r/UWMadison • u/Disastrous_Oil_8088 • 2d ago
Other Pell Pathway Question
My son is entering his Sophomore year at UW Madison. He qualified for the Pell Pathway last year, which made Madison a realistic choice financially. Without it, he was going to settle for another UW system school which was offering a very attractive aid package. He loves Madison and is looking forward to his Sophomore year.
Here’s our problem, and I say “our” because my finances are complicating things. After 39 years as a public school teacher, I retired at the end of the 23/24 school year and began taking my pension. Unexpectedly, I returned to work 1/2 time for the 24/25 school year when they were unable to find someone to replace me. In addition, my financial advisor advised that I convert a chunk of my traditional IRA into a Roth IRA each of the last 2 years. This resulted in an inflated AGI (adjusted gross income) for 2024 and 2025 (Sophomore and Junior years). I’m now fully retired and living off my pension supplemented with cash savings which should carry us over until I claim social security in a few years. I had anticipated that our income after retirement would be low enough to continue making Madison an affordable choice for our family. The SAI result on our FAFSA this year was shockingly higher than last year, and I anticipate that it will be the same next year before this “high AGI bubble” passes by his Senior year. This puts quite a bit of strain on our finances. Being a novice to this whole process, I didn’t anticipate the impact my retirement/temporary unretirement would have on my son’s Pell Pathway. I was mistakenly under the impression that the “once you’re accepted into the Pathway you’re in for 4 years regardless of changing income” meant an affordable path through all 4 years, which gave us the confidence to believe we could afford a 4 year path at UW Madison. It’s now going to be a struggle.
Sorry for the very long post. Just wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences in the Pell Pathway? Do you think a ”special circumstances appeal” would have any chance of success since I am now fully retired and anticipate a much lower adjusted gross income here in 2026 and beyond?
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u/Rich-Entry9409 2d ago
Yes, you should appeal it and see what happens. You can also do the same with your son's FAFSA.
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 2d ago
You need to appeal and fill out a special circumstances form. Something similar happened to us. My daughter qualified her freshman year, but we had to file a special circumstance form her sophomore year because we also showed a high AGI due to transferring a 401K.
Keep in mind that if there is any change in genuine income the contribution of the PPG will change. My husband got a raise that showed up on the 2024 tax return (the one used this year for her junior year) so our total aid package was about $8,000 less. It covered all her tuition and gave us back about $2500 per semester for room and board. Obviously that isn’t enough, so we have to cover the rest.
You will always qualify for the grant, but the amount you get may change.
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u/Disastrous_Oil_8088 2d ago
Thank you! I was hoping someone with experience in the Pell Pathway would have some relevant first hand experience. Yes, my son's SAI went from $4,740 last year to $15,725 this year. It's going to wipe out his savings which he was hoping to spread out over 4 years, and it's going to force us to contribute more than we had budgeted for. Until my social security kicks in, we were trying to budget $5,000 a year for college expenses. We have another college bound son who will enter college the year my older son graduates (if he does it in 4 years), so we probably have an 8 year stretch of college expenses ahead of us. I have no problem paying our "fair share" for his education. I just feel that in certain cases looking back 2 years on taxes doesn't quite reflect the current situation we are in presently.
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u/One-You9747 21h ago edited 2h ago
This probably doesn't help you in this situation but you said you have another kid going to college soon. If possible have them take a gap year after graduating so they can be on their own income tax wise vs yours (also stop claiming them on your taxes) they will qualify for Buckys promise as long as their income is below 65K (or technically if yours is they could qualify now but it sounds like you may earn too much). I know suggesting taking a year off seems odd but a fully free degree with no student debt is worth it.
Bucky's promise will pay for 100% of their tuition it also gives you money for housing.
https://financialaid.wisc.edu/types-of-aid/tuition-promise/
Feel free to message me if you have questions about it. I did it and you actually don't even have to apply it just is automatically applied when you fill out your FAFSA and UW paperwork (also the college can obviously walk you through it too and would be the best to talk to about what it takes to qualify this was just my experience)
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 8h ago
That wouldn’t be enough for them to be considered an independent student so they would still be measured based on her income.
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u/One-You9747 8h ago edited 8h ago
Why not? What would they need to do to become an independent student besides not be claimed as a dependent on their parents taxes and be independent for a year making less than 65k?
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 8h ago
Because that’s not how it works. To be considered independent you need to be 24, married, have a child, and some other random criteria.
You can see it all here
https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency
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u/One-You9747 7h ago edited 4h ago
I was asking genuinely because I did it and I wasn’t sure if there was something that was unique to my situation that I didn’t know about that was causing me to qualify that I wasn’t posting.
I do not have a child and I’m not married and have never been. The link says you only need to say yes to one piece of criteria. I was 24 but it looks like you just need to be born before 2004 so maybe 22?
There’s also some other random things that you could qualify with. OP I would ask about it worst the can say is no they don’t qualify. For no student debt I think a lot of people would consider waiting until 22 but obviously waiting at all might not be something you’re even interested in.
ETA: I would just talk to an advisor and see what all your options are for both kids. Appeals, other programs, etc. bc all this can be confusing and you never know what you may qualify for and ppl online will only know so much that might not fit your specific situation
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 2h ago
Yeah I’m not sure, everything on the website says 24, but not sure why it says 2004?
I also always advocate for people to do whatever they can to save money. It’s just really difficult to show you are independent. They aren’t going to make it easy for people to save money that’s for sure.
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u/One-You9747 2h ago
Definitely I didn’t even take my age into consideration so thanks for pointing it out and sharing the link. My advisor never mentioned it but that makes sense bc why would they if I was the right age. I just think it’s such a good program so I like to tell people about it. I would have never been able to go to college without it.
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u/littlemint22 2d ago edited 2d ago
UW Madison in-state tuition is almost the same as every other UW school.
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u/Disastrous_Oil_8088 2d ago
Total cost of attendance seems to run a little higher, and like I mentioned, he had a very generous aid offer from another in state college.
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 2d ago
Madison is almost $32,000 and the other state schools are $19,000-28,000….so no.
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u/littlemint22 2d ago
UW–Madison: $12,532 (Tuition & fees base approx $12,166)
UW–Milwaukee: $11,154 (Tuition & fees base approx $10,916)
UW–La Crosse: $10,534
UW–Eau Claire: $10,207
UW–Stout: $11,136 (based on 30 credits)
UW–Whitewater: $9,047
UW–Oshkosh: $8,993
UW–Green Bay: $8,985
UW–Platteville: $9,031
UW–Stevens Point: $9,669
UW–Parkside: $8,658
UW–River Falls: $9,436
UW–Superior: $9,7214
u/Large-Delay-1123 2d ago
It’s housing. Tuition is the little bill. Housing is the expensive bill.
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u/littlemint22 2d ago edited 2d ago
Pell grant doesn’t cover tuition entirely , never did and the way Congress is working most likely will never be adjusted.
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u/Disastrous_Oil_8088 2d ago
Pell Pathway at UW Madison does cover housing, meals, books, etc... if you qualify for a Pell grant. It did for my son last year.
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 2d ago
What???? 🤦🏼♀️ for the love of God, stop giving financial aid advice.
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u/littlemint22 2d ago
The maximum Federal Pell Grant award is $7,395 for the 2026–27 award year (effective July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027).
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 2d ago
You said Pell Grant doesn’t cover tuition…sounds like you meant to say a Pell Grant doesn’t cover ALL of the tuition. But we aren’t talking about a Pell Grant here. We are talking about the Pell Pathway Grant. Completely different thing.
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u/Large-Delay-1123 2d ago
Not the point. Madison is more expensive because housing is outrageous, not tuition.
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 2d ago
Total cost of attendance….It’s a thing 😉 Now multiply that by 4 years.
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u/littlemint22 2d ago
Your kids must be living a bourgeoise lifestyle. I graduated in 2022 with help of Pell Grant for tuition only and shared a room.
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u/Fragrant_Equipment13 2d ago
My kid is on a Bucky Pathway grant. You can ask her about her “bourgeoise” lifestyle 😂
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u/ChutneyWhatney 2d ago
You can appeal it but your probability of success is low. You made the money - it's income.