Financial Aid question

Only you can really decide if you want/need the part time job.

Are you over age 24? Or are you married? That can contribute a lot to how much aid you get, if any, as well as student loans. If you're unmarried, no dependents, and under 24, you are generally considered a dependent student and must use your parent's tax information too.

I know FAFSA takes a lot of things into consideration, and you end up with a number that is your EFC. The school uses that number to decide if, and how much, you get for grants.

Depending on what you do, you may want to speak with your financial aid office to see if they are able to help you out with estimates of different figures, etc. Sometimes you can also petition for a change. I lost my 50k a year job and my husband is unemployed too, so I am petitioning my financial aid office for additional aid, considering a 50k a year loss in income.

I am over 24, single, no dependents. When I called the financial aid office, they did not provide any information other than "Oh, FAFSA decides that, we don't know."

I am worried about working during school in the first place, but especially if it will cause me to lose my financial aid.

The EFC is your “Expected Family Contribution”. This is the amount of money that FAFSA says you have available to pay for your tuition. They use a formula to determine the cost of attendance by calculating tuition, your income, any money you have in savings, etc. and then come up with this number. If I remember correctly the most you can make working and still receive the maximum amount in grants is around $15,000. I could be wrong, so don’t quote me. I had a copy of the formula on my old computer, but it has since gone on to the electronic after-life, and I am not sure if that file was moved to the new computer or not. I will look for it and if I have it, I will send you a copy or post it.

Another piece of advice, just my 2 cents, is that if you don't need to work, don't, as long as you are prepared to devote all that time you'd spend working, to your studies instead. After losing my job, I've opted not to get another one, and instead focus 100% on school.

I had worked part time and made about $9K a year and got the full Federal grant. You can work part time and still get plenty of aid, but it is decided by FAFSA.

I know someone who works part time and makes about $17K a year and only gets like $100 or $200 in grants.

Just bumping this up...I am grateful for any more insight someone might have, and thanks again to those who have already replied:)