Financial Aid Forums

Hello. Here is my situation. I am getting out of the military in the next couple of months and intend to go to school full time and will not be working. Are my 2009 taxes as applied to the FAFSA going to impact my EFC even though I will not be working and have no way to contribute monitarily? (My fiance will be supporting me)
Secondly, here is my plan, is it reasonable? I want to complete a certificate in Culinary Arts first (9 months) and then complete (I am only about 12 credits in) my BA in Graphic Design. I hope to have aid cover my culinary certificate completely and then use my GI Bill to finish my bachelors. The GI will not completely cover either in itself.
FIrst is it reasonable to hope to have the certificate completely cover by aide? It's about 25k.
Second, is it too early to start trying to apply for aide in the form of scholarships, grants etc for my bachelors? And do you think I will be able to get enough to cover what the gi doesn't? I think its about 88k. Thank you so much for any input.

As far as the FAFSA goes you should file it with your information as it is today and then file an amendment when your financial situation changes. To get an estimate of what your EFC will be before you file your FAFSA you can check out [url]FAFSA4caster.com[/url].

As far as your plan goes I have a few things for you to think about. First, do you know what school you will be attending yet? You need to make sure it is a title IV certified school in order to be eligible for any financial aid. I am mostly thinking about the certificate program here. I would talk to the financial aid department at the school you plan on attending and see what they have to say about your plan.

Finally, if you are planning on returning to school in the fall of 2010 or earlier it is not to early to apply for other types of financial aid especially scholarships. Check out www.ScholarshipPoints.com and www.StudentScholarshipSearch.com to find scholarships you might qualify for. There are a ton of scholarships out there for veterans it is just a matter of taking the time to find and apply for them.

thank you for the reply. Yes both school are approved for GI and both also participate in the yellow ribbon program which will help out a bit with the cost of the bachelors.