If my son applies for public assistance and does his own financial aid, will he be able to apply as independent next year? In addition, (assuming he's able to) would I be able to claim him on my income tax returns this year? He is 19 years old. My goal is to get him as much financial aid as possible. I ...

My daughter is hoping to attend a private college next year. Of course, we will be applying for financial aid and as many scholarships as we can find! My husband works full time and I have always worked full time. In late February, I was temporarily laid off from my job. I should be returning to work on a part-time basis ...

In the state of the union address on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, President Obama proposed several increases in student aid spending. The first two proposals call for Congress to extend existing student aid programs that are scheduled to expire this year. Stop the pending increase in student loan interest rates. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 enacted a ...

I am hoping you can help me with my FAFSA issue. I am 16 and a senior this year in high school, so I plan on attending a university in the fall. However, my dream college is a private university and is extremely expensive. My parents refuse to help pay a dime towards furthering my education — they believe college isn't ...

Students, you and your parents are so focused on the standard college questions – what school, what degree, how to pay for it – that you overlook the elephant in the room. An Elephant in the room? Yes, the educational Elephant who can cost you and your families thousands of dollars, unnecessarily. Here’s where the elephant raises his costly tusks. You ...

Colleges and universities hit by state and federal funding cuts are shocking students with mid-year tuition hikes. How can students, already squeezed for money, cope with such unexpected sticker shock? Don't Panic Don’t panic, experts say. Students should discuss the situation with their families first, said Seamus Harreys, dean of student financial services at Northeastern University in Boston. “Many families have ...

We the parents screwed up financially and had to file for bankruptcy and are in a Chapter 13 repayment program. The FAFSA thinks according to their estimator that we can afford to pay $10,000 a year (parent contribution) but there is no way. There is no provision for us to show that $1,500 a month goes to courts. (That's $18,000 a ...

Your federal student loans are in default and collection agencies are calling you dozens of times a day. They are threatening to garnish your wages, offset your income tax refunds and ruin your credit. They may even have crossed the line into harassment, calling you a worthless person and threatening you with physical harm. Are there any ways of getting out ...

My daughter received some financial aid for her freshman year of college but we still had to take out a sizable loan for the rest. She applied for a loan her sophomore year and was denied because we have "insufficient income" to repay the debt. My husband is self-employed as a landscaper and it was a bad year. She was attending ...

College is a transition from a sheltered existence where your parents worried about money matters on your behalf to the real world where you are responsible for making ends meet. But there are many lessons about managing money and living on your own that aren't taught in a college classroom. According to the Council for Economic Education, 13 states require high ...

For the past four or five years, your student loans have been a nagging presence, but something that you’ve kept tucked away in the back of your mind – behind the essays, Blue Book exams and presentations. But now, it’s time to bring those pesky student loans to the forefront of your mind and get down to business on repaying them. ...

I would like to know what will happen if I stop paying my student loans. I have never been unemployed and don't plan to be, but my loan payments are over $700 a month and that is unreasonable (that's over half of my monthly salary). I have tried three different jobs since graduating in the hopes of making more money, but ...

In your answer to How Does Income Tax Filing Status Affect Student Aid?, you address the question of which parent is responsible for completing the FAFSA. However, I'm very curious as to how the filing status of separated parents affects how the FAFSA is processed, once the primary/custodial parent has completed it. That is, is it more advantageous for separated parents ...

I will be filling out the FAFSA soon for my daughter who will be attending college next fall. My question is regarding her father, who is my ex-husband. Her father does not pay child support and has not supported her financially since our divorce 5 years ago. Do I have to include his financial information, or any of his information, on ...

I am in kind of a bad situation. I had a bit of personal problems and had to move out of my house and no longer live with my parents. Unfortunately they will no longer pay for any of my schooling. I previously filled out the FAFSA and did not qualify because my parents made too much money. However, because I ...

The Lifetime Learning provides a federal income tax credit of up to $2,000 per taxpayer based on the first $10,000 in postsecondary tuition and fees paid by the taxpayer during the tax year. The Lifetime learning tax credit is 20% of the first $10,000. The tax credit may be received for an unlimited number of years. Amount of Credit The Lifetime ...

My son is a senior in high school this year. I might have to file for bankruptcy. Should I file this year or wait until next year to file? — Rich N. Filing for bankruptcy will affect your eligibility for the Parent PLUS loan and your ability to cosign or borrow a private student loan. It will not otherwise affect your ...

If Congress fails to pass legislation funding the federal government, the federal government will shut down and more than 800,000 government employees will be furloughed. The impact on federal student aid, however, will be minimal. During a government shutdown government employees who are considered "essential" will continue to work. This includes personnel who are critical for national security and the safety ...

I am 26 and looking to start attending school full time this fall. I am also taking some summer classes at a community college to get all the credits I can before starting. I am also a transfer student with 37 credits from another school I went to right out of high school. I am currently married and am considering quitting ...

My 16-year-old son has passed an ability-to-benefit (ATB) test at a community college. He has been accepted has a regular student in a qualifying program but has not graduated from high school. The college is denying him the Federal Pell Grant because they are stating that he is enrolled in high school. My position is that in Florida he has passed ...