Federal Work Study for college

[bts]

Chapter 7- This might get confusing.....

I have grants and loans for college, as well as federal work study. Of federal work study isn't paid out via your school account. Instead it is earned via pay checks you receive while working at the school.

So, not counting federal work study, out-of-pocket I will owe a few hundred dollars to pay for my tuition......

here's where I don't know what to do....

1) How/Where should my GRANTS be listed? (for what it's worth, I wont be receiving any of those funds when they're dispersed)

2) How/Where should my FEEDERAL STUDENT LOANS be listed? (also wont be receiving any of those funds)

3)Should my FEDERAL WORK STUDY just be listed as future income and averaged to a monthly amount?

Even though the federal work study is the only portion that is going to end up being actual income, should they all be listed as income or the '1 & 2' be listed as exemptions?

Any suggestions?

thanks in advance

[backtoschool]

The pell grants and the stafford loans are not considered income.

The refund portion of your stafford loans, ie the money that is paid back to you after your tuition is paid, is considered a cash asset once it hits your bank account and has to be exempted with a cash exemption or a wildcard exemption.

The work study will be considered future income, ie, it will not be income until you actually earn it and get each check.

[bts]

Are grants from the University also not considered income?

ALright, thanks, I think I'll hold then until I know if I'll have any refund from my loans, so I dont have to make Amendments

If it happens that I won't have a refund from my Financial Aid, I won't need to list anything other than the loans on schedule F?

btw, I like your initials BackToSchool! lol

[backtoschool]

I noticed your initials too.

The grants are not income if they go directly to the school to cover your tuition. (ie Pell grants). Private grants or scholarships that come to you in the form of a check and go through your bank account would be considered income.

What state are you in? Are you using federal exemptions? If you do not have a home with equity that you are exempting, and if you are using federal exemptions, you will have a wildcard large enough to cover the loan refund as cash most likely.

[bts]

lol

ok, kewl, as far as I know everything goes directly to the school, but I'll check with the FA office

I'm in CA and plan to use system 2.......One thing that has got me worried about 'screwing up' is, if you list something as a 'wildcard' and maybe it 'should/could be' listed under a different exemption, does it really matter as long as it doesn't exceed the wildcard amount?

[backtoschool]

California has very generous exemptions, and most likely any cash left over from your student loans will be ok under the unused homestead exemption wild card as long as you are not claiming home equity.

You can use the homestead exemption wildcard for anything as long as you have enough wildcard exemption to cover it. Your attorney will be able to help you maximize your exemptions buy covering everything in the right categories.

[bts]

ok, awesome, thanks for your help!