Question: I’ll have two kids in college starting next fall and my ECU showing as both would be living at home is ~$8k (assuming they’d both be home for a family of six).

One kid is going away and I don’t know that I’d be able to claim him as a dependent on taxes any longer which makes me wonder if on his FAFSA, we shouldn’t be showing him as ‘independent’ which would bring my ECU down. If I did that, would we still show the family of ‘6′ with ‘2′ kids in college? I’ll have one at home as a dependent but again, the one who will be living away may not be a dependent tax-wise next year so… I haven’t been able to find much in the way of helpful FAQs that cover various circumstances so thought I’d throw it out here…

Answer: I’m not clear what you mean by “ECU”. The FAFSA produces an EFC (Expected Family Contribution)which is the minimum amount you are expected to pay for that student’s education before any aid can begin.

When you have two students, the EFC on each student is about half what it would have been if there was only one student. For example, if your EFC would have been $16,000 with just one student, it will be about $8,000 on each of the two. This makes both eligible for more aid than if they were the only student.

The fact that one student is going away for college does not mean you can’t claim him as a tax dependent – a full-time student can be your tax dependent until age 24. If not a student, then you can’t claim him once he turns 19.

For financial aid, a student must apply as a dependent student unless meeting at least one of several requirements: is 24, is married, has dependents who receive more than half support from the student, is a veteran or is serving on active duty for purposes other than training, is a graduate student,or is an orphan.

Given the information you supplied: until one of the above changes you have a tax family of 6, and for each student’s FAFSA a family of 6 with 2 in college. EFC is the minimum the family is expected to be able to pay. The cost of attendance minus the efc determines student’s maximum aid eligibilty. If EFC is $8,000 and cost is $30,000 students “need” is $22,000. School then determines how much of that need they will actually fill – the better the student the better chance of getting the most. It also depends on the funds the school has.

The school sends the student an aid award letter usually by mid-april so you can decide on what school by May 1. Aid includes scholarships, grants, work-study, and some student loans.

Whatever need was not filled, plus the EFC, is what the parents have to come up with, from assets or by borrowing. If the 30K school gave you 10K, then you have to find 20K.

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