On the financial aid front, divorced parents is a common situation. I wrote the following a few years ago, although some information is in the process of being changed (e.g. the definition of “custodial parent”).
Divorced parent situations are common situations that get asked about on these forums. It is also a situation where many students and parents make mistakes in assumptions about financial aid or use of net price calculators, resulting in disappointment when financial aid letters arrive.
Q1: What do all of these terms mean?
A1: Some common terms:
Custodial parent (CP): the parent the student lives with most of the time.
Noncustodial parent (NCP): the parent the student does not live with most of the time.
Net price calculator (NPC): a tool on each college's web site to estimate financial aid. It is not a guarantee of financial aid, and some colleges' NPCs are more accurate than others'.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): financial aid form for federal student aid (Pell grants, direct loans, federal work study). Uses only the CP household financial information.
CSS Profile: supplemental financial aid form required by many colleges for their financial aid.
CSS …
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