<p>I am trying to sort out my financial aid, specifically for Princeton.</p>
<p>My parents were never married. For much of my childhood, I lived with my mother, but I now attend boarding school. When I go home, I stay at my father's house.</p>
<p>My mother has fairly low income (~32,000) but family assets in the hundreds of thousands. On the other hand, my father has very low income and virtually no assets.</p>
<p>If my mother were my custodial parent, we would have to pay up to $30,000 a year for college. On the other hand, with my father, I'd likely get a full ride.</p>
<p>There were never any documents signed about who my custodial parent is, since there was never a divorce or marriage.</p>
<p>Would it be unethical to list my father as my custodial parent? How do you prove who your custodial parent is?</p>
<p>For FAFSA you report the parent you have lived with most in the past year. So if that is your dad, it is correct to put your Dad (and spouse if there is one).</p>
<p>Schools that require CSS profile or their own forms often require the information from both parents (and spouses). Princeton requires both.</p>
<p>Princeton is a FAFSA school BUT they also require their own financial aid application form. From what I understand, information from BOTH parents is required on that form. Princeton does NOT just use the FAFSA when awarding financial aid. The Profile is NOT required by Princeton but their financial aid form IS required as is the FAFSA.</p>
<p>There is a Princeton Financial Aid Estimator ON their financial aid website. I would suggest you look at that…and fill it in to get an estimate of your financial aid. I would guess it would ask for non-custodial parent information if it is a required part of their process.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why your family contribution per FAFSA would be so high. Parent assets are assessed at 5.6% for FAFSA purposes. If your mom had $500,000 in liquid assets (not retirement accounts) that would net $28,000 of family contribution per FAFSA but that also does NOT take into account the asset protection your mom would have.</p>
<p>The MOST important thing for you to find out is if Princeton requires the non-custodial parent information for consideration for institutional need based aid. If they do, the only reason you might consider a lower income parent as your custodial parent is that you might be eligible for a portion of a Pell Grant.</p>
<p>Oh…does your mom pay for your expenses…because if she does, that would have to be included on your FAFSA form.</p>
This is based on the Princeton Estimator, which I completed for both parents.</p>
<p>
Princeton has their own form, which only asks for information from the custodial parent. The non-custodial parent completes a different form, which in my case will quite possibly be waived, since my parents were never married. I am in conversations with the Princeton Aid office regarding this.</p>
<p>They provide very little guidance as to who the custodial parent should be, since most families seem to have a more solid idea of this. Since I am really mostly independent from both my parents (I pay for my own expenses), this is a difficult thing for us to determine.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input! At this point, I’m likely going to just ask the Princeton office.</p>
<p>You most likely will not get a waiver as you have contact with both your parents. You live with dad while you are at boarding school and you know where your mother is.</p>
<p>Princeton also requires you to submit the tax returns of everyone. While tax dependency status is not related to the dependency issue for FAFSA or any other financial aid form…it will be quite obvious to Princeton that there is an “issue” if your mom has declared you as a dependent on her taxes while dad has not. </p>
<p>Why do you think you will get a waiver from Princeton for your mom’s information should your dad become your custodial parent? I’m with Sybbie on this one…since you have contact with your mom, know where she is, and it sounds like you lived with her at one point not all that long ago…it would be hard to justify a waiver of either parent’s information in your case.</p>
<p>If it is because your parents were never married…well…then “maybe”.</p>
<p>As you’ve noted, the only place to get your answer is with the Princeton financial aid office.</p>
<p>In the meantime…if you are a competitive admit for Princeton…I hope you have found some good schools with excellent guaranteed merit aid…just in case Princeton doesn’t work out.</p>
<p>The OP posted this above with his chances thread elsewhere…OP…where is THIS money now?</p>
<p>Also, in looking at your list of schools, they are GREAT schools but are very “top heavy”…and almost all of them (Princeton excluded) require the CSS Profile. It sounds like you need significant aid to attend college.</p>
<p>Personally I hope you have a financial safety in the mix. The vast majority of the schools on your list (from July) also don’t give any merit aid…only need based aid.</p>
<p>Have you added (and deleted) from that first list? Your reported stats here are excellent and would put you in a good place for VERY significant guaranteed merit aid at some schools, and the chance for merit aid at other schools…that might require a separate application.</p>
<p>*The non-custodial parent completes a different form, which in my case will quite possibly be waived, since my parents were never married. I am in conversations with the Princeton Aid office regarding this.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I highly doubt that Princeton meant situations where both parents have been involved with the student. Waivers involving parents who were never married are more likely for situations where the mom became pregnant, kept the child, and never had further contact with the bio dad. That’s a very different situation than what you have.</p>