I am a college freshman at a top 10 private university that meets 100% of demonstrated financial need. I moved out of my biological parents’ home at 16 and found myself a legal guardian (emancipation was a lengthy legal process that I wasn’t sure I was up for) and never went back. I have now found (after living in several different homes) a family that I am really attached to. I attend school pretty far away, but I go back there for holidays and such. That is my home, and they are my family.
Unfortunately, my school does not see it as such. Because I did not get emancipated (I wish I had, in hindsight- appropriate financial aid would have been worth the headache), and my biological parents are still alive and in the United States, my school wants their financial information to calculate my EFC. I am already in a tremendous amount of debt after the first year of school for this reason (I applied early decision, not dreaming that my biological parent’s income would be counted, so I was obligated to attend this year). I am considered independent automatically for the FAFSA, so I get good aid there, but it barely puts a dent in all of my tuition and fees.
The topic of adoption has come up before (I would not be getting adopted for aid purposes, this is just a side effect I am exploring), and I can’t find anything on the internet, so I was wondering if anyone knew if adult adoption would affect my aid? For example, would I have to report my adoptive parents’ income on the FAFSA? Would I be able to report my adoptive parents’ income on the CSS profile instead of my biological parents’? My adoptive parents have two sons in college- would they report that they had another child in college for their financial aid forms?
The financial aid office here has been terribly unhelpful and inconsiderate of my circumstances when I’ve tried to explain before, so I’m hesitant to ask for clarification on this from them. If anyone could offer me any guidance, I’d really appreciate it!
You were not obligated to attend your ED school. You could have asked to be released because it was unaffordable. You chose to attend after you found out your parents income was going to be used and they could not or would pay the EFC.
The net-net is you did not want to give up the prestige of the top 10 school. ETA:it does not sound like you were in legal guardianship or had a situation where the school would have used a dependency override which means your bio parents were on the hook to pay and did not.
Adoption is a legal process. You would have to check with the courts in your jurisdiction about having the rights of your biological parents terminated. Your adoptive parents would be your legal parents.
They would just be the new set of people responsible for paying to put you through college. Are they on board with this?
Unless you overlap with one of the 2 sons so that there will be at least 2 of you in college, will they be willing to pay if there comes a time when there could be only you in college
You have a lot of details to work out
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my school wants their financial information to calculate my EFC. I am already in a tremendous amount of debt after the first year of school for this reason (I applied early decision, not dreaming that my biological parent’s income would be counted, so I was obligated to attend this year). I am considered independent automatically for the FAFSA, so I get good aid there, but it barely puts a dent in all of my tuition and fees.
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How the heck did you get large loans?
NO, NO, NO…you were never obligated to attend your ED school just because you were accepted. The rules CLEARLY indicate that you’re allowed to decline if you don’t receive adequate aid/can’t afford the school.
I don’t think anyone here knows if “adult adoption” would take care of this situation. Some privates don’t allow for much changes. For instance, those who marry while attending college may still be req’d to provide parent info.
How can you be in a tremendous amount of debt after one semester? Did someone cosign a private loan?
(Perhaps you could have been released from ED for financial reasons).
If the adoption would allow you to use the “new parents” on CSS, then you would have to used them also on FAFSA. Sounds like you qualify for Pell and maybe something else. You might lose that.
Were you in court ordered legal guardianship
Has this family that you have become attached to willing to legally adopt you? That is s big undertaking to take on a child and an even bigger undertaking to adopt a young adult. Many people would not adopt a kid who was not a family member
I think you need to speak with the FA office at your school. It’s possible that they may have a way for you to be considered independent but it may take some forms and documentation.
Nothing to add beyond what Sybbie already stated, except the OP has already been speaking with the FA office and obviously filling out some forms is not going to suffice in becoming independent.
If you are over 18, it’s too late for you to get emancipated status, and getting adopted won’t matter either.
Not sure how you ended up attending this school without providing parent financial information. The school is correct. For financial aid purposes, you are not independent.
I was in a court ordered legal guardianship. I have the paperwork from it and everything. The FAFSA automatically allows people who were in legal guardianships to be independent students, but the Profile was not.
My biological aunt was willing to cosign for me, so that is how I got private loans.
I did not get my financial aid until after I had already been accepted to the school and I’d withdrawn my other applications. It was really too late to find some place else. Also, my high school counselor told me they wouldn’t release me because my biological parents could pay. I guess this was wrong.
@mom2collegekids : They would allow me to be independent if I got married. That’s another path I’m thinking of taking, because I was planning to get married to my SO of 3 years anyway. Also, the FAFSA asks if you were in a legal guardianship between ages 13-18. I don’t currently supply any parental information- I get the full Pell. I don’t think this would change if I got adopted, because of the wording.
@sybbie719 I have worked it out with them and they are willing! I don’t want them to pay anything, but the difference in income and assets would be significant enough where to I could cover all of my expenses with a small amount of federal loans, instead of what I’m currently doing.
Sorry that you jumped the gun about withdrawing your application. You did not have to withdraw if you did not have a package.
Even though your parents could afford to pay and they chose not to , which is their right you could not afford to go without their willingness to pay for 4 years. This would have been the basis for your withdrawing the application.
You could have deferred for a year until you worked out your situation but you chose to attend knowing it was unaffordable.
Unfortunately you did not do your due diligence before applying ED or you were hoping for a different outcome.
Most schools especially the top 10 have provisions in place that if you start as a dependent student, you finish as a dependent student, even if you have a life changing event that makes you independent (marriage/having a child) getting married will make you independent for federal aid (no change because you already are) but you should not count on being independent for institutional aid because that most likely will not happen.
You getting adopted is going to be a long and expensive process. Who will pay for this? It may not happen bcauar you are legally an adult and I can’t see the courts granting you an adoption for financial aid purposes ( which is really what you are asking for).
Some CSS Profile schools still consider parent income even if a student is married.
But you DID get your financial aid package before younstarted school this fall. And you knew it was not affordable. At that point, you should have either declined the enrollment or requested a deferment for a year to get this resolved.
Your original post did not make it sound like a court ordered guardianship. It made it sound elective.
You need to talk to your school financial aid department to find out why they want your bio parent information…if you did not need to put this on the fafsa. Get the answer to that question.
How did the school even KNOW about your bio parent info? Did you put it on the Profile without first contacting the college?
There seems to be a missing part to yourmstory from my backseat.
He had to put his bio parents in order to be eligible for aid. Being in court ordered legal guarship for even one day and returning home to your parents after the age of 13 will make you eligible for federal aid. Being independent for federal aid and institutional aid are 2 different things. Op did not have a compelling enough situation for school to grant dependency override. For Op it was either fill out the paperwork or no institutional aid.
You are over 18. I suppose you “could” be adopted…but really…what would you gain? If these folks adopt you, their info WILL be required on the financial aid forms, both fafsa and Profile.
Again I ask…why are you at this school? You knew that it was UNAFFORDABLE from the get go. You did not have to enroll…even after you accepted the admissions offer.
At ANY time…you could have decided NOT to attend this college.
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did not get my financial aid until after I had already been accepted to the school and I’d withdrawn my other applications. It was really too late to find some place else. A
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You were poorly advised. You’re not supposed to accept/withdraw until AFTER you see the FA pkg!!! Also, your GC was VERY wrong for making any sort of judgements about whether the school would release you based on whether your bio parents could pay or not.
Yes, this student didn’t need to accept an offer of admission without an aid offer.
But even after accepting the admissions offer…when the insufficient aid package came…the student could have declined to attend.
The ED notifications come in January or so. There are PLENTY of colleges with admissions application deadlines which are well after that. Even if the student withdrew applications, others could have been submitted once he or she declined the ED admission.
At this point, this student needs to decide what to do NOW. It appears that the costs to attend are unsustainable. Perhaps a leave of absence for the second term is a good idea…to get this all sorted out. If the finances can’t be worked out for this school, any remaining costs will need to be paid…and then the student can transfer to a more affordable school.
Why don’t you withdraw from this college and find a more affordable one. Are there any you can commute to from your foster parents’ home?
I believe the OP is correct. If he was in a court ordered guardianship after the age of 13, he is independent for FAFSA even if he is adopted after that guardianship date. In some states, an older adopted child also retains medicaid and other benefits after an adoption.
CSS and the schools that require it can use whatever facts, require whatever disclosures it wants to. I find it hard to believe the school still wants the bio family on the financial information since, in many cases, that relationship is severed and there may be no contact at all.
Op left home at 16. In many courts he is old enough to petition for himself who he wants to live with. We don’t know that basis for guardianship. It could be something as simple as living with relatives to be closer to school , parents requesting a PINS petition that the child does not agree withl, kids saying that they don’t want to live with their parents.
Or the guardianship petition could be issues involving abuse, children services, police,school social workers who determine it is not in the best interest to live with the parents
If it were something that it was not in the best interest to live with the parents, I truly believe that this would have been addressed by the high school to support a request for a dependency override. Minanally if the bio parents were a danger to OP the school would minimally have had a no contact order on file.
Op believes that if he is adopted he will receive more financial aid because the adoptive parents make less money than the bio parents.