<p>My parents are supplying nothing for me or my education, as they have not since the 12th grade. However, I am still required to pay a large tuition and other associated fees. My friend and I are considering getting married so we can qualify for independent student status for our universities. In this way, we could avoid massive debt for future. However, what are the ramifications associated with us getting married?</p>
<p>If you donât love each other, there is always that ramification that you have to be stuck with someone you donât love. No offense, but this is a really bad idea. Divorce costs a lot too.</p>
<p>I wouldnât do it. Weddings costs a lot and so do divorces.
Itâs not worth it if you donât love each other.</p>
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<p>WellâŠI would NOT suggest you and your friend marry for financial aid purposes. The biggest âramificationâ is the expectation of the financial aid folks that the two of you will be SELF SUPPORTING (in other wordsâŠyour parents are not supporting you). When you submit your finaid applications, my guess (and itâs a guess) is that if it looks like you do NOT have sufficient income to be living as a married couple (paying the rent, utilities, food, insurance, etc)âŠsomeone will question your âindependent statusâ and whether the marriage was purely to game the financial aid system.</p>
<p>NowâŠhaving said all of thatâŠNO ONE (repeat NO ONE) should marry unless they want to MARRY for the reasons most people marryâŠbecause they intend to spend the rest of their lives together. </p>
<p>SorryâŠI just donât think this is a good ideaâŠand Iâm not sure it will net you what you think it will net you.</p>
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<p>First - I donât recommend getting married for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>But if you are seriously considering this you should realize that being independent does not guarantee you enough aid, without loans, to cover the full cost of school. You need to find out what aid you would qualify for before you take such a major step as getting married. </p>
<p>Even if being married would give you a 0 EFC (which may or may not be the case, depending on what income you and your âspouseâ have. Independent students without dependent other than a spouse do not qualify for the automatic 0 EFC) federal grant money is limited and does not cover the full cost of a 4 year public school.</p>
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<p>Honestly, Iâm surprised more kids donât do this at the schools that meet 100% of need for all students. I think it might be hard to get away with if you went to different schools, but whatâs to stop 2 Harvard students (no loans!) from getting married and both then having full need met based on zero EFCs?</p>
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<p>WellâŠas incoming freshmen, the timing would be dicey. If both applied RD, they would not hear the results until the end of March/beginning of April, and their financial aid awards would be based on what they submitted PRIOR to their (supposed) exceptances. IF they got married BEFORE their acceptances, they would be taking a huge chance. What if one got admitted and the other didnâtâŠor they both didnât. OopsâŠmarried for nothing. If they both were accepted to Harvard, I wonder what Harvard would doâŠsince their financial aid was based on the previous yearâŠwhen they were not married and were being supported by their families. AND how would this âyoung coupleâ demonstrate to Harvard that they were REALLY independent? YesâŠthey would have a marriage licenseâŠbut I donât think the finaid folks at Harvard are stupid. Wouldnât they wonder where this nice young couple was going to work while they attended Harvard full time (Harvard doesnât pay for internet access, food, clothing, utilities, etcâŠohâŠand housing in Cambridge and surrounding towns is mighty pricey).</p>
<p>I think they are considered independent just by having the marriage certificate. In my hypothetical scenario they get married first term freshman year and immediately apply for aid and stay right in the dorms (most colleges now allow different sex roommates and have married student housing). What would Harvard do? Housing, food, internet, medical are covered.</p>
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<p>I donât think the OP was talking about a big wedding and a divorce can be rather cheap if itâs simple. </p>
<p>I have known people who married for health insurance and to become citizens. They had clear expectations going in and it worked out fine. I realize that sometimes it does not work out fine. </p>
<p>However, as I am not an attorney nor do I know much about finanical aid, so I have no idea if this is a good idea or not. I wonder how long a person must stay married?</p>
<p>I know someone who married a friend so he could have citizenship. She wasnât being paid to do this: She liked him, was dating him, and wanted to help him.</p>
<p>He ended up falling in love with her, and wanting a real marriage including children. They had a very painful divorce.</p>
<p>No, itâs not a good idea to marry someone for the reasons youâre considering.</p>
<p>OP Im going to go against the curve and say go for it. Lots of people use sham marriages to get such things as US citizenship so you might as well play an unffair system</p>
<p>âHonestly, Iâm surprised more kids donât do this at the schools that meet 100% of need for all students.â</p>
<p>Iâm not surprised. Most people take marriage very seriously. Even if the couple considering marrying only to get excellent financial aid didnât take marriage seriously, their friends and potential dating partners might take marriage very seriously and shun them for being so crass about it.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that if you get married, at some schools it will make you independent for Federal aid purposes. At schools that give their own institutional aid (example: Yale & Darmtouth), if you start out as a dependent student, you finish as a dependent student.</p>
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<p>Dartmouth states
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<p>Harvard:</p>
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<p>Keep in mind that if you get married you are going to be MARRIED. </p>
<p>I canât believe that isnât the first and foremost reason why you shouldnât do it. Even if everything financial worked out, donât just marry someone just because. You think an ED agreement is serious? Try marriage. That is like an ED agreement on crack.</p>
<p>Now I uderstand why it isnât being done. Frankly, if it was doable, in this economy, I think many would do it rather than face leaving these schools.</p>
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LOL - Love it IrishThundr. Absolutely my favorite comment of the day. I have never quite thought of marriage that way. A good note to say good night on.</p>
<p>I was going to marry a friend but prop-8 passed in California and it shot that idea down.</p>
<p>Rather than tasking this drastic measure, that is just ridulcous. Why donât you apply for scholarships? There are so many scholarships that are based on finacial aid. IF you explain in your scholarship essay or other piece of information that your parents refuse to support you, you will get some kind of help.</p>
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<p>Oh please post the links to these scholarships. Many of the local scholarships here are also need based. You can tell them all you want that your parents WILL NOT giveâŠbut if they CAN it wonât make any difference.</p>
<p>Isnât there any legal way to say you are legally independent of your parents? I mean, Iâm sure there are other kids out there that either live separately or are financially independent of their parents. Isnât there any court or legal form you can file to become a legally independent individual?</p>