<p>My parents are going to get a divorce. My father makes 350,000 a year but has stated that he will no longer pay child support once I am 18 which is after high school ends. I expect he wont be making any contributions to my college education Mother makes 50,000 a year. She will have custody of me and my two younger siblings who are a few years from high school. </p>
<p>So will I qualify for financial aid? Our last tax returns will show that I am still the child of some well-to-do doctor, but in reality I am not. </p>
<p>I live in Texas and will probably attend UT Austin now that my dream school is too far away to support my mother and siblings. Is there anyone with a similar situation to mine?</p>
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Have they sign-off the divorce agreement? If not, ask your mother to put your father’s support of your college education into the divorce agreement.
Maybe for FAFSA as it only require custodial parent’s financial data; likely not for Profile as it will require non-custodial parent’s financial data too.</p>
<p>Here is the way it usually works: For FAFSA purposes, only your custodial parent’s financials are used. Child support that your mother will get will be counted, whether it is for you or for your other siblings as well. So any government aid will be based on your mother’s numbers only. </p>
<p>Most schools use just FAFSA, but most schools do not usually meet full need of all students. They just gap. Those schools that tend to meet full or close to full need of most or all of their students tend to define that need themselves, use PROFILE or other application/process and many, if not most, require the non custodial parent’s financials too. </p>
<p>I know many kids who got caught this way–well to do NCP who would not pay, but the PROFILE schools would not give them any financial aid because they include NCP financials. My close friend;s two kids went to state schools and had to work they way through college as their need was not fully met by their colleges even with just their mother’s financials used, but at least the costs were lower than the private schools that insisted on both parents’ financial info.</p>
<p>Your dad will likely have to pay your mom substantial spousal support because his income is so much higher than hers.</p>
<p>That support will count.</p>
<p>I suspect there are tens of thousands of students in the situation where a non-custodial parent won’t contribute to college costs or where still married parents can’t or won’t contribute to college costs. We read about it here all the time.</p>
<p>But to reiterate what 4kidsdad said, many divorce agreements contain a provision for the non-custodial parent to contribute to college costs, especially with a high income parent and a wide disparity between the two incomes. Have your mom talk to her lawyer about this. It may only be 1/2 the cost of an in-state public but that would be much better than no help at all.</p>
<p>It really doesn’t matter what your Dad states, it’s what is in the agreement approved by the court that counts.</p>
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<p>What I think M2CK means is that any spousal support will be treated as income to your mom . . . so, even for FAFSA, which considers only your mom’s income, your family income may be higher than you’re anticipating.</p>
<p>What you should focus on are schools where you’d qualify for significant merit aid. If you check the threads at the top of the forum, you’ll find several threads that focus on merit scholarships.</p>
<p>And, by the way, this should be possible even if your grades and ACT/SAT scores aren’t perfect - there are plenty of smaller liberal arts colleges with generous competitive merit awards, and all you need to do is identify the schools where your GPA & test scores are above the average range for that school. Use Princeton Review or another similar resource to identify those schools where your grades/test scores would make you a candidate the schools might be willing to pay for!</p>
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<p>This is so not the OP’s business!!! What the OP’s mom & dad end up with for a divorce agreement is their business, not the OP’s. The OP has no control over what mom may or may not be able to negotiate in her divorce agreement. The OP should focus instead on finding schools with good merit aid . . . and stay out of his or her parents’ divorce.</p>
<p>His contribution to your college education as well as his contribution to your younger siblings education is generally spelled out in the divorce document when income levels are this high. In my state child support also does not typically stop at this income level if the child is enrolled in college because there is the expectation that a room will be maintained for the child in the custodial parents home. These things are negotiated by lawyers, not by children.</p>
<p>Your mother needs to be sure she is getting good legal help. Stay well away from this argument yourself.</p>
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<p>I disagree. My neighbor across the street just didn’t think of this as an item she could request in her divorce negotiations, and her attorney hadn’t mentioned it! After I suggested it she brought it up, and her ex (a doctor) is now paying for college for both of her sons. Doubt he would have done so on his own… I am not saying the OP should nag her mom about it, but suggesting to her that it might be something to consider in the divorce settlement is not out of line at all. Her dad has no legal obligation, but even something like $10K a year would be a boost over nothing toward covering a state school…</p>
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<p>I strongly disagree. The children are often the biggest victims in divorce(comes from personal experience from the child side too). No, the OP should not get in the middle of negotiations but making her mom aware of a remedy that may be available is well within what the OP can do, especially at this age, to try and protect her interests.</p>
<p>Schools that will be looking at the income/assets of both parents will not care what the divorce decree states. For need based aid, the school will assess what the parents can and should pay regardless of any divorce decree to the contrary.</p>
<p>If mom is making 50k, by the time child/spousal support is factored in, it is highly unlikely that student will be eligible for any federal aid other than loans.</p>
<p>If student is applying to a FAFSA only school, she will have to include along with mom’s income, any child support, spousal support . If Dad does end up paying for any part of student’s college, it must also be reported on the FAFSA (most likely the following year).</p>
<p>For schools that use the profile/non custodial profile or their own forms where they require the income/assets of both parents, it is highly unlikely if Lulu is going to receive anything in terms of need based aid.</p>
<p>What Lulu needs to do is sit down with her mom, run the numbers through the net price calculator and come up with some affordable options including schools where she can get merit aid that is not tied to financial need. while Ut Austin is her dream school, she should also apply to some Texas publics that are commuting distance from her home.</p>
<p>It may not enter the mom’s mind that she can even ask for college support for her kids. It’s ok for this student to ask her mom to consider talking to her atty about her husband contributing for their kids’ college costs.</p>
<p>That said, since the dad earns so MUCH more than the mom, her lawyer should be asking for spousal support (at least $50k per year) in addition to child support for the little kids.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that the parents have been married for at least 18 years. If so, the mom should get spousal support for awhile. </p>
<p>Any support the mom gets gets reported.</p>
<p>Also…this family may have sizeable assets. The mom may end up with a lot of assets, which would also count on FAFSA.</p>
<p>Any chance your parents have some college savings for you and your siblings?</p>
<p>UT Austin is a fine school. I’m not sure what your out of reach “dream school” is, but if it a high stats school, you might want to start looking at schools with guaranteed merit aid for your stats.</p>
<p>If your dad really earns 6 times what your mom earns, it is likely your mom will receive spousal support…in addition to child support you will get until age 18. </p>
<p>I agree that having a conversation about college costs and the possibility of including some stipulation for a contribution from your dad is worth having with your mom. However…if your mom says to MYOB…then do so.</p>
<p>If your stats qualify, add some of these schools to your application list as financial backups in case parental contribution is too low to support you going to UT Austin.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-19.html#post16145676[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-19.html#post16145676</a></p>
<p>You may also want to add some of these for non-safety applications:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-4.html#post16224918[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-4.html#post16224918</a></p>
<p>UT Austin’s net price calculator at [VSA</a> Cost Estimator](<a href=“http://www.collegeportraits.org/TX/UTAustin/estimator/agree]VSA”>http://www.collegeportraits.org/TX/UTAustin/estimator/agree) indicates that if you are living with one parent making $50,000 per year, your net price after financial aid grants will be $18,151 ($25,908 cost of attendance - $7,757 financial aid grants). You will only be able to take $5,500 in Direct/Stafford loans yourself, and work earnings for a college frosh are likely only a few thousand, so the net price of $18,151 could be out of reach unless get you some big scholarship like the 40 Acres scholarship. Of course, if the divorce settlement increases the custodial parent’s income or assets significantly, the net price would be higher.</p>
<p>OP’s mother may or may not be eligible for spousal support. It depends on the factors established by her state. It may include what she gets as her share of the assets–whether liquid or not. Many wives choose to stay in the (expensive) family house and become responsible for it with taxes and upkeep. Spousal support would be influenced by items such as a prenup and her own earning capacity–including whether her $50k income is working at her full capacity. IMHO, it would be irresponsible to assume or to encourage OP to assume that her mother is going to be getting a large chunk of spousal support.</p>
<p>Putting college costs in the decree is a good way (but not a perfect way) to handle it.</p>
<p>IMHO, it would be irresponsible to assume or to encourage OP to assume that her mother is going to be getting a large chunk of spousal support.</p>
<p>The main point was that the student can’t be assuming that her EFC will be solely based on a $50k mom income. Certainly, the mom will be receiving child support for the younger 2 kids. That income gets reported on FAFSA, I believe. </p>
<p>I can’t imagine any state that wouldn’t have that father paying substantial child support to the mom. Doesn’t every state have the attitude that children of divorce are to be supported in the style that their parents’ incomes can afford? I doubt that dad is going to escape without paying at least $2k a month in child support…if not more. </p>
<p>As for spousal support, it can vary by state, but what state doesn’t recognize a long marriage and will order some support (even if it’s only for a few years) to this mom? Even my state (the so-called backwards Alabama) would hit this dad up for at least $50k per year for support for at least a couple of years if not more (about $4k per month). The guy is earning $30k per MONTH!!!</p>
<p>So, the point is that the student should not be plugging in $50k in the net price calculators to determine aid. Along with child support, likely spousal support, and/or division of large assets, this mom’s FAFSA may show a lot more than $50k.</p>
<p>Heck, even if the parents were only saving two months’ salary every year, they’d have quite the nest egg.</p>
<p>M2CK’s point is a good one. She isn’t telling this student to count on extra money rolling in . . . She’s telling her that her eventual EFC may be a lot higher than what’s she’s anticipating based on her mom’s current $50k/annum income.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Don’t count on need-based aid. Focus on schools with good merit aid.</p>
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<p>This.</p>
<p>Colleges want and expect both parents to pay but whether your parents are divorced or not, there is no law that says one’s father has to pay for a child’s college expenses … whether they earn $350,000 or ten million.</p>
<p>But, as others have said, contributions to college expenses may be put into a Property Settlement Agreement.</p>