This student is graduating from high school spring 2027 and presumably will need to enroll in college fall 2027. The FAFSA for the 2027-2028 (kid’s freshman year) won’t even become available until October 1, 2026, and will use tax info from the 2025 tax return…plus child support paid in 2026.
Parent says their fafsa is $5500…but how can they know that when the FAFSA for their child’s freshman academic year won’t even be online until October 1.
I believe the father is way behind on child support based on the following:
I did not mention Georgia Tech, because I dont think my son can get in there. I dont even know anyone who ever got it. It feels like it’s the hardest school to get into now. It’s kind of like Cal Tech-impossible and some unknown unicorns get in.
Dad is appealing the child support he owes and current child support order from 2020 to 2025. He started paying child support a year ago.
The child is applying to college this year, from October to December. We have already done FAFSA estimates with the 2024 numbers, the numbers for 2025 are exactly the same.
Child support is an asset now, not income on FAFSA, it changed.
You can look up on tutoring platforms at how much people charge now. Some tutors charge $1000/$1500 for advanced Calculus classes and for MCAT/LSAT/GMAT prep.
He is appealing current child support and the child support he owes for the last 5 years.
I think GT is on the same level as MIT and Stanford in terms of chances to get in, it seems like all high achieving kids are applying there. All kids who are going into Engineering from our school are applying to Georgia Tech. It seems like the least possible school to get into
Yes, non custodial parent waiver
Park Slope has a $800/year ski pass for U of Utah students, and if you work on the slope part time, you can ski for free, and if you work as a ski instructor, you can make money. Used equipment is affordable.
They are considered, because the school has a relationship with them.
GA Tech requires a non custodial CSS profile, the school does not have a relationship with it, or it’s not a good one-nobody every got in. We do have kids getting into Stanford every year, so the chances are much higher.
Just keep in mind…the FAFSA has had significant changes every year for the past few years. So what you got using the older form might not be what is happening when your student applies.
Thank you!
I think you mean Park City (not familiar with a Park slope). $800 is still a lot of money and many students don’t have that disposable income. I’m not sure how many hours one would have to work to be considered part-time to qualify for a free ski pass. But unless they are working during the winter break, students are probably not going to have enough time to go driving out to the slopes to work. And if they are seasonal employees, they will probably be working full time over the holidays. And if the dorms are closed over the winter break, they need housing. The ski patrol went on strike last year over wages and housing costs, and as much as we love skiing at vail resorts, they are now being sued by their employees.
https://www.freeskier.com/why-vail-resorts-is-being-sued-by-2000-employees
I know we are getting into the weeds now, but as @thumper said, FAFSA changes all the time. If you filled out a form for practice, just to see what your number would be for Pell grants, I think the rules for you will have changed.
" For the 2026–2027 academic year, the parent who files the FAFSA for a student with divorced or separated parents is the parent who provided the greater portion of the student’s financial support during the 12 months prior to filling out the application.
This rule applies if the parents are divorced, separated, or never married and live in separate households. The FAFSA no longer uses the “custodial parent” (the one the student lived with most) as the primary determinant, having shifted to a financial support-based test for the 2024-25 and subsequent, including 2026-27, cycles"
If you make $70k per year, and get $3500/mo ($42k/yr) in child support, it’s likely it would be determined that their father is the parent who provides the most in support. Some of your $70k is to support YOU, so you’d have to figure out how much is supporting children since you’d have deduct your taxes, insurance, car, food, etc. from the gross income.
I think most families would use the worksheets from the state child support calculations, but you said you don’t use those worksheets. You may have to fill one out just to see what portion would be attributed to you and what portion to him.
You also keep talking about how much money your son earns and how he could just work more while in college. That will also reduce the federal aid (Pell, SEOG, subsidized loans) or for schools that only give need based aid, reduce aid. That’s why many on College Confidential recommend taking the full merit awards from NMF or a named award like Stamps. Going thru the FA process every year is not fun, especially if income and costs change every year and you are worried about having to drop out because you can’t afford it.
If he gets a full ride at several schools, THEN he can be picky and decide he prefers Harvard over Alabama, but until he knows that the costs are do-able at the school in the cold climate with skiing nearby or that has the girls he’d like to date, cost HAS to be considered or you are just wasting your time. My kids could have gotten into a number of schools in California (their preference) but I couldn’t afford them so I wouldn’t let them apply until they could show me how they were going to pay for that school. Like you, I was a single mother sending two kids to college in the same year. Unlike you, I wasn’t getting child support. We had to make the money work first.
Yes, sorry, I mean Park City. I think $800/year is realistic and it’s a good investment, considering that both of my kids love skiing and it makes them very happy, it’s great as sport, and it’s also relaxes them and gives them a peace of mind. Even a one week ski trip makes a huge difference in their mental state. Living close to a ski slope would increase their quality of life significantly. When you love something this much, you will find a way. I’ve been making skiing happen for them consistently as a single mom, even when we lived on my salary-home exchanges, going to cheaper destinations and countries. I am sure we can figure out how to make $66-$120/month to make it happen. Since I am planning to stay with my son during his freshman year (most likely through home exchange), we will have housing. If not, there are plenty of people in Sal Lake city who do home exchanges with Hawaii.
Park City is a 40-minute drive away from the University of Utah. There are public buses. It takes my kids longer to drive to school every day right now. U of Utah has a ski team. And I am pretty sure both of my kids would be recruited and ski for the University. The’ve been skiing professionally all their lives and started skiing at the age of 3 years old, my son also does freestyle and aerials. Skiing is a big part of their lives since early childhood. They would thrive in a college with a ski team and would be very happy, and I am paying WAY more for their skiing right now, living in Hawaii, then it would be if they lived in Utah.
Here’s another cool thing offered by UTD: Clark Summer Research Program - UTD Honors College - basically full time research the summer before starting college.
