Financial aid rules for kids whose divorced parents have remarried

Nope. The FAFSA only uses the parent (and the new spouse) the student lives with. CSS asks for info for ‘all’ the parents, but it then has a formula for using either only the parents (not step parents) or it considers that the money is supporting 2 households. FAFSA only considers the expenses of one household.

There isn’t a lot fair about it. I was a single parent with 2 kids in college. No other income or other people supporting us. I only got one ‘adult’ expense allowance like FICA considerations and the asset allowance for a single was about 1/4 that allowed for a married couple, even if only one parent had income. I had a household of 3, two in college and made the same as the guy I sat next to at work, but he had a wife and one kid (also a household of 3), but our allowance weren’t the same at all. My house for 3 people didn’t cost less, my utilities weren’t less, the food costs weren’t less.

Unfair, but that’s how it is.

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