An “enormous mortgage” should only make a difference in that it possibly means less equity in the home, and therefore fewer reportable assets. Consumer debt shouldn’t have anything at all to do with a financial aid determination.
@Calwahine, you’ll learn soon that things are not always what people say they are. Many will claim to have received a full football scholarship to Harvard or Amherst when such things don’t exist. They may have received a full scholarship, but it’s need based, or pieced together from a few sources. The father of a girl on my daughter’s team keeps telling everyone that his daughter got a ‘full ride’ for playing, and it just isn’t true. She may have enough grants and scholarships to equal full tuition/room/board, but it is not all coming from the athletic department. In fact, most of it isn’t. The school gives good merit aid, the state gives need based aid, she may have gotten a Pell grant, but it is not a 100% athletic grant, more like a 20% one which is what most of the team got. It causes hard feelings when word gets out (because this guy keeps bragging about it) and others think they didn’t have such a good deal. My own daughter was saying that one of her roommates pays about $20k while the other pays nothing. I pointed out that the one from in state also has state grants and awards that the OOS roommate isn’t eligible for. You just don’t know what other sources of funding are playing into the total.
Your son is a high school freshman. You have a couple of years to do research…and do keep up to date on this as policies could change between now and three years from now when your kiddo is actually applying to colleges.
- There are about 300 colleges that require the Profile, but not all of them require the NCP Profile. So research that.
- Some schools don't use the NCP Profile but do collect information about the NCP via their own forms. So research that too.
- If your son ends up having a competitive SAT or ACT score, and GPA for some of the highly competitive schools that meet full need, he will perhaps be a candidate for good merit aid at less competitive schools.
- If you earn less than $80,000 a year, your kiddo would be Calgrant eligible (unless that changes in the next three years). There are many UCs and CSU campuses in your state that could end up being affordable. Some also offer merit aid...exolore those options as well.
- The PSAT your kiddo has now, taken as a HS freshman, doesn't really count for much. It's the one he takes as a junior in high school that will matter for NM qualifying status.
- FAFSA only schools do not require the NCP information but you do have to list your child support on the FAFSA when your kiddo applies for his freshman year aid.
- It doesn't matter that you were never married to the dad. It also doesn't matter if your son and his dad have a close relationship. What matters to the schools is that you can contact this person, he has established some kind of relationship with your son, and you can easily contact him. I can't see a basis for a waiver. This is not a parent who is in unknown parts, can't be contacted, and never sees this kiddo.
I agree that you should be looking at options that are viable on your income only as it is possible that a NCP waiver may not be granted. But I do encourage you to request the waivers from the schools, as YMMV. I 've known folks who have received some from their school in situations similar to yours. It all depends upon the schools and how they are looking at the situation
UC and CSU are FAFSA only and do not require NCP financials. They also have good in state financial aid, but few merit scholarships. So there are plenty of choices for your kid. Also, schools with merit should be in the mix.