My son (entering college Fall 2026) and I have been working tirelessly on building a college list. He is a strong student academically & with regard to activities, honors, etc. We will be relying on merit & need-based aid, but I’m also a university professor & he will be applying to numerous schools for Tuition Exchange. My employer (export school) is not helpful at all with the process & the rep seems very unknowledgeable about it.
I have seen some conflicting information about domicile. Can any divorced parents who’ve BTDT with TE help me out? Here are my questions:
Does my son need to have the same address as me in order to be eligible for my export school to certify him as being eligible? My ex-husband and I share custody and we haven’t decided which of us will use our address for our son’s college applications, FAFSA, etc. It would benefit him for FAFSA to be his dad for non-TE schools, because his dad has earned significantly less than me, but I don’t want to screw up his TE potential if it should be me on FAFSA.
Does my son need to be claimed on my tax return as a dependent for my export school to certify him as being eligible? Same reason as above: my ex-husband and I have been taking turns claiming my son as a dependent.
Any experienced TE divorced parents out there who can help me figure out how much these might matter?
Sorry this is complicated. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
I had to upload my kids birth certs as I did have them on my insurance and/or listed as dependents. Address did not matter.
If you are paying the most or kid lives with you the most, you need to list yourself as the FAFSA person. In my case, although dad made a ton more money than me and did pay child support, I had majority placement and I paid most of the kids bills thus I was listed on fafsa.
None of the schools we looked at for either of our 2 kids who qualified for TE looked at fafsa to determine if the kid was granted TE.
My ex and I split kids as far as claiming on taxes (he claimed one, I claimed one). Both were awarded TE at a few schools.
Our high school class of 2023 kid did get granted TE award at a few schools and did choose a TE school.
Our high school class of 2025 kid was also granted TE awards at a few schools and in the end chose a non TE school that was affordable (we are paying only 8k total COA this year for her).
Wow - thank you so much! This is really SO helpful. My ex and I are truly 50/50, so determining who does FAFSA for our daughter (high school class of 2020 – before I had Tuition Exchange) came down to who earned less, which was always my ex-husband (SIGH).
Still the same today for my high school class of 2026 son – BUT there are pros and cons to who does FAFSA for us, which is what I’m trying desperately to sort out for us right now. The possibility of TE is a big plus in our world, so I want to get it as right as I can. Thank you again
Whether a student qualifies for/receives TE, you have to do FAFSA correctly. The parent who provided the most financial support to your son in the last 12 months is the FAFSA contributor. It has nothing to do with which parent the son lives with more. If the two parents each provide exactly 50% financial support, then the parent with the higher income and assets is the FAFSA contributor. (Note there are limited guidelines as to how to calculate financial support. Just be able to document/support whatever you choose to do.)
Also for FAFSA, it doesn’t matter which parent claims the student as a dependent on their tax return. Many divorced parents alternate claiming their kids as a dependent, and that does not impact who the contributor is (it’s always the parent who provided the most financial support in the last 12 months.)
