As a newcomer to this community, I'm amazed by how helpful and detailed everyone's responses have been! I'm facing a very similar situation with my daughter starting college this fall, and I honestly had no idea there were so many strategic considerations beyond just having the money saved up. The advice about using $4,000 from regular savings first to maximize the American Opportunity Tax Credit is something I definitely wouldn't have known about otherwise - that's potentially $2,500 in tax savings that would have been lost! @Sophie Hernandez's step-by-step approach makes so much sense, and @Ella Cofer's perspective from working in financial aid is invaluable. I'm definitely going to contact our school's financial aid office directly to understand their specific policies. One thing I'm curious about - for those who've been through this process, how far in advance did you finalize your funding strategy? Should I be making these decisions now, or is it better to wait until we get the actual semester bills to see the exact amounts?

As a newcomer to this community, this thread has been absolutely eye-opening! I'm dealing with similar decisions for my daughter who starts college in a few months, and I had no idea about the complexity involved in choosing which funds to use first. The advice about using $4,000 from regular savings to maximize the American Opportunity Tax Credit before touching 529 funds is something I never would have considered - potentially saving $2,500 in tax benefits is huge! @Sophie Hernandez's strategic breakdown and @Ella Cofer's institutional perspective have been incredibly valuable. I'm definitely going to reach out to our target school's financial aid office to understand their specific policies. One question I have is about documentation - when tax time comes around, is it pretty straightforward to track which expenses were paid from which accounts for the AOTC calculation, or does that require special record-keeping throughout the year? I want to make sure I'm prepared to properly claim these benefits when the time comes.

This thread has been an absolute lifesaver! I'm new to the FAFSA process and was struggling with the exact same asset categorization questions. I have about $16k with my financial advisor in non-retirement accounts and a credit union account that they call "member shares" - I was so confused about where these should go. After reading through all the helpful explanations here, I now understand that the advisor-managed money goes under investments (since it's meant for growth, not retirement) and the credit union "shares" go under cash/savings regardless of their confusing terminology. The tip about using the question mark help icons on the FAFSA form is genius - I completely missed those! And I love the suggestion to cross-reference with tax forms (1099-INT vs 1099-DIV) to confirm categorizations. It's so reassuring to know that this confusion is totally normal and that there's such a supportive community here to help navigate these intimidating forms. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and making this process feel much more manageable!

As someone completely new to this community and the FAFSA process, I can't thank everyone enough for this incredibly detailed discussion! I was literally about to give up on filling out the asset section because I was so confused about where everything should go. I have a similar situation - about $22k managed by my financial advisor in regular brokerage accounts (not retirement) and a credit union account that shows up as "share draft savings" on my statements. Reading through all these real-world examples and explanations has finally made it click - the advisor money goes under investments since it's for growth, and the credit union account goes under cash/savings despite their confusing "share" terminology. I had no idea about those question mark help icons on the FAFSA form - I'm going to go back and check those out! The tip about cross-referencing with 1099 forms is brilliant too. It's such a relief to find a community where people actually explain things in plain English rather than government-speak. Thank you all for being so welcoming and helpful to us newcomers!

As someone brand new to both this community and the FAFSA process, this thread has been an absolute lifesaver! I'm currently staring at my FAFSA form with three kids: one finishing her freshman year of college, one high school senior doing Running Start (taking college classes through our local community college), and one regular high schooler. I was completely ready to count both the college freshman AND the Running Start student as "college students" for the household question. Reading through everyone's experiences here - especially the verification nightmares from @Dylan Hughes and @Fatima Al-Sayed - has been a real wake-up call. Three months stuck in verification sounds absolutely terrible when you're already juggling college expenses! The key insight for me was @Sofia Rodriguez's exact quote about "at least half-time in a program that leads to a degree or certificate." My Running Start daughter is definitely still a high school student first, even though she's earning college credits. Her primary goal is still graduating high school in June. @Finley Garrett's advice about keeping documentation is something I'm implementing right now - printing out those official FAFSA instructions and highlighting the key phrases. And knowing about resources like the one @Ava Thompson mentioned gives me confidence that I can get help if I run into other confusing situations. Thank you all for sharing your hard-earned wisdom and creating such a supportive community for families navigating this complex process!

As someone completely new to FAFSA and this community, I can't thank everyone enough for this incredibly detailed discussion! I'm currently facing the exact same dilemma with my oldest starting college next year and my high school junior enrolled in our state's dual enrollment program. I was 100% planning to count both kids as "college students" since my junior is taking 9 credit hours at the local community college. But after reading through all these experiences - especially the verification horror stories - I realize I would have been setting myself up for major headaches. @Sofia Rodriguez's official FAFSA language about "at least half-time in a program that leads to a degree or certificate" really cleared things up for me. My dual enrollment student is definitely still focused on getting her high school diploma first, even though she's racking up college credits. I'm taking @Finley Garrett's advice and printing out those key instructions right now, and it's reassuring to know about resources like the one @Ava Thompson shared if I need to actually speak with someone at FSA. This thread should honestly be required reading for any family dealing with concurrent enrollment situations. You've all saved me from what could have been months of verification delays. Thank you for creating such a supportive and informative community!

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now too! My SAP appeal for 150% PACE was approved just last Friday, so I'm about a week into this nerve-wracking waiting period. Reading through everyone's experiences has been both incredibly helpful and anxiety-inducing - the range of timelines people are reporting is pretty wild. The three-step breakdown that Chloe shared about manual coding → applying to account → refund processing really clicked for me. I was getting so frustrated with my financial aid office giving me those vague "anywhere from a few days to several weeks" responses, but now I understand why they can't be more specific when multiple departments have to coordinate. I'm definitely going to try the more strategic questioning approach tomorrow - asking specifically which step my aid is currently in and whether it's been "released for disbursement" yet. The suggestion about checking with both financial aid AND the bursar's office is genius too, since they apparently handle different parts of the process. The emergency aid option that several people mentioned is something I had no clue existed, but even a small advance would help so much with groceries and gas while waiting for the full amount. Emma, really hoping you've gotten some solid answers by now! This thread has been a lifeline for all of us stuck in this frustrating limbo.

I'm going through this exact same nightmare right now! My SAP appeal for 150% PACE was approved just two days ago and I'm already spiraling about how long this is going to take. Reading through all these experiences is both helpful and terrifying - it sounds like it could literally be anywhere from 10 days to over a month depending on your school's setup. The three-step breakdown that Chloe mentioned is so eye-opening - I had no idea there were separate coding, application, and refund processing stages that all have to happen in sequence. No wonder they give us such frustratingly vague timelines when we ask! I'm definitely going to try the strategic questioning approach that everyone's suggesting. Instead of my usual "when will I get my money" question, I'll ask specifically which step my aid is currently in and whether it's been "released for disbursement" yet. The advice about checking with BOTH financial aid and the bursar's office is something I never would have thought of but makes total sense. The emergency aid suggestion is a game-changer too - I had no idea that was even an option at most schools. Even a few hundred dollars would help cover rent while I'm stuck in this waiting game. Emma and everyone else dealing with this - please keep updating us on what you find out! Those of us just starting this process are learning so much from everyone sharing their real experiences. This whole system really shouldn't leave students this anxious about money we've already been approved for.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO CONFUSE US!!! I swear they make these questions vague on purpose to trip parents up so they can deny aid. Why can't they just ASK CLEARLY what they want to know?????

I went through this same confusion last year with our rental property in Arizona! Just to add to what everyone else has said - make sure you have documentation ready in case you get selected for verification. I kept our most recent mortgage statement, property tax records, and a recent property value estimate from our real estate agent. The key thing I learned is to be consistent - if you use Zillow for the market value estimate, make a note of that and the date you checked it. The financial aid office at my daughter's school said they just want to see that you made a reasonable effort to determine fair market value. And yes, definitely report the net worth (equity) not the full property value!