If you read my blog post on the basics of college financial aid, you learned that there are three types of financial aid: need-based aid, merit-based aid and private aid/scholarships. And then you may have learned from my blog post on the FAFSA that your Student Aid Index is calculated based on your and your kid’s income and assets. Schools then use your Student Aid Index to put together a financial aid package for your kid. Now that you know all this, check out these strategies for widowed parents to get more college financial aid:

1. Don’t put any assets in your kid’s name. The FAFSA assesses 20% of student assets to be available to pay for college, but only 5.64% of parent assets.
2. Invest as much as possible in your retirement accounts (401k, 403b, IRA) for two good reasons: First, the FAFSA only considers your non-retirement savings and brokerage accounts as assets. Second, if you invest in a 401K or 403b, it will reduce the income reported to the FAFSA. Note that only the first benefit applies to investing in IRAs, but it’s still worthwhile.
3. Pay large expenses before you file the FAFSA. If you have a large expense coming up, such as a home renovation or car purchase or paying your taxes, you want to pay it before you file the FAFSA. The goal is to report your assets when they are as low as possible.
4. This is not so much a strategy, just something to keep in mind: If you quit or lose your job or else get a pay cut, you should qualify for more financial aid… in two years. For most families, parent income ends up being the biggest factor affecting how much financial aid they get. But, since the FAFSA looks at your “prior prior year” income on your tax return, if there is a change to your income this year, it will affect the financial aid you receive two years from now.
5. If you’re not anxious to remarry, you may want to hold off on remarrying until after the last time you need to file the FAFSA (when your youngest kid is in their junior year of college). The reason why is because the FAFSA will include your new spouse’s income and assets in the calculation of your Student Aid Index, regardless of whether they actually plan to contribute to your kid’s tuition.
6. Apply early, but not early decision. Many schools award financial aid on a “first-come, first-served” basis so you want to apply early in the application cycle, rather than right at the deadline. However, when you apply early decision, you are committing to that school and giving up the ability to compare financial aid packages from other schools. Of course, you might have a better chance at getting in by applying early decision so you want to consider that as well.
7. Apply to schools that award merit aid for academic performance or a talent such as music or athletics. The road2college.com website lists the top 30 colleges that award the largest merit scholarships. Schools list their merit scholarships on their website.
8. Apply to schools that give grants (which don’t need to be paid back) instead of loans. There are 40+ “no loan colleges” listed at the bottom of this article on The Scholarship System website.
9. Apply for private scholarships. A good source to find these scholarships is an online scholarship database like Fastweb or Going Merry. Also, I maintain a list of scholarships for students who have lost a parent.
10. If you’ve received the financial aid package and it’s less than you expected and can afford, ask the school for more financial aid. In particular, if you lost your job or you had a big pay cut since the “prior prior year” tax return that the FAFSA looked at, or if you received a better financial aid package from another school, let your first choice know. The financial aid officers have some flexibility in the packages they put together.

If you want to learn more about college financial aid, read my other blog posts:

• What Widowed Parents Need to Know About College Financial Aid: The Basics
• What Widowed Parents Need to Know About College Financial Aid: The FAFSA & CSS Profile
• Five Tips for Widowed Parents to Reduce College Costs

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in college financial aid and am merely passing along information based on my understanding of it.