with school activities. The people in financial aid departments do not call me back. This doesn't help. We filled out FAFSA With last year's taxes and got a roundabout estimate, but need to do further with this years. It is frustrating because several colleges refuse to talk to me, they prefer him and at his age he is not interested in calling them back and discussing this and forgets to tell me. I leave them messages and they call him again. I am extremely specific about the fact that I am the one that will be able to help him. My older son ended up going into the military, but told me that I should have filled out forms. I actually signed him up for a class which he dropped out of in a community college (at his request). Yes it is sad that there are parents not interested. But there are parents who are very interested like myself, but I cannot do it all. The applications also include scholarship requests and I cannot write out essays that are required for them. I actually did go ahead and fill out another application for admission to a college and requested that my son sign it. Not to send him away to school, but to get him to understand that this is his future. There are a lot of parents who would love their children to go to college but are limited to what they can do. When I went to college I filled out my own forms, applications and whatever else I could. It was part of growing into a responsible future adult.Sadly, some of these students have parents who are dying to help, (such as myself), but have been met with lots of obstacles. If you can help find a way where student and parents won't butt heads, I am sure it would be very helpful.

I have 3 students and have been filling out the free government fafsa form for 6 years now. I also do my own taxes with turbotax every year and do my kids taxes with this same program. (It would be even better if there was a module that provided data directly into the fafsa forms!) I have encouraged the people I talk with to just open up the fafsa form and use it. I know students who have gotten money for school using this government fafsa form.

The alternative path for many students is to work for a year after high school and attend community college and be thinking about having an area of specialization if the student is not sure what to do next.

Another idea is the financial advantage of creating a college account (529 account or other savings when your kids are small to be getting ready and setting aside part of their college money and encouraging relatives to donate part of the birthday money to your childs "going to college fund")

Is there a way to help high school students with the fafsa form after I retire from my day job in a few more years? Right now I am working more than one job to support my college kids.

WOW, thanks for posting this. I have a sophomore and we too will need financial aid. Can you let me know more about this process? Since she is our first one, don't know what the high school does to alert parents - maybe in senior year? I'd love to find out more if you can tell us the "ins and outs" of what is available, other sources, etc.

Thank you for this!

You're talking about the FAFSA right? Tell the students specifically that all of the information they need is on their parents tax return papers. You will probably need to wait until after April 15th, but after that maybe you could have a FAFSA party at the school computer lab where the parents or the students can bring in their tax papers and the counselors and teachers can help them complete the app. It's been a while since I was filling this stuff out, but I remember being so confused with both the FAFSA and the actual college apps. So maybe offering the help will help. The students need to be pestering their parents about this and asking for help, it's important. Tell the students to treat it like whatever they asked for for Christmas and just keep asking and bringing it up until the parents either give them the papers or do it for them.

There's not much you can do. I got my bachelors degree with no help at all from my parents. You do not need parent plus loans or parents information to go to college. They can get their own loans through the financial aid office at the college. I had to get subsidized and unsubsidized loans to get myself through college. The colleges will help students that they accept into their school get financial aid, but the student has to apply for financial aid themselves by going to the office at the school, or by contacting the office and filling out all the things they need to fill out and send in to get the aid they need.

As a parent that has been through the financial aid process with our oldest, I do not like the system. I am very protective of my financial information and did not appreciate that my son (and my mother in law) was allowed access to my application after it was submitted because he made an error on his part of the application and they gave the whole packet back to him. Also, if I'm going to have to divulge all of my personal info to the school then I should be allowed as his parent access to his school records.

There is a way that they can file by themselves. I cannot think of the word right now, but there is away. Even though in the state of IL a parent is responsible till there child is 24 there is a way around it. I know cause I was tryiong to do it. Now that I am a single mom I got a pell grant but before that you need to make under $15,000 a year. I the word ie emancipated from your parents.

What if your high school had a FASFA night? I think many parents are overwhelmed by the form and may just be sticking their heads in the sand. What if one of the counselors (or you?) made transparencies of the entire form and went through it line-by-line for anyone who wanted to show up. They could bring their own financial materials or just take notes to take home. I could see something like that becoming an annual event if it is spun the right way to your community.

Good luck!
A.

What bothers me is that I filled out the paperwork for my child. He filled out his part. I gave my information. Every loan etc we filed for was refused. The school had to help him get the loans on his name.

Years later I went to my bank to make a deposit and get some cash back. I sent my driver's liscense over with the check. The cashier said I sorry but their is something wrong with your birth date. I think you have to visit the office. I was shocked. I said what are you talking about? She again said that I had to come in. It was after hours so I had to await. I have been with the same bank since I was 18 years old. My birthday was all wrong including the year. When they changed the system they messed up my information. If I had been advised sooner my poor son would not have been rejected because of me.

Making sure the info is right is very important.

Why don't people fill out the forms and provide their tax info. The forms are hard to read and understand. Giving up your personal info is very very scarey. Most parents are very tired, have no time because of activities clogging their life. I do not look forward to my youngest son's higher education days.

I find it very disturbing that a Outreach coordinator can get my son's child support payment info and I cannot look it up on line myself because it does not recognize our information. I have given medical institutions all my information and gotten no help. Many parents may feel that they will get no help with funds for education.

I think helping people fill out the paperwork would help. I really do not feel secure giving personal information to anyone any more. I guess Lifelock and other protect companies might make us feel safer.

Why do some people get loans and grants very easily and others are never considered or helped?

All of the prosess is strange to me any more.

Education is the only equalizer in the world. Why do we make it so hard for children to get one?

Wow! I'm so surprised that parents won't fill out the forms but they can be overwhelming. Perhaps they don't really want to share their financial information. It's a shame that pride would get in the way of their children being sucessful.

I work at a University and those forms were a bear even for me to fill out but my children and I sat down together and did it. One the other side of the coin from the parents who say their children don't have time, maybe I'm being mean spirited here, but if the child is too busy to help get him/herself into college by helping with forms or returning phone calls maybe they really aren't mature enough to be there anyway. Or maybe they really don't want to go.

Most high schools have form nights and most of the colleges/universities do too.

Bless you for trying to help and worrying about other people's children. Maybe a one-on-one with the parents might help.
Good luck to you.

I hate those applications!!!my son is a freshman in college. I dreaded it. I think if they made things easier for people, more would do it. plus, how do they arrive at what is your expected family contribution? if i could really afford what they say, it would be a miracle.