Wouldn’t it be better for my stepson to have the address of his mother, in the projects, on a fixed income, to get more financial assistance? We (my husband and i) are barely middle income, and have two more children to get through high school. Our oldest (a senior this year) could have graduated last year as a junior, and is extremely intelligent. We dont want him to end up with an excruciating amount of student loans to get him through undergrad. Please help!
There are very specific rules about which parent fills out the FAFSA. It is the parent’s home where the child spends the most nights in the prior year. If the student files the FAFSA on Dec 1, who did the child spend the most nights with from Dec 1, 2017 to Nov 30, 2018?
Yes, this can be planed, especially if the parents live close and the student can go back and forth during the school year, but can also work if the student can spend month in the summer or other time off. If the student ends up with a EFC $0, he’ll get ~$6100 as a Pell grant and maybe some other FA from the state or the school. It’s unlikely to be enough to avoid loans.
Your efc will not depend on the address, but on the official custodial parent. If both parents have joint custody, then the parent with whom the child has spent 183 days/nights or more is used as the reference.
EFC is only the minimum a family is expected to pay.
Out of the 3,700 colleges in the US, only about 60 “meet need”. So, if your EFC is $18,000 and your state university costs $23,000, you’ll get a loan for $5,000 and you’ll be on your own for the rest. Or if it costs $32,000, well, you still get a $5,500 loan and you’re supposed to find the rest, unless you qualify Pell (~45k income) or your state has grants for which you qualify.
If that’s too much, your child must chase merit - colleges that’ll give scholarships for high (or relatively high) test scores regardless of family income. If you want your son to chase merit you have to talk to him TODAY because by not telling him till now he has missed quite a few deadlines (Oct 15, Nov1, Nov 15). The last deadline is Dec1 for big merit scholarships.
What do you call middle income? If less than 75k, or even 100k, your best bet is “meet need schools”. If it’s “middle income for College Confidential” aka 200-250k then the situation is very different.
(Note that meet need schools will take into account both your and your husband’s income plus your stepson’s mother’s income plus the income of any new spouse. )
What are his stats?
Examples of academic rigor?
State of residence?
Intended major?
Your income?
What budget did you give him when he made his list and have you changed your mind since then?
With the above information we can suggest all sorts of universities that’ll be affordable.
To give you ideas: if you make less than 95k and he has a 34 act then UMichigan would be worth applying to.
If he has a 27-29 ACT and you can afford 30k, Drew would be a very good deal.
A 1400-1450 sat unlocks scholarships at public universities (notably at UAlabama) as well as some private colleges.
What are his ACT/SAT scores?
What is his GPA?
What is your home state?
How much can you contribute each year towards his college costs?
Keep in mind that any student loans beyond $5,500 for freshman year will require you to cosign.
Be honest. Don’t lie on the financial aid forms. The custodial parent is the one with whom the student resided with greater than 50% of the time for the year as of the date the FAFSA is filed. So if this kid didn’t live with his mom greater than 50% of the time…don’t lie and say he did.
Many colleges do want both parents’ finances for financial aid purposes, even if divorced.
No, because he doesn’t live with her. He lives with you.
Does she live by his high school? If not, then it will be very obvious that he doesn’t live there.
And as noted, the schools that give the best aid will require the financial info of both bio parents and any new spouses.