Also something I wanted to add - I applied to UConn but my school’s salutatorians have a history of getting better deals elsewhere. Most vals from my school go with a full ride but a lot of the sals go elsewhere
So your parents were married when you filed your fafsa and profile?
- If married both of their incomes must be included on the fafsa and profile.
- Did your mom indicate “married “ on the forms? If so expect to be selected for verification with a head of household designation on her taxes.
- If she was married when you filed your forms and she didn’t indicate married...that needs to be changed ASAP and your step dad income from 2018 needs to be added. And all of his assets as of the date of filing.
- Get you mom and step dad to order tax transcripts because you can’t use the IRS data retrieval tool.
- Be honest about all of the above. If you give false information and get aid, that is considered fraud. Look that up. It’s a crime.
- You mentioned outside scholarships needing an efc of $10,000 or less. Even if the income was $55,000, your efc would not be that low.
- If your step dad owns a house...is it rented or what?
@thumper1 No, my parents have been divorced for probably 10 years. My dad did the CSS separately and it connected. My mom got married in 2019, but the FAFSA asked for 2018 returns. She put that she got married in 2019 on the application, but the 2018 tax returns are used, in which she was single and therefore “head of household.” The situation is kind of complicated. No one lied on the application or misrepresented everything; we didn’t commit fraud. And my stepdad owns his house. No one will buy it, and he only moved in during last 2019. They were married for months without living together just because he was supposed to be deployed.
If the $50,000 in 529 money is in an account owned by your biological dad/non-custodial parent, it should not be reported on FAFSA at all right now as an asset (reporting on CSS/Profile is a different matter). If/when that money is used for your college expenses, it will be reported on FAFSA as untaxed income to you based on the year it was used.
Does this mean that your dad will not be using the $50,000 in his 529 account for you? Do you know if you are named as the beneficiary?
@BelknapPoint sorry, I was a little unclear. I’m still trying to understand this financial aid stuff myself. I am the beneficiary on the 529 plan, but he’s not expecting to contribute any of his salary towards my education–like 2,000/year max. I think my mom is okay with paying more, but she definitely cannot afford 30k.
Yes, this all overwhelming, I know, and I feel pain at the thought of a young adult/teen trying to get a grasp of this.
For FAFSA purposes, if your mother and you submitted the FAFSA in a day that your mother and stepfather were married to each other, his financial information would be in Luca he on the FAFSA form, regardless of how whether or not his is going to contribute a fine to your college expenses. If, the FAFSA was filed before they were married, he is not supposed to be on the FAFSA but subsequent years he will have to be included along with his assets and income, regardless of whether he is going to help pay or not. However, his other kids in college might be included so that your parents EFC would be split among all of you includable college students.
You might want to bring this up with your mother, and suggest she reviews her entries on the FAFSA. Child support is included in her income and child support that your stepfather pays according to divorce decree, official agreement for his kids are subtracted from his income. Your father is not included in the FAFSA, and for FAFSA schools, it is favorable to have the 529 in your mother’s name in terms of ownership. Whether you or your custodial parents own the 539 is immaterial to FAFSA, as those assets are included as parental assets even if you own the account. However, if owned by your noncustodial parent, your father, though the amounts are not reportable at all, payments for your college costs from it are counted as untaxed income to you. Any untaxed income you report on FAFSA is assessed at 50% over ~$6000 or so of your income each year.
It gets even more complicated when PROFILE enters the picture. Most PROFILE schools want ALL of the parents’ including the stepparents’ financial information. Ownership of the 529 can be assessed to the student, I have read and heard, though not confirmed. That’s Partly why your mom being the named owner is most beneficial way to go with that 529.
So, your available money is appears to be $16k per year(half from each parent )? Have you asked each of them how much they will pay? Big difference between $16k and the $4k stipulated in the divorce decree. If you have that, and $5500 in student loans, and, say, you can earn $4k over the summer and school year, you are looking at about $25K a year. How much is in that 529 account? UConn runs a bit over $30k, but it’s reachable with a bit of merit money, or stretch from everyone. UConn is also a very fine school
SUNY Binghamton often offers state tuition rates to students OOS that they want. URI has also given some sweetners to qualified OOSers. Temple U, U South Carolina, Miami of Ohio are some other suggestions for some merit money. Though there have been exceptions, usually merit money replaces need based aid, making it difficult to get substantial aid. But there are some merit possibilities here. If you can come up to paying your EFC, I can see It doable at a number of schools. Look at Providence, Fordham, other Catholic schools as well as private schools that are good with merit money. Some examples of LACs in that category are McDaniel, Ursinus, St Lawrence.
You already have some possibilities in the bag, so it’s a matter of finding some schools you might prefer that are also affordable. A few reach schools are fine but do realize that they are just that, especially when you have financial restraints.
Your situation is not complicated. Others have parents who remarry.
Your mothers 2018 tax return is correct. But if she indicated “married” because she WAS married when you filed your financial aid application…there will be a disconnect there. She will need to document why this tax filing status was ok.
Regardless, your stepdads income from 2018 must be included. What is that amount? And his assets too including the equity in that house he owns.
The 529 in his name should not have been listed on your forms at all. But in future years, money he pays will need to be included on your forms.
It sounds like you have affordable options. Is that right?
At most colleges, if you get outside scholarships, those actually reduce your financial need And thus your need based aid.
@cptofthehouse okay thank you! I definitely need to fix how the 529 was included in my FAFSA, and I’ll double-check if my stepdad was included. Everyone says that he has to be in it, so I assume he was then.
I don’t think my dad will transfer the 529 over to my mom. I’ll look at a couple other schools, though it is definitely late. I wish I realized all of this financial stuff before!
Ok, so your dad has $50,000 in a college savings account that has your name on it as the beneficiary. As far as you know, is your dad planning to use this money for your college education? If so, that’s quite a bit different than “my dad… refuses to pay,” and it puts you in a much better position than many of your peers. Maybe your dad doesn’t have an extra $2,000 of salary each year to put towards your education because he’s planning on putting it in the 529 account, in which case it could still be used for your benefit.
Yeah, I wouldn’t think so either. If there’s some financial flexibility, payments for you from your dad’s 529 account can be timed so that there is no impact on your FAFSA EFC or need-based financial aid.
@thumper okay. I just felt that the whole deployment thing plus the extra house makes it confusing. I explained the situation to Rice and they thought it was weird as well.
@BelknapPoint the account is in his name, but it was from his mom. He’s not expecting to contribute to the 529. 50,000, howver, won’t cover a year at a lot of the schools I applied to. It would cover 1 and a half at UConn. Though, I’m definitely in a good position for affording my financial safeties even though they def aren’t my first choice.
That’s not correct and could account for the EFC being so high.
A 529, owned by the student is considered a parent’s asset. Even if you are the owner of the 529 it is not assessed at your (student) asset rate of 20% but at the parent asset rate of 5.6%. If your father is the owner of the 529 account, it is not reported on the FAFSA at all (until you use the funds). Your bio father’s income and assets are not reported on the FAFSA until they are paid to you (529 account, child support, other support).
Unfortunately, if your mother was remarried on the day you filed the FAFSA, the stepfather’s income and assets have to be reported. Since they weren’t married for the 2018 tax year, you’ll have a lot of documentation to do and won’t be able to use the DRT for the FAFSA. If he owns another house, that’s a problem too. If he has 3 kids living with him but in college, that might change the number in the household. If is complicated, but you have to fill out the FAFSA that way and appeal to the schools for professional judgment because of all the special circumstances.
Gotcha. So, you can thank your grandmother, and since the money now legally belongs to your father and he can do whatever he wants to with it, I suppose you can be grateful to your dad if he puts it toward your college expenses. As someone I know is fond of saying, $50,000 for college is better than a sharp stick in the eye. And it’s still more than a lot of your peer’s parents have available for them.
I don’t have any specific knowledge on the financial aspects…just wanted to lend some encouragement to a complicated process that you are navigating. A lot of people (students and their parents) find the application and financial process difficult, so please don’t feel bad that you need some extra help and guidance.
FWIW- my kiddo has applied to engineering programs that offer great merit aid, perhaps some overlap with your safeties. These schools have some really great opportunities for research and personal development that I hope you will consider. You’ve probably seen how important it is to avoid massive debt- so good luck as you work towards that goal!!
Can you commute to any CT public colleges?
$4,000 from your parents, a $5,500 loan and merit you can get are your budget.
Why not finish a BS degree at a CT public since you already have 60+ credits, and apply for REU and then do graduate school?
Tuition at CCSU is just under $10,000 a year. The $4000 from your parents, and the $5500 Direct Loan leave you with a $500 balance to cover.
If you get a job now, and continue to work while in college, you should be able to cover your commuting costs Plus the $500.
@h8annah Financing college is hard to figure out for experienced adults, much less HS students. You are asking good questions and getting some good answers.
You also say you want to go to grad school for astrophysics eventually. The good news is that for grad school, many fellowships are merit-based and don’t take parental finances into account. (This is not the case for med school, though)
Could you tell us which safeties have admitted you with what level of merit-based support? Posters are making all sorts of suggestions but perhaps the options you already have are better than you realize? If you can provide these details, I’m sure you can get good advice about which of your current affordable acceptances might best enable you to attain your long term goals.
NM
If OP has $50k in a 529 can’t she take ~$12.5k/year? That plus the ~$5500 federal student loan and ~$3k summer work earnings would give her $21k. If her parents each kick in another $2k she’ll have closer to $25k. There must be some schools in that price range.
The 529 is the father’s.
Is your dad willing to give you $12,500 a year from the 529 plus another $2,000?