Horrors Stories You Can Avoid 

 Are You Still Wondering Why You Need Our Help?

Nobody is immune from simple mistakes which can prove to be costly if left undetected. The following horror stories are true. Only the names have been changed to protect those frightened of the financial aid process.

No Sense Non Sense

While managing the ACCESS program in the Boston Public Schools, I helped hundreds of students complete their financial aid forms. Occasionally some parents were reluctant to share their income information and completed certain sections of the FAFSA on their own. On one occasion, the parent entered their earnings as $233,000 which seemed quite excessive. While reviewing their form, I recognized the parent reported the pennies of her $2,330.00 income instead of rounding it to the nearest dollar. This overstatement of  $230,000 , if left uncorrected, would have negated any need based financial aid. 

Lesson learned: It makes “no cents” to overstate your income and sacrifice your need based aid. 

FAFSA-But Not Too Fast

It was mid October 2007 and Charitie's mother was anxious to complete her daughter’s financial aid forms. Charitie  completed her applications for the 2008-9 academic year which would start September 1, 2008.  Since her daughter’s school required both a CSS/Profile which was available in October 2007 and a 2008-9 FAFSA her mother  decided to complete both forms ahead of the crowd. I later audited the submitted forms and discovered that her mother used the correct CSS /Financial Aid Profile ,available  October 1st but completed 2007-8 FAFSA for the current acdemic year, before the 2008-9 FAFSA could be submitted in January 2009. Because of this  error, the school had no record of a timely 2008-9 FAFSA causing Charitie's financial aid reward to be reduced. 

Lesson Learned: It pays to comply with filing deadlines when the required forms are available. A FAFSA submitted before its time is like filing no FAFSA at all.

Not Music to Your Ears

Egbert, the older of 2 siblings had his heart set on attending an expensive private college.  His dad had little  savings and decided to liquidate his retirement nest egg to enable Egbert to attend the school of his dreams. Unfortunately Egbert liked to party more than study and flunked out at the end of his freshman year. This wiped out his dad’s retirement while his son walked.

Lesson Learned: Parents need to look at the big financial picture as it relates to whole family and not just the student. Make decisions based on the facts even if it means disappointment to the student.