I didn't realize that. When my husband deployed for the better part of a year, the IRS did not count his combat pay as income, so FAFSA filled out online said EFC was $0. School went back in and COUNTED combat pay and now are saying we owe $4k -- family of 6 on less than $42K total income, so now we are not eligible for Pell Grants or other grants. What is the threshold for a family of 6 with $42K income? $4K EFC seems steep!

Combat pay while not taxable for IRS purposes is considered income on the FAFSA. I believe it was changed in about 2003. Keep in mind that $42k is untaxed income. Look over your assets as well and see if they are in line with what should be reported. That can often hike your EFC. Is he receiving any VA benefits that are treated as income?

If you have questions, the school or the FAFSA processor can tell you just how much income from which source contributed to your EFC.

Hope he is home, safe and sound and I wish him all the best in his education!

No, the $42K would be how much we made after figuring in the combat pay, @ $24K. So we had a gross income of $42K, and our EFC for college, according to the school, is $4k. I asked them if they used the same formula as the FAFSA - which told us we had $0 EFC after we filled it out. This is a North Carolina School.

The school's software works the same as the FAFSA processor. It sounds like you were selected for verification with a 0 EFC. Verification is where you are asked to produce your w-2's, tax returns, etc to the school. You should have received an email alert from FAFSA indicating that the school made changes to your EFC.

I can give you a suggestion to ask the school for a Special Circumstance petition. If DH is home and not earning nearly the pay as he did while he was active duty, you may qualify for a special circumstance. They can compare 2008 income with 2007. If there is a substantial decrease, they may give you a break. It's something the school can consider, they are not required to do so. It's called Professional Judgment.

HTH!

Thanks! However, I did not get any notification e-mail from FAFSA. I found out only when I asked the school why we did not qualify for any Pell grants.

This has been my experience in the past. A family of 4 on 40k income my EFC was over 4k. I got other grants/scholarships and loans though. Family of 4 on a 30k income 3k EFC.

If he is AD, he can apply for Tuition Assistance and there is Tuitian assistance for spouses also. Also, most schools give a 10% discount for being military affiliated, this includes children and spouses. Check into what the base organizations can offer too. Many programs are out there that can give you a no or low interest loan to help you out.

If you were picked for verification, then expect to be picked mext year too. I was told that once you were picked you were picked until you left school. I went through it 7 years in a row.

Did you count the combat pay for FAFSA?? There is a section pertaining to military pay for you to submit non taxed income stemming from military allowances. This being done incorrectly could cause the difference. Non taxed military pay is counted as income for the Fafsa.

FAFSA changes their criteria for selection every year. There are several database matches including a match with IRS. Last I heard about 30% of all FAFSA filings were being matched with IRS so if your FAFSA info is different from IRS you will get selected if you are Pell eligible.

Having zero income & no visible means of support will do it, so will a significant decrease in income or HH size from one year to the next.

Dept of Ed is clamping down on Pell eligibility so the lower your EFC, the higher your chance of being selected.

I was only eligible for the pell grant one year. (that was after I got married) Before that, nothing changed year to year on my fafsa since I was going off my parents, which the gov said i had to do. I still got verified 6 times with my parents info and the once with my married info. Other than the getting married, there was no change. My fafsa was not different from my IRS at any time, yet i was still put through the process, not that it is a big issue but it does turn into a pain in the rear sometimes.

The first year I was selected, I was told that they randomly pulled the people and then that once you were chosen, you were chosen until you no longer applied.