Confused about FAFSA College Grants field - do AmeriCorps benefits go here?
I'm stuck on the FAFSA 'Amount of College Grants, Scholarships, or AmeriCorps Benefits Reported as Income to the IRS' question. I participated in AmeriCorps last summer and received a $6,500 education award, but I'm not sure if I need to put this amount in that field? I didn't report it as income on my 2022 taxes since I haven't used it yet - it's still sitting in my MyAmeriCorps account. Should I enter $0 or the $6,500? The instructions say 'The student paid taxes on these grants, scholarships, or benefits' but I'm confused because I didn't actually use or receive the money as income yet. Help please!
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Diego Fisher
put 0 if u didnt pay taxes on it. thts what i did with my scholarship $$ that wasnt reported as income
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Evelyn Kim
AuthorThanks! So even though the money exists in my AmeriCorps account, since I didn't actually use it or report it on taxes yet, I can put 0? I'm just paranoid about getting flagged for verification if I answer something wrong.
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Henrietta Beasley
This is a common point of confusion. The field is specifically asking about education benefits that were ALREADY reported as taxable income on your 2022 tax return. If you received the AmeriCorps education award but haven't actually used it yet (meaning it wasn't disbursed to pay for education expenses), and you didn't report it as income on your 2022 taxes, then you should enter $0 in this field. This field primarily applies to students who had scholarships or grants that exceeded their qualified education expenses, making the excess amount taxable. The key phrase is "reported as income to the IRS" - if it wasn't on your tax return as income, it doesn't go in this field.
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Evelyn Kim
AuthorThat makes so much more sense! So I'll put $0 since I haven't used the award yet and it wasn't reported on my 2022 taxes. Thanks for the clear explanation!
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Lincoln Ramiro
I got tripped up on this same question last year! The way it's worded is so confusing. For AmeriCorps education awards, they only become taxable in the year you actually USE them, not when you earn them. So unless you used your award in 2022 AND reported that as income on your taxes, you should enter 0.
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Faith Kingston
Actually, this isn't entirely accurate. AmeriCorps education awards are ALWAYS taxable in the year they're used, regardless of how you filed. The FAFSA question is specifically asking what was REPORTED to the IRS, not what should have been reported. If OP didn't report it (correctly or incorrectly), they should put $0 here and deal with the tax implications separately.
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Emma Johnson
Here's the thing about AmeriCorps awards - they're weird. I went through this exact situation. The education award is taxable IN THE YEAR YOU USE IT, not when you earn it. So if you haven't touched that money in your MyAmeriCorps account, it hasn't been taxed yet. Put $0 in that FAFSA field. Also, heads up that when you do use the award, you'll need to report it as income in that tax year. The AmeriCorps website has details about this but it's buried in their FAQ.
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Evelyn Kim
AuthorThank you! I didn't realize it would be taxed when I finally use it. So I'll put $0 for now since it wasn't reported on my 2022 taxes, and then I'll be prepared for the tax implications when I actually use the award this year.
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Liam Brown
I work in financial aid and can confirm: this field is ONLY for education benefits that were already reported as taxable income on your 2022 tax return. If your AmeriCorps award wasn't disbursed and reported as income in 2022, enter $0. The purpose of this question is to prevent "double-counting" of education funds as both income AND financial aid. Since you haven't used the award yet, it wasn't income in 2022, so $0 is correct.
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Olivia Garcia
wait I think I messed this up on mine!! I put my Pell Grant amount in this field but I didn't pay taxes on it. Will this mess up my SAI calculation??? Should I go back and fix it??
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Liam Brown
Yes, you should definitely correct that. Pell Grants are typically not taxable if used for qualified education expenses, so they usually shouldn't be included in this field. Correcting it could potentially lower your SAI, which could mean more aid eligibility.
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Noah Lee
THIS FIELD IS THE WORST!!! My daughter kept getting flagged for verification TWICE because of this stupid question. The FAFSA system is broken and deliberately confusing. We had to spend HOURS on hold with Federal Student Aid just to get someone to explain this properly. Such a waste of time.
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Faith Kingston
If you need to reach a live person at Federal Student Aid quickly, I'd recommend trying Claimyr (claimyr.com). I wasted days trying to get through until someone here recommended it. They help you skip the hold queue and actually get a human on the line. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Definitely worth it when you're dealing with verification issues or complicated questions like this one.
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Noah Lee
where was this last year when we needed it?? bookmarking this for next time because i KNOW there will be some other confusing question next year 🙄
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Olivia Garcia
Does anyone know if this applies to the foreign income question too? My dad works overseas and I have no idea what to put for that field either...
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Henrietta Beasley
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is different. That refers to income that was excluded from U.S. taxation under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion provision (Form 2555). If your parent claimed this exclusion, you'd enter the amount from Form 2555. This is separate from the question about grants and scholarships.
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Evelyn Kim
Thanks everyone for the helpful answers! I'm going to enter $0 since I didn't use or report my AmeriCorps award on my 2022 taxes. It's frustrating how unclear these questions can be - I spent hours stressing over this one field.
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Emma Johnson
Good call. And don't feel bad - the FAFSA is deliberately confusing. I swear they want us to make mistakes so they can flag us for verification 🙄
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Jacinda Yu
Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact situation! I had an AmeriCorps education award sitting unused and was so confused by this question. The key thing to remember is that the FAFSA is asking specifically about what was REPORTED AS INCOME on your 2022 tax return. Since AmeriCorps awards are only taxable when you actually use them (not when you earn them), and you haven't used yours yet, $0 is definitely the right answer. I made the mistake of overthinking it initially and almost put the full award amount, which would have been completely wrong and could have messed up my aid calculation. Trust the process - if it wasn't on your tax return as income, it doesn't belong in this field!
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