flying_phoenix

Sorry for the begging tone of this thread's title, but I'd really love any advice people might have. When you go to the financial aid sections of school's websites (the need-based aspect) they usually give you the general calculations for family income and how much you should expect aid-wise. However, they don't seem to have any calculation for divorced parents. So, I'm just going to describe what my situation is, and hope that some charitable CC souls will take mercy on my confusion and let me know what colleges might do.


My parents have been divorced for 5 years
My father got remarried a year and a half ago. His new wife is a Columbian immigrant who came to this country to marry him. She has no job, and brings in no income. My father's income after taxes is around 140K, about 170K before taxes

I live full-time with my mother (with the exception of the 1-2 weekends a month when my father has visitation). My mom got married a little over a year ago. Her husband is in research and makes about 40K a year; my mom makes about 55K a year.

I know some places said they count non-custodial parents, some say they count them only if your custodial parent is not married...could someone here give me a "straighter" answer regarding what I might be able to expect from places like:
Cornell
Williams College
Princeton
Washington and Lee
UWash St. Louis
Duke

Thank you!

its3amagain

... it's on each of their websites. None of them mention if they're remarried specifically but I'd assume they all want non-custodial parents information but you could always email them seperately to ask.

Cornell:

If parents are separated, divorced, or were never married, financial information for both parents is reviewed

Williams:

When parents are divorced or separated, the financial ability of the non-custodial parent to contribute is taken into consideration.

My parents are separated or divorced. Do they both need to submit financial information for my aid application?
Yes. Princeton requires both parents to provide financial information in most cases. See the Undergraduate Financial Aid Information and Application Instructions for more information about exceptions.

Washington & Lee:

Caution—The Non-custodial PROFILE is not optional. Complete the Non-Custodial PROFILE at least two weeks prior to the deadline to allow time for the document to reach Washington and Lee. Contact the Washington and Lee University Financial Aid Office at (540) 458-8716 if submission presents problems. Carefully determine which parent is custodial by reading PROFILE instructions.

UWash St. Louis:

If a financial assistance applicant’s natural parents are divorced or separated, the noncustodial parent must complete the Noncustodial Parent’s Statement in order for the student to be considered for financial assistance. The Washington University Noncustodial Parent’s Statement is available online at ncps.wustl.edu. If you have questions or would like to request a paper form, please contact Student Financial Services.

Duke:

14. My parents are divorced. What information does Duke require from my non-custodial parent?

Once you have completed the CSS Profile registration, the College Board will notify you that Duke requires the Noncustodial Profile. You will be sent an e-mail that details the requirement and you will be directed to share this e-mail with your noncustodial parent. This e-mail will contain a link to the Noncustodial Profile website as well as login instructions for your noncustodial parent. Your noncustodial parent's tax return should either be submitted in the same packet with the custodial parent's information or in a separate packet mailed to the College Board's IDOC Service with a copy of your original IDOC letter.

scottaa

Simple answer... they all want the non-custodial and it will drive up your EFC.

mom2collegekids

Is your dad going to help with your college expenses?

Your dad's income is going to drive up your EFC. The fact that his wife doesn't earn anything doesn't matter in the big picture.

I'm also concerned that once EFC is determined, the EFC isn't "officially split" according to ability to pay. So, even if your EFC comes back as $40k, it won't say -- dad's EFC is $30k and mom's EFC is $10k. And, yes, I do think that your EFC could come back as that high or higher.

IF you think that your parents can't/won't meet the EFC (which will likely be high), then you need to have some financial safeties (there aren't any on your list that I can see).

Since you likely have high stats (since you're applying ivy), I suggest that you apply to one or two financial safeties that are either inexpensive OR will give you a ton of merit that will make them inexpensive. Seriously, you'll be broken hearted in the spring if you're given a high EFC and your parents can't/won't pay it. That's why it's important to have a couple of financial safeties - so you'd still have a choice.

Have each of your parents said how much they can contribute to your education each year?

Also, if you apply to some financial safeties that are public schools, they typically will not look at your dad's income AT ALL.

What financial safeties are you considering?

ebeeeee

Flying...you need to sit down with each parent now and get an understanding of what they will contribute. Your EFC is likely to be high because your father has a good income and your mother and stepfather also have a good income.
The only schools which will not consider your fathers income would be FAFSA only schools. All of the schools on your list seem to require the Profile which counts non custodial parents.
If you were to add a FAFSA only school that would count your mother AND your stepfather's income and resources.

sueinphilly

FYI, even with a fafsa only school an income of the OP parents that is 95K is going to give an EFC that might surprise them (depending on if there are other children and age of parents and any cash in the bank, you're looking at nearly 20K EFC from Fafsa alone)

I hate to say it, but you're EFC would be much lower if your mom hadn't remarried

hmom5

Bottom line, it will be hard to get aid from any of these schools except perhaps a little from Princeton with this financial picture. Even at Princeton I would expect maybe just work study.

flying_phoenix

I guess that's what I was afraid of.

Just a note, I am applying to financial safeties, and also to mid-range schools that offer good merit aid, and applying for every merit aid scholarship I could find.

My father is driving me crazy, because he said he'll contribute whatever my mother will contribute, and my mom is scraping together maybe 10K a year, since she still has to take care of my younger brother, keep the house/bills going, and her benefits at her job just dropped in a way that won't show up in her income. And at the same time he's spending obscene amounts of money redecorating his house, buying his new wife every new kind of electronic device that comes on the market, and buying a new motorcycle.

It just makes me want to cry, because I've worked so hard for so long to get where I am academically, and I'm pretty much screwed because my parents don't make in the golden <60K range. You can yell at me all you want for that statement making me sound insensitive to what I'm sure are very real problems for people of incomes <60K, but right now I'm too frustrated to particularly care.

mom2collegekids

FYI, even with a fafsa only school an income of the OP parents that is 95K is going to give an EFC that might surprise them (depending on if there are other children and age of parents and any cash in the bank, you're looking at nearly 20K EFC from Fafsa alone)

I hate to say it, but you're EFC would be much lower if your mom hadn't remarried

True...but only really at FAFSA only schools. All of his schools on his list are CSS schools, so with mom's and dad's income, he'll get a high EFC even if neither had remarried. But, you're right, at FAFSA only schools his mom and step's income will be too high - I forgot that mom remarried.

So, it looks like he needs a couple of safeties that can be paid for out of pocket (from whatever his parents will pay) plus some small loans, OR some safeties that will give him some great merit that will leave an unpaid balance that will be manageable thru parents and small loans. BTW...I really think kids in such a situation need at least 2 - 3 safeties, because in the spring, you may decide that you don't like one of your safeties. You don't want to end up stuck.


oops cross-posted with the OP

mom2collegekids

My father is driving me crazy, because he said he'll contribute whatever my mother will contribute.......And at the same time he's spending obscene amounts of money redecorating his house, buying his new wife every new kind of electronic device that comes on the market, and buying a new motorcycle. .....my mom is scraping together maybe 10K a year..


Unfortunately, that often happens. Sometimes divorced parents use the fact that they know that their lower-income ex can't pay much, so they insist that they'll only "match" what that lower-income ex will pay. So sorry. It will be hard for your mom to come up with $10k per year. I know that she's remarried, but your step's income really is just going to cover his own expenses/savings.

No one looks badly upon your frustration. It's real. {{{{ hugs }}}}

Just a note, I am applying to financial safeties, and also to mid-range schools that offer good merit aid, and applying for every merit aid scholarship I could find.

What are your stats? what are your safeties? What is your home state?

susanr64

"It just makes me want to cry, because I've worked so hard for so long to get where I am academically, and I'm pretty much screwed because my parents don't make in the golden <60K range. You can yell at me all you want for that statement making me sound insensitive to what I'm sure are very real problems for people of incomes <60K, but right now I'm too frustrated to particularly care."

Unfortunately a lot of kids are in this boat, including my D where her father and his wife make a lot of money but say they won't contribute much. As a result , my daughter has applied to a lot of schools that give good merit aid. She had a little bit of a sense of entitlement at first, but came around after visiting some of the schools. She sees she can personally do well there and achieve her goals.

Take another look at Princeton's financial aid. I am not sure they ask for the non-custodial parent. I went over it several times and could not find, but I could hardly believe it.

It's bad enough for kids to have divorced parents, but then this hurts as well. But there are also kids with families intact where the parents will not pay for college.

mom2collegekids

It looks like Princeton has its own form .... Students can register with a secure login and complete the Princeton Financial Aid Application (PFAA) from any computer.

and, Princeton does say this...

A reasonable expected contribution from students and their parents: We determine a family's ability to pay using Princeton's own need formula ....


that suggests (to me) that their form will look at both parents' income.

hmom5

It's not his mom's remarriage that makes the EFC so high, it's his dad's income.

I feel for you. While a $170K income doesn't make him rich, your dad has options and I understand your frustration that he has chosen not to make education his priority. Be good to your mom, that she is choosing to scrape together $10K on her income means she has made you the big priority.

Hopefully you'll have some great choices. If you're Princeton material, you'll either get in there or get great merit aid many places.

romanigypsyeyes

OP: I'm very sorry for your situation . Parents p*ss me off to no end sometimes. My sister's mom (we're half sisters) and her husband together made over the 100k mark whereas my dad and mom made less than half of what they made. My dad paid for most of her tuition all four years and her mom wouldn't contribute a damn thing. We almost lost our house just to put her through school and her mom blows nearly a thousand dollars every few weeks on clothes, hair, nails, etc. It's like seriously?

Sorry for that minirant, but I can't believe parents sometimes. Anyone with a 150k income should be able to contribute more than someone with a 100k income and should not use their kids as pawns, education is MUCH more important than petty fights with the ex.

Ugh. Good luck OP. I just hope our generation (growing up with the most divorced parents ever) will make wise decisions in the future with regards to our own children so they don't feel the same pain we do.

NewEnglandMother

OP - Each school will use the information they request (CSS Profile and NC Profile and/or their own financial forms) as they choose. Princeton has a financial aid calulator on their website that can take into account divorced and non-custodial information. I would call the finanical aid office to find out for sure but it LOOKS like if your custodial parent has remarried then they only include the custodial parent and their spouse. If the custodial has not remarried it seems that in that case they consider both custodial and non-custodial. This is just my interpretation so I would suggest you ask the financial aid office. Here is the link to Princeton's calculator.

https://sweb2.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/...finaid_form.pl

I am guessing what they require by the choices provided at this link. Good luck - in my experience I have found that they more heavily weigh the custodial parent's income (including any child support) and weigh the non-custodial's income much more lightly. I also believe if the school really wants you they will offer an attractive package.