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Colorado State University: public and uses FAFSA but also wants noncustodial parent financials
kevin303
5 replies2 threads New Member
I'm divorced. My ex is the custodial parent. With our older children and other public colleges, I did not have to share my financial info. And I understand that many private colleges are smart/fair and ask for financial info from all parents and step-parents. Colorado State University is a public college, so I assumed they would just use my ex-wife's financial info she provided via FAFSA. However, they are requesting my financial info as the non-custodial parent. Has anyone gone through this non-custodial parent process at CSU? Since my income is quite a bit more than my ex-wifes, is this likely to eliminate or greatly reduce any financial aid for my child at CSU?
4 replies
Replies to: Colorado State University: public and uses FAFSA but also wants noncustodial parent financials
Is this what you are talking about.
ETA...CSU does not guarantee to meet full need for all. Even if only the custodial parent is considered, the aid might not be a lot. If the student is eligible for something like a Pell Grant based on custodial parent FAFSA, they will get that anyway.
If the school asks you to submit info...then do it. This would be for consideration for institutional grant money. That’s not guaranteed anyway at CSU
https://financialaid.colostate.edu/csu-tag/
To be eligible for the CSU Tuition Assistance Grant, students must:
...
Have submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
Demonstrate financial need via the CSU institutional aid application (one time application).
If your parents are divorced, separated, or never married, the parent not included on your FAFSA may be required to complete the Noncustodial Parent Aid Application.]/u]
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It is a specific aid program, so it has additional application requirements. If you choose not to complete the extra application, your child will not be eligible for the TAG funds. If child/custodial parent complete the FAFSA, child will still be eligible for federal funds and perhaps other school/state funds.
The info from CSU seems inconsistent.
Email from them indicates... "please assist us by providing additional financial and household information".
Actual page indicates ... "If a parent decides not to complete their section of the CSU Institutional Aid Application the student will still be considered for federal financial aid each year..."
But also googled and found a "Request for Appeal of Noncustodial Information" form that indicates
"Financial information is required from both the custodial parent (the parent listed on the FAFSA) and the noncustodial
parent to determine the student’s financial aid eligibility. By completing this form, you are petitioning for an exemption to
the requirement of collecting financial information from your noncustodial parent. Please note that while we are sensitive
to potentially difficult situations, we need sufficient detail to enable us to make a determination of your eligibility for a
waiver of the Noncustodial information requirement."
Will provide the requested info and see what happens.
The other applications are to determine eligibility for programs other than PELL, Federal subsidized loans, federal work study and other money sources that use FAFSA only. It is entirely possible to get PELl money and such but not eligible for school or other grants that take into account info like NCP financials, family business, Primary home equity