galoisien

I have about *zero* dollars saved up for college, because for the past few years or so, legal and divorce fees has eaten up the money. Though my mother won custody, for the past two years, my mother was unemployed and we amassed significant debt. My mother has however found a job this year as a head of a supervisory team designing warships, and suddenly her income is well past 70,000 dollars per year, I think. But the thing is she only started this January, only that she got promoted quickly due to her existing experience (starting pay was 25,000 dollars per year). But will colleges look at my mother's current income and balk at need-based financial aid? She hasn't filed income tax yet, since this is her first year working after a while, so will that save me?

thumper1

Typically your financial aid is based on the income from the previous tax year...so for the 2008-09 school year, that will be the 2007 tax year. If you mom worked from Jan 2007 to December 2007, that is the income amount that will be used. The schools do not consider consumer debt in the formula. You should use one of the finaid calculators and plug in the numbers to get an estimate of what will be expected from your family. Remember too, that assets count too. AND if you apply to a school that uses the Profile, your father will be expected to complete the non-custodial parent form giving his income and assets as well. You may want to consider applying to colleges that use only the FAFSA for finaid, and NOT the Profile...especially if your non-custodial parent has significant assets and income.

galoisien

Erm, my father effectively abandoned the family 6 years ago, so I am unsure of his current location. The last time as I was aware was that he was somewhere in Connecticut -- in that case, do I really have to get him to complete a Profile, seeing as it would be sort of awkward?

thumper1

Well...re: your father....if he has abandoned your family, you will have to get a waiver for the non-custodial parent form. This can be done. You need to be able to verify that this is true, and usually you have to have someone support this...like a clergyman or school counselor. I'm not truthfully sure of the procedure but I'm sure someone here will respond with the specifics.

hsmomstef

If you father was involved in legal proceedings/custody hearings, etc -- the colleges consider that contact with the family and will require a form from him. You can always ask the college to waive the non-custodial parent form -- but they will generally require in cases where that parent has paid child support or been to court regarding that. I only mention this because you said that your mom had spend money in the past couple years on divorce.

Start doing some reading and calculating with regards to the EFC that colleges will expect you to pay -- and have a heart to heart with your mom and see what she is willing to contribute.

Thumper is correct -- consumer debt does not factor into the equation, however if consumer debt is due to an unusual circumstance, many schools will take it into consideration. If debt was accured to pay basic living expenses because of unemployment, unexpected medical expenses, etc., you can ask for them to review your FA award due to the special circumstances. You will be expected to provide proof -- but a solid explanation will help tremendously.

galoisien

If my mother is only filing income taxes April next year (as I recall), but I am applying by the usual deadlines, will the household income be effectively zero at this point?

Also, my father only occasionally makes child support payments and they are generally almost always late. The amount of financial support we receive from him is not great.

hsmomstef

If you mother has income to report from the calendar year 2007 (for which taxes will be due in April 2008) that is the income that will be used to calculate financial aid. College students have different deadlines than the IRS, so it is HIGHLY ENCOURAGED that you have your mom complete her taxes as early as possible. Each school will have different deadlines for financial aid paperwork, but ideally your mother should be prepared to do her taxes and financial aid forms in early February. If you miss the school's deadlines for paperwork, you chances for financial aid become much more limited, regardless of your EFC.

It doesn't matter whether your father only occasionally makes child support payments -- what matters is that you do have contact with him and he does make some effort towards payments. It isn't right or fair -- but that is how the system works IF you are talking about schools that require non-custodial parents information. That needs to be something you really check on. It isn't based on whether the parent wants to pay, but what they are capable of paying. you really need to make an effort to contact your father and tell him that you will need him to fill out financial aid forms -- his will also be due early February for many schools. You can tell him that the information he gives to the schools will not be shared with you or your mom -- that is sometimes an issue in divorces.

galoisien

Well actually my father and I aren't on speaking terms. I mean, one of the court's rulings was that all contact had to be supervised, and I haven't spoken to him in 5 years? I don't get this, how am I supposed to get forms to him? I don't even know how to contact him.

hsmomstef

contact three of the schools you are considering (that require the profile) and specifically ask them this question. I would contact them via email, so they can route the question to the correct person and you end up with the answer in writing.

Tell them that you are concerned about financial aid because you will not be able to provide non-custodial parental information. Tell them that you have not spoken with your father for 5 years, he does pay child support but it isn't much and isn't on time and that the court ruled that all contact with him has to be supervised.

See what they tell you -- that is going to make more sense than asking me, especially since you have very specific questions.

What I will tell you is that I have worked with kids who had real problems getting the non-custodial form signed and the schools still insisted on having it. One girl's father was serving life in prison for murder, she had not seen him since she was ten and he was never married to her mother. Two schools allowed a waiver for the non-custodial parent form and one school still insisted that she get it.

This is good information to have when compiling your list -- no sense applying to a school if you can't get any financial aid because you can't get that form filled out.

TrinSF

Please, do contact the schools and let them know about the custody/contact situation. My son had a similar situation. We found some schools (U Chicago in particular) very diffciult to deal with about it, but others (like Reed) were very helpful. My ex does pay a very meager amount of child support, but has refused contact with son since custody changed 4 years ago, and will not provide us with contact information, things like that.

A lot of people told me the same thing you're hearing -- that schools will demand the non-custodial parent form, no matter what, will make you jump through a lot of hoops. What I actually *found* is that while *some* schools are like that, others clearly were not. My son's top two choices were at opposite ends of the spectrum on this. We ended up going with the one that was more accomodating. I sent them email about the situation, and that served as enough documentation for them.

I *promise* it's not as bad as it sounds from others, but you do need to start early and let schools know early, so that you know, in way advance, which ones are going to be diffcult. For example, I found U Chicago and Oberlin the worst to deal with.

thumper1

As others have pointed out...it is in your best interest for ALL tax returns needed (yours, mom's, dad's if needed, etc) to be completed as close to Feb 1 as possible. You can do both the FAFSA and PROFILE with estimates on Jan 1 and then do your taxes ASAP after Feb 1. You will then need to amend the FAFSA online and mail in corrections to your colleges for the Profile. This is NOT the year to wait until April to file your income taxes. Do them as soon as you can. Institutional aid in particular can sometimes be awarded on a first come/first served basis. You don't want the school to have insufficient funds because you dilly dallied.

ahoo2u

We had a similar situation, single parent, suddenly had an increase in income (I accepted a lot of overtime to pay for last year at private school) For similar reasons, (legal fees and medical bills etc) accumulated a lot of debt. And debt doesn't count. BIG BIG MISTAKE to earn more the year before starting college. If I had only known. ...Guess FASFA figures if you can earn extra once you can do it again for four years...even if the overtime is never available ever again.

But we found that some small LACs were understanding - several thousand $ wiggle room. Get educated on the financial aid process, and then have good talks with the financial aid cousellors about their methodology. For every "break" they give you, however, for lack of available funds, you have to send something to verify your claim.

But it's brutal. There isn't a break for single parents built into the government financial aid programs. Once a single earns over $65,000 most of the breaks disappear....so you won't get a free ride anywhere just because you're mom has no income to spare. For Pell grants, State grants, etc it's almost better for mom to earn less; like $30-40,000 ish; especially for some scholarships like Horatio Alger and Gates Millenial Scholars.

Good grades, good SAT's (for some schools), lots of volunteer work will help at some schools.

Consider ROTC

And write an outstanding essay....you never know!

Mizo

In addition to applying to your dream schools, it is also important to apply to several (3) school which you like and where the student is in the top 25% percentile of the applicant pool in order to maximize merit aid, this can include both private and public colleges/universities.