Thanks everyone for the helpful info! To summarize what I've learned: 1. The "lifetime" part of Pell Grants refers to MY limited eligibility (max 6 years equivalent), not something I can transfer to my kids 2. If I want to go back to school, I'd need to check my remaining LEU percentage AND still qualify based on current income 3. My kids' aid will be determined by our current financial situation when they apply 4. Having multiple kids in college at once might help with their aid calculations 5. CSS Profile schools might consider more of our financial factors than FAFSA I'm going to check my LEU and look more into CSS Profile schools. Thanks again for clearing this up!

Just wanted to add something that might help with your situation - if you're looking at ways to maximize aid for your kids, consider timing any major financial decisions carefully. For example, if you're planning to make a large retirement account contribution or have flexibility in when you realize capital gains/losses, the timing relative to the FAFSA filing years can impact your aid eligibility. Also, don't forget about work-study programs and institutional grants that individual colleges offer. These often have different criteria than federal aid and might be more accessible even with higher family income. Some schools are surprisingly generous with merit aid that isn't need-based at all. Good luck with the process - it's definitely confusing but you're asking all the right questions!

trust ur gut!! my ex did this to look good to his new girlfriend who had college kids... wanted to seem like supportive dad of the year when he hadnt paid full child support in YEARS!!

Document EVERYTHING before he takes any action! I learned this the hard way with my ex. Get any promises or agreements about the loans in writing - what he expects from your son, what happens if he can't pay, etc. Also consider having your son speak directly with the financial aid office at his school. They can explain how having two parents take different types of loans might work and what protections are in place for students. Some schools have specific policies about divorced parents and financial aid that could be helpful. Your instincts about this being suspicious are probably right - protect yourself and your son!

One last thing - to check if your specific program qualifies for Cal Grant C, visit the CSAC website and look for their "Priority Career Technical Programs" list. Not every vocational program qualifies - they prioritize high-demand fields like healthcare, information technology, early childhood education, and certain trades. Your financial aid office should be able to confirm if your specific program is eligible.

Great work figuring all this out! Dental assisting definitely qualifies for Cal Grant C - it's considered a high-demand healthcare program. Just a heads up that even if you missed this year's March 2nd deadline, you can still apply for next academic year. CSAC processes applications year-round, but priority funding goes to those who meet the March deadline. Also, make sure to ask your financial aid office about any state-specific deadlines or additional grants your school might offer for dental assisting students. Some community colleges have partnerships with local dental offices that provide additional funding opportunities!

Reading through this thread reminded me that my niece had a similar issue last year and it turned out there was a small discrepancy with her social security number on the application. The confirmation email came through fine but nothing happened after that until we called. Might be worth checking all the personal info was entered correctly?

Just wanted to add my perspective as someone who went through this exact same anxiety last year! The waiting is definitely the hardest part, especially when you're making such important decisions about your child's future. One thing that helped me was setting up email notifications for my daughter's FSA account so we wouldn't miss any updates. Also, if your daughter has already applied to colleges, you might want to reach out to their financial aid offices directly - they often have access to FAFSA information before it shows up on the student dashboard and can give you a heads up if there are any issues. The financial aid counselors at the schools were way more helpful and accessible than trying to get through to FSA directly. Hang in there - you're doing everything right!

Just to clarify some confusion in this thread - for the 2025-2026 FAFSA, both spouses in a married household need to be contributors and sign the application. This is true regardless of whether one or both spouses are involved in a family business. For self-employed applicants, the FAFSA will primarily use your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from your tax return, which already includes your business income. The system is designed to capture your household's full financial picture, which is why both spouses need to be included. If you're struggling with the contributor section, I recommend using the help text within the FAFSA application itself (look for the question mark icons) or reviewing the detailed guidance on studentaid.gov before resorting to paid services.

As someone who just went through this process last month, I can confirm that both spouses definitely need to be contributors! We're also self-employed (photography business) and initially tried to just have my wife handle everything since she does our bookkeeping. The system wouldn't let us proceed without both of us being listed. The good news is that once you both have your FSA IDs set up, the actual process is pretty smooth. Most of our business income information pulled directly from our joint tax return through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. We did have to manually enter a few details about business assets, but nothing too complicated. One thing that helped us was doing a practice run on the FAFSA website before actually submitting. You can save your progress and come back to it, so there's no pressure to complete everything in one sitting. Good luck!