Non-custodial parent bankruptcy

Paying for College
1

<p>My ex & his current wife filed for bankruptcy in January 2011 and their first court date for it was June 2011. </p>

<p>My single parent household is low income and his child support for our youngest ends when she graduates HS this June. His household has two working adults and he completed the CSS before I had clear info on his/their recent income. Colleges that use the CSS usually determine our shared EFC in the range of $18-23k. Colleges not using it determine my lone household EFC at less than $2500.</p>

<p>Due to his bankruptcy, their funds are currently being directed to their creditors by a trustee. There was no college requirement in our divorce agreement from 14 years ago, so he won’t be helping with college costs at all. </p>

<p>Does anyone know how some colleges view this kind of situation? Is it feasible for him to contact a FA office about his bankruptcy & creditor payment plan and ask for changes to our kid’s FA package? Is that a waste of time? I understand it would be an annual thing but he will be dealing with this bankruptcy plan for the entire time our kid is an undergraduate.</p>

2

<p>I don’t have first hand information, but I suspect that colleges might handle this special circumstances situation in the same way they handle medical expenses: increasing financial aid, but not dollar for dollar equal to expenses. It does not hurt to appeal. Before you appeal though, you should figure out how much you are willing to pay, because the increased aid will not cover the gap between 18K and 2.5K.</p>

3

<p>Colleges don’t consider debt, I’m not sure bankruptcy will be looked at differently. Your child would be best off at FAFSA only schools.</p>