<p>Yes, they GCs can direct the families to the net price calculators.</p>
<p>You need to have a reality talk with your daughter as unpleasant as that will be. Make sure she understands how financial aid works, how loans work and what the limits are for student loans. Explain that any student loans beyond that need a co-signer. Explain what that means and what your attitudes about co-signing are. I am only guessing but it sounds like you will not co-sign and it sounds like your ex-wife does not have the credit needed. Many kids think they can borrow whatever they need. I would help her determine how much she has in total to spend. Show her how to use the net price calculators.</p>
<p>Now the hard part. You need to decide now what you can afford and can commit to for all four years… If you are unwilling to take a parent loan then that number might end up being zero. Is the number based on the ex-wife matching it? Telling your daughter that you won’t know until your wife finds a job adds a lot of anxiety and uncertainty to the mix. What if the wife loses the new job? Will you expect your daughter to transfer and keep in mind transfer aid is often much lower? You need to have these discussions and try to help her understand what you can afford and why. In this situation, it would help her to understand that this is not part of anything with your ex-wife (and if it is, you might want to under play it) but more of what is reality. Your daughter needs to focus on what schools you can afford now not what schools you can afford if your wife lands a nice job. </p>
<p>Your wife is out of work. You have no idea how long that situation will go on. Months? Years? Happydad was out of work for almost 17 months, and the new job meant we had to move halfway across the country. Please do yourself and your daughter a huge favor, and get honest with her about the money. She needs to be prepared for the worst case scenario, and that means she needs to be lining up the closest thing that she can find to a true full ride for herself. She cannot count on her stepmother finding a job, or on you winning the lotto.</p>
<p>ETA…could you please explain this?</p>
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<p>Sounds like her mom and step dad make more than $150,000 a year. You say here that you AND your wife make more than her mom and stepmom…significantly more. So…even without your wife working…what IS your annual income? $200,000 a year? </p>
<p>But back to the question…should you file the Profile now or later…if the student is applying early admission and there is an early priority deadline for the Profile for EA applicants…then you should file that Profile adhering to the early priority deadline.</p>
<p>You ALSO need to have a conversation regarding how much you are willing to contribute to her college costs per year for the next four years. To be honest, this amount is more important in terms of college planning than your FAFSA EFC or the amount of aid a school offers you. Your daughter needs to know the budget.</p>
<p>Yes, if the ex and her new husband make > $150,000, and the OP makes more than that (is that with or without the OP’s new wife employed?), then the daughter needs a reality check. Total parental income > $300,000 makes need-based financial aid very unlikely – it seems that the request for the CSS Profile NCP information indicates that the daughter does not realize that. With very little or no parental contribution from the OP, and presumably none from the ex, the daughter needs to build her college application list around full ride merit scholarships.</p>
<p>I also wonder about child support. Likely dad would be on the hook for a substantial amount. Why wouldn’t at least that amount be payable towards college once D is out of high school? </p>
<p>If Dad’s income is only “substantially” more than $150k when his wife is working, then he shouldn’t have worded it that way. </p>
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<p>I agree that applying for aid will likely be a waste of time unless there is something we don’t know. I don’t know if the OP has mentioned it, but if his ex-wife’s H’s income is a chunk of that $150k+ income, then he may not be willing to contribute much either. </p>
<p>I think the parents need to lay down their swords and have an honest “adult talk” about how college will be funded. After a “meeting of the minds,” it may come out that each household can only pay about $15k-20k (or less), and if that is so, then they need to be a united front and tell DD what the facts are. And, it would somewhat lessen the blow if they had a list in-hand of schools that will work…either UVA instate or some other schools with good-sized merit.</p>
<p>If you read back from the beginning there is a post where he mentions that CS (child support?) ends when D graduates HS. No specifics, though.</p>
<p>Also he says way back at beginning she has full rides from Temple and Bama, but I think he means full tuition. So she has the stats to get that kind of merit. Not clear if she is NMF, but at least she can go after the full ride for stats merit. I’m not so familiar with those. One of the Louisiana schools has something, right?</p>
<p>He also has told the D so far that even if his wife gets a job, the most he will contribute is half the cost of W&M, like $15K?. And if she doesn’t get a job, I think it may be nothing, but not sure. Maybe this thread got too intense for him. He hasn’t commented recently. </p>
<p>You seem to have a good handle on the situation in terms of what you are willing and able to pay under what circumstances. Clearly, if your wife is not employed at the time your DD has to make a commitment, you will be under strain to keep up your living expense, and that has to be your first priority. Make that very clear to your daughter, along with the fact that unemployment and a down fall in financial situation can happen any time to any of the parties involved with payment of her college, and that is risk to consider when she is picking schools. Hopefully, she does consider some schools where she can get some good merit money, and keep the risks down that she might have to interrupt her education due to lack of funds. It’s unlikely it will make a dent in the momentum that takes over high school seniors during this time of their lives. At that age, only what they want to hear makes it’s way to certain parts of the brain where it is processed. It wouldn’t help if your ex and her partner are caught up in the same. This is what often happens in this whole college process.</p>
<p>So you can tell your DD outright that what you are hoping to be able to pay is about what half the COA of William and Mary costs, and that is only if your financial situation will be what you hope it will be soon. It seems to me that your DD will be applying to some lottery ticket schools, and those often require NCP PROFILE. If it turns out that she does get accepted to a HPY type school that you truly believe deserves herculean financial efforts from your part, you can make the decision to come up with such money when that occurs. You bring it up now, and the HPY category can be stretched in your DD and ex’s minds, hope that you’ll pay for whatever she wants regardless of what the school might be I see this all of the time, when a parent leaves something like this open ended.</p>
<p>I would not count on the GC coming up with extra awards. Most of the money one gets is from the school itself when talking about paying for full freight. I recommend you looking for some schools where full tuition awards are more than a pipe dream on part of your DD. Alabama and Temple have been mentioned. Other schools that come to mind are U Denver, Northeastern, Fordham, Hofstra. UBuffalo has some full awards it gives out as well. Look at the lists and encourage your DD to apply to some of those schools along with the Virginia state schools.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
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<p>A student who gets full tuition at Alabama (3.5 HS GPA, 32 ACT) or Temple (3.75 HS GPA, 32 ACT) should be able to get a full ride from Troy (3.7, 31), Tuskegee (3.7, 29), Alabama State (3.76, 28), Howard (3.5, 32), Louisiana Tech (3.0, 32), and Prairie View A&M (3.5, 26), according to <a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/</a> .</p>
<p>However, it does not sound like these schools are what the “entitled” daughter or the HYPS-impressed OP are looking for.</p>
<p>Of course I pay Child Support. How? Garnished from my pay. Always has been. When that ends, I must start paying off the legal bill, which will take about a year if I pay it off at the same rate. My lawyer is holding off on collections for now because she knows my income situation now and next year.</p>
<p>My wife is VERY eager to get back to work, be productive and valued, and not have to worry about money every single day. We expect she should find something that would make a very comfortable household income again; she is not in any way undermining her job search efforts, i assure you.</p>
<p>Yes, my gross income is in the high 100s. CS is over $1100/month (1 child). Mortgage is over $4k/month. My student loans are another $900/month. This was all very reasonable when we had 2 incomes.</p>
<p>Her UW GPA is 3.8+, all Honors and AP courses. Her SAT is between 2250-2300.</p>
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<p>Unemployment in NYS just went up to $420/month. That’s for the whole state, whether you live in Manhattan or Buffalo or anywhere in between.</p>
<p>I believe it was $405 back in 1999 or 2000, the last time I collected.</p>
<p>If the student’s mother’s credit is crappy and she gets turned down for a ParentsPlus loan, she is entitled to an extra $4-5k in federal loans every year.</p>
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<p>If your gross income is $151,000, then your income taxes (federal income, VA state income, SS/Medicare; see <a href=“Virginia Income Tax Brackets 2024”>http://www.tax-brackets.org/virginiataxtable</a> ) are probably about $42,000, giving you an after tax income of about $109,000. The expenses listed above total $78,000 (assuming $4,500 per month on the mortgage), so you have about $31,000 left to pay non-housing living costs and/or any contribution you make to your daughter’s college costs, correct?</p>
<p>Health insurance for family is about $16k/year. That’s not a Cadillac plan either.</p>
<p>We live paycheck to paycheck the last year.</p>
<p>Seems like what a “Gold” level plan would cost, based on what <a href=“http://www.healthcare.gov”>http://www.healthcare.gov</a> offers for Virginia residents. “Silver” or “Bronze” level plans would cost less, while “Platinum” level plans would cost more.</p>
<p>FCCDAD, no health insurance through anyone’s employer? </p>
<p>Are their any ways you have cut costs? Any possibility of selling the place that costs $4000 plus per month, and buying a smaller townhouse…that is less costly? What other expenses can you reasonably reduce? </p>
<p>If none, then you need to set a budget with your daughter, and stick with it…in consultation with her mother.</p>
<p>But from what you are saying…this could come as a financial surprise to your daughter…who sounds like she has been led to believe that her lifestyle is one that is affordable for her parents.</p>
<p>Driving home,a short while ago, I picked up Dave Ramsey on the radio. OP, you mean despite the earnings, you are still paying off your own college loans? </p>