28 Nov Will my son’s part-time job hurt financial aid?

Q. My 15-year-old son wants a part-time job. I know his income can hurt when it comes to apply for financial aid. Are there are limits to how much he can earn before hurting financial aid chances? My wife and I earn $95,000 together.
— Dad

A. You’re smart to consider how your family’s choices today may impact your son’s eligibility for financial aid.

The question of how a student’s income will impact financial aid is a common one, said Bill Connington of Connington Wealth Management in Fairfield.

For most students, he said, the answer is no.

“The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, the form that colleges and universities use to determine a student’s need for financial aid, has protections in place for student earnings,” Connington said. “For the 2018-19 school year, the amount a student can earn before it is counted as income is $6,570.”

To earn more than that, a student would have to work more than 17 hours a week for 52 weeks a year, assuming they made the federal minimum wage of $7.25, he said.

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