Mariya
Will having my own student income negatively influence my eligibility of financial aid?
Recently, I've been researching the costs of attendance at various colleges and universities, mainly private institutions. Through my research, I've discovered that even though the sticker price is quite high, these universities provide their students with hefty amounts of financial aid and grants/scholarships. But will getting employed and having a student income decrease my eligibility of financial aid? If so, is it better to not get a job at all and just stick to volunteering? #job-search #student #financial-services #financial-aid
2 answers
Sharyn Madison
Sharyn’s Answer
To some degree yes, but I would not let it keep me from working if you need the income now. Student Assets are assessed at about 20%; if you have money the schools do expect you to contribute part of it to your education. Just answer the FAFSA questions honestly. I found that most schools were pretty fair in their financial aid offers,
Loriel Johnson MHEd
Loriel’s Answer
I am assuming that you want to go to school as a full-time student? Typically full-time students work less than 30 hours a week that shouldn’t affect your eligibility. Some students even have a student federal work-study where they work 20 hours on campus and that money is typically use for student expenses so as long as you’re under the federal governments “poverty line” you should be OK.
Poverty line doesn’t necessarily mean you live in poverty, it just means that you only make a certain amount of money a year but taking on a job as long as it doesn’t put you out of your tax bracket it shouldn’t have a negative affect on your financial aid