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My divorced parents do have some kind of agreement to my understanding, but I know that my noncustodial parent (father), despite all the flowery words of support expressed to me, is reluctant to pay a penny and will probably attempt finding a way to get out of it...or just refusing. Weird family situation aside, is it better to say "yes" or "no"? I feel awkward asking about this, as I don't know if saying "no" is really ethical (?!), but it's straight from the Princeton Review book...
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<p>This is where the Princeton review box is woefully wrong. There is an expectation for both parents to contribute to financing the college education of their kids. If it were as eay as checking the box every divorced family in the country would be checking the box. In fact it is quite the opposite. </p>
<p>The college bases your EFC based on the income and assets of both your parents (in some cases your stepparents). They do not take into consideration side agreements, court orders that stiplulate that the non-custodial parents only have to pay X amount of dollars or your parents refusal to pay.</p>
<p>MY suggestion to you would be to sit down and talk with both your parents, run your numbers through financial aid calculator (they can do t separately because there will get their EFCs separately if divorced) and find out how my much they are willing to pay/borrow toward your education.</p>
<p>You should also look at a wide array of schools including a financial safety that your mom will be able to afford if your father states he will not pay.</p>