How to Answer FAFSA Question #40 Student Additional Financial Information

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4o. Student’s 2021 Additional Financial Information (Enter the combined amounts for you and your spouse.)

Education credits (American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit) from IRS Form 1040 Schedule 3 - line 3.
Child support paid because of divorce or separation or as a result of a legal requirement. Don’t include support for children in your household, as reported in question 93.
Taxable earnings from need-based employment programs, such as Federal Work-Study and need-based employment portions of fellowships and assistantships.
Taxable college grant and scholarship aid reported to the IRS as income. Includes AmeriCorps benefits (awards, living allowances and interest accrual payments), as well as grant and scholarship portions of fellowships and assistantships.
Combat pay or special combat pay. Only enter the amount that was taxable and included in your adjusted gross income. Don’t include untaxed combat pay.
Earnings from work under a cooperative education program offered by a college.

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Why are they asking this information?

This question inquires about a student’s additional financial information and is broken into five categories.

How to answer this question / fill out this section

If a student receives income from any of these categories, they must check each applicable box.

Child support: Check this box if you (and if married, your spouse) paid child support to a dependent whom you do not have primary custody. This may be court order as a result of a divorce or separation.
Taxable earnings from need-based employment programs: Such as Federal Work-study and need-based employment portions of fellowships and assistantships.
College grant and scholarship aid reported to the IRS: Check the box if you received outside scholarship/grant sources. This is not a scholarship offer that a college will offer to you whether merit or need-based. You can find this figure on your tax return as a deduction as part of your Adjusted Gross Income.
Combat pay or special combat pay: Check the box if you can find this figure on your tax return as a deduction as part of your Adjusted Gross Income. Do not report untaxed combat pay, which would be reported on your W-2.
Cooperative education program earnings: Check the box if you’ve earned money from cooperative education programs (also known as co-ops) while working in a experiential learning environment outside of a classroom.

Additional considerations

If students are married and have a spouse, they should also report their spouse’s information (such as taxable earnings from need-based employment programs and combat pay) along with their own.