Someone up thread mentioned that your mom spent what was in the college fund for your sister’s education, is this true? Was that your dad’s contribution?
I think the point is Dad is not simply out of sight and estranged, but vehemently not supporting his kids, has a record of of making things difficult for the ex and kids. Mom paid for sister’s college, using what little she had set aside for both kids (apparently.) OP said it first.
The situation the OP is facing is a difficult one. And it’s particularly hard to have one’s parent not be part of your life.
But really…finacially, this is not the college’s issue. It is a family issue.
And even if these parents were still married, this father could still say he is NOT going to pay full freight for a $70,000 a year college. There have been many parents on this forum who have made that decision. It’s a ton of money. And some families just won’t pay it…married or divorced.
The OP has to figure out the finances…and putting his mom’s financial security at risk isn’t a good idea. Unless he can get it in writing that the grandparents will help year after year…thst isn’t such a great idea either.
If the grandparents agree to help for all four years, I would suggest they open a 529 and deposit their contribution…up front…into the account. That way the OP won’t be caught short in subsequent years.
While 57k out of 150k income is very difficult to swallow, if your family is willing to change a lifestyle it is possible. A lot of families survive on a smaller income.
$150k nets approximately $100k after taxes. Subtract $57k for college, that leaves ~$40k to live on for 2 people (sister has already graduated from college). This is only for 4 years.
It may not be comfortable, but it’s certainly doable.
The way I see it, OP cat eke out enough for two years. I said upthread:
I notice the OP doesn’t ever mention working a summer job to contribute a bit.
I don’t understand why people are going off in tangent in telling the OP that he can’t afford the school or shouldn’t go to the school. His grandparents are making it happen, whatever it takes. For the first year, they have wired 75K and I am sure there will be more coming. OP is just trying to keep the grant of 12K he got, so his grandparents wouldn’t have to pay as much later on. He is not complaining about only getting 12K based on his mom’s salary. He has a dead beat dad, but unfortunately he still needs to include his dad salary when applying for FA.
I would consider what Blossom has written and ignore most of other posts. I wish people would stop telling others how they can live on 40K because they could do it. No, you can’t do it when you already have a house with mortgage (by selling it would incur a lot more expenses) and you may not be able to rent a place for lesser money. Not everyone lives in a low cost area where it is possible to rent an apartment for less than 1000. And no, OP’s mom can’t necessary move to those cost areas because she may not be able to get a jot that pays 150K.
Other than going to a school that provides merit aid, I am not sure if it would be cheaper for OP to go to another school based on his family’s financial situation.
To the OP…could you please clarify. Will your grandparents be able to send you additional money for college? If so, this is a go for you.
If not, it’s going to be tight.
Agree that talking to both your dad and grandparents about your college funding is important…as suggested by @blossom.
I thought OP said he is working. No one yet said the grandparents will send more money. And the colleges can’t make up for a decision to purchase with a high mortgage. (If that’s the case, so much OP hasn’t explained.)
Mom doesn’t have to live on 40k. Make the 75k last four years.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there is more to come from the grandparents later on, even though OP didn’t say one way or another.
The question he is asking: My grandparents have given my mom 75K, would I need to report it next year on my financial aid application? I would say there are ways it could be structured so he wouldn’t have to, but I would consult a tax accountant to be sure.
There are schools that do not consider the NCP in their fin aid formulas- Vanderbilt is one and I believe someone mentioned that UChicago did this as well. Too bad OP and his mom did not thoroughly research this knowing that the father would not cooperate (as made clear by his past behavior).
The OP has not related that more money would be coming from grandparents. So unless this is set in stone somewhere I would not risk sending my kid off to a school that I felt was not affordable.
It may be possible to do it on $150,000 if the family is very very frugal and the student works every summer and maybe even during the year. The OP already said that they have a $19.00 an hr summer internship.
OP, you are going to have to confront your situation. There is a lot of unfairness going on but you have to face realities. Schools are not going to bend policies just for you. This is it. Do not do anything that will jeopardize you and your mothers integrity. Look at the situation as clearly as you can and make a decision that will allow you to graduate in four years and with minimal debt. No school is worth the anxiety and the albatross of huge debt.
You do have options- live extremely frugally and work to contribute. Do not try to hide anything that could damage you later. You could also take a gap year and reapply with a better understanding of your special needs and find a school to meet those needs.
BTW there is no getting around not reporting it “in the least illegal way”. It’s either legal or illegal. But it is interesting how you are wording things. Good luck in this difficult choice.
OP’s grandparents can pay for the tuition directly. At the end of day, the grandparents are not US citizens, so they wouldn’t be responsible for paying the gift tax anyway.
Assume OP’s mom received this as gift and decided to blow all of it on Prada bags and shoes (it happens), then what would OP have to put on the FA application as income or asset next year?
I am not a FA guru, so I don’t know exactly what needs to be reported.
One accountant wrote this on a question “My husband received a monetary gift of $20,000 from his father…Do we need to report it on my sons’s FASFA”:
But taxable and considered in the finaid formula are different.
As far as we know, the gift was to Mom. Fine. Grandparents paying tuition directly can be on record as “payment made on the student’s behalf.”
If the money is given to the mom, she can use it to pay HER bills…and use her income to pay for the tuition costs.
All that the OP needs to do is look at the FASFA questions and the Profile questions he already answered for this year. Is there a question that he or his mom would have to say “yes” to and report the $75,000?
Simple. If there is you report and if there isn’t then you don’t because there is no question taken into consideration.
The same would happen with his mom filing taxes. Look at the forms questions regarding gifts and how those are handled. The money was wired to the mother. How she uses it is up to her. She will have to figure out how to report it or not based on her tax forms.
A $75k gift from grandparent to mom will not be reported anywhere on mom’s tax forms. It will not be reported as parent untaxed income on the student’s FAFSA. If the student is required to submit the Profile, it will be reported there as cash the parent received (PI-230A), but how it impacts need based financial aid depends on how the school treats it. Any part of the gift that mom still has when FA forms are completed will need to be reported as a parent asset on both the FAFSA and Profile.
The OP could have avoided a crapstorm if he/she simply asked how best to handle a $75k cash gift from GP, to minimize adverse effect on FA.
Instead, the OP turned it into a moral rationalization.