On the worksheets, your parents should go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and click on "Worksheets" under "Before Beginning a FAFSA" or complete the right-hand (purple) side on page 8 of the paper FAFSA.


Question 81 - Worksheet C

Exclusions from taxed income. Because the items listed in this worksheet will be excluded from income when the Department's processor performs the EFC calculation, your parents should not subtract them from their responses to the income questions in Questions 59-84. These amounts should be calculated on the basis of what was received between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2002 and not what was received during the school year.

Education credits. The Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits benefit students or parents who pay tuition and related expenses for attendance at least half time in a degree-granting program. These credits are subtracted directly from the total federal tax on a tax return. Enter the total amount of Hope and Lifetime Learning credits your parents received in 2002, from Form 1040 - line 48; 1040A - line 31. For more information about these tax credits, visit the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf

Child support payments. Report any child support payments your parent(s) paid during 2002 because of divorce, separation, or legal requirement. Do not include support for children in your parents' household, as reported in the "number in household" question on the FAFSA (Question 65 for dependent students). For purposes of the FAFSA, a child is a member of your parents' household if your parents provide more than half of the child's support, whether the child lives with them or not.

Taxable earnings from work-study or other need-based work programs. Report earnings from work as income in Questions 59-84. However, if those earnings are part of a financial aid package and are intended as need-based financial assistance, they are also reported on Worksheet C as an exclusion from income.

Student grants and other awards. Your parents should report any student grant and scholarship aid reported to the IRS in their AGI. This includes AmeriCorps. benefits (awards, living allowances, and interest accrual payments), as well as grant and scholarship portions of fellowships and assistantships.