<p>I'm planning to transfer next fall and having a bit of trouble with the financial aid side of things. I'll be 24 next year, which makes me an independent student for federal aid purposes, but I'm also applying to private schools, so I have to use the CSS profile as well. They require parental information from me, which is problematic. I live with my mom and step-dad, but aside from free rent, I'm pretty much on my own for most things. I pay my own bills, buy my own food and gas, bought my car, everything. I get just under $1000 a month because my dad is a disabled vet and I'm a full time student, and when I need financial help with other things, he's the one who helps. Using his info, getting aid wouldn't be a problem for me. Since I live with my mom though, the profile requires their information. If it was just my mom, I'd be okay, as she makes under $30k, but my stepdad makes about $112k. He's definitely not paying any of my college costs, and they pretty much split all household costs evenly, so my mom can't afford to help me either. </p>
<p>My mom suggested that I use another address as my current/mailing address, so that the question becomes which parent provides more aid, rather than which one I live with. I'd be using a friend's address, and I have crashed there a lot during the past year because he lives about 15 minutes closer to my school than I do. Still, I don't know about doing this. Any justification for it is shaky at best, but it might be my only option. </p>
<p>If the school requires information from parents or step-parents, it won’t matter what your address is, they’ll still want the information. Different schools treat that information in different ways, so it’s hard to predict, but if they want both bio-parents and any step-parents there isn’t an exception to that based on your address as far as the CSS Profile is concerned.</p>
<p>As for FAFSA, if you’ll turn 24 before you file the FAFSA, it won’t matter what your address is since you’ll be independent for FAFSA purposes.</p>
<p>But if I don’t live with either parent, the information is required of the parent who provides the most support. My mom would be looked at as the non-custodial parent, basically. </p>
<p>I guess what I need to know is what contribution is expected of the non-custodial parent and whether all this is pointless anyway, because it’s a bad idea.</p>
<p>If you will be 24 when you submit the FAFSA, you will not provide either parents’ financial information. It won’t matter where you live. It won’t matter who provides the most support. You will not have a “custodial” or “non-custodial” parent, because you will be independent for the FAFSA.</p>
<p>If you are not 24 at the time you submit it, then you will be a dependent for FAFSA purposes (regardless of whether you support yourself or not), and in that case your custodial parent is 1)the parent with whom you live most of the time, or 2)the parent who provides most of your support if you live with them equally during the year or don’t live with either one.</p>
<p>The question is… will you be 24 at the time you file the FAFSA? If so, it does not matter where you live or which parent gives you the most money because neither of your parents’ information will be required for the FAFSA.</p>
<p>The CSS Profile is different though, and if the school you’re applying to wants parental information, you need to give them the information they want. Most of the time they will want information from all parents and step-parents, regardless of where you live or who gives you the most money.</p>
<p>So to try to answer your question again: If you are over 24 when you file the FAFSA, it will not matter where you live or which parent gives you more money. For the CSS Profile it won’t matter either, because they can ask for whatever information they want. If they want information about both parents, you have to provide it. It won’t matter where you live.</p>
<p>You’re applying FAFSA rules about independence, custody, support to the CSS Profile, and they do not apply.</p>
<p>I’m not applying FAFSA rules about dependency status, just questioning the impact of custodial vs. non-custodial parent when dealing with the CSS Profile. I know where I stand in regards to FAFSA (born before 1/1/88, therefore independent), but when filling out the CSS Profile, I noticed that the required parental information changes if you don’t live with either parent. If you live with a parent, that is whose information the Profile primarily asks for. If not, it asks for information about the parent who provides the most support. This is important because not all schools require non-custodial parent information. </p>
<p>What I want to know is, as far as the schools that do use the non-custodial parent portion of the CSS Profile are concerned, is the non-custodial parent expected to contribute as much as the custodial parent? If not, it’s important for me, because I’d be able to use my father’s info as the primary financial provider, and he gets slightly under $30k per year. You can see how that’d work out better for me than $140k-ish with my mom and step-dad.</p>
<p>Sorry if I’m more sleep deprived than I realize and making less sense than I should be making. Thanks for the in-depth responses; I know my original question probably wasn’t as clear as it could’ve been.</p>
<p>I don’t know, but this CSS coach may help you. I believe the questions are about biological parents or adoptive parent. So maybe your step dad is not included in the equation.</p>
<p>Ingama, the thing with the Profile is that it doesn’t “use” the information you provide in any particular way. It merely collects the information and submits it to the school(s) to which you’re applying. Individual schools use that information according to their own FA policies. Your question as to how a given school might assess information from a parent with whom you live, or a parent from whom you receive more support, or assess the financial information of a step-parent is something only the school can answer.</p>
<p>The CSS Profile application does not make distinctions like that, it does not have rules nor does it have a formula by which it generates an expected contribution number like the FAFSA. It is merely a system by which information is collected and transmitted from applicants to colleges.</p>
<p>Some colleges explain their own financial aid policies on their websites in terms of what they consider and how they determine need, but usually that information is not so detailed as to be very helpful in more complicated situations. It certainly is worth trying to learn as much as you can about how your prospective college determines need, and to what extent you can expect them to meet that need – but it’s often very difficult to do. Usually a conversation with someone in the financial aid office is the most effective way, but even then it’s often hard to determine because nothing is set in stone when it comes to colleges distributing their own institutional funds. For one thing, they can have different rules for incoming freshmen, transfers, internationals, people with special skills (athletes, musicians, etc.), or any other priorities they have with regard to the wider interests of the college.</p>
<p>You may be able to find out whether they weight the contribution of one parent more than the other depending on who is the putative “custodial” parent, but you’d have to ask your specific college about that.</p>
<p>Most schools using the Profile require information from BOTH parents. Your custodial parent would use the regular Profile and your non-custodial parent would use the non-custodial parent Profile forms. BOTH parents report…but on separate forms.</p>
<p>BUT the question is…if you are independent…do you need to PROVIDE parent info on the Profile? I would call the school and ask. They will give you their answer.</p>
<p>NotAClue, some parts of the Profile are tailored to specific colleges. For example, some people will get questions about the cars they own, but I never have. Most people are not asked about credit card debt, but I always get that question.</p>
<p>Some parts of it are just standard and are asked of everyone, but even that doesn’t mean that all colleges will use all the information, or that they will use it the same way.</p>
<p>I just checked the Profile instructions online, and it does appear that the questions about parental financial information will be tailored to the requirements of the specific colleges to which you apply. So, for the original poster, as you go through the Profile form, if you are asked about living with a parent or receiving support from a parent, then the college to which you’re applying does want that information. If you are not asked, then the college does not consider that information (such as NotAClue experienced.)</p>
<p>It still doesn’t answer your initial question as to how they treat that parental information, just that they’d like to have it. Might be worth asking the school’s financial aid office how they treat the information of each parent under your set of circumstances.</p>
<p>It does seem a little silly to say one parent has ‘custody’ of a 24 year old adult though. Perhaps they would go by who had custody when the OP was a minor? </p>
<p>I am very glad my 3 profile schools did not require parental info, what a pain.</p>
<p>NotAClue, they probably don’t care about “custody”, strictly speaking, but they may expect parents to contribute to a student’s undergrad education as a matter of principle. Many students, of all ages, have parents who will not do so, but for financial aid purposes that may have little bearing.</p>
<p>It’s good to know that they have different questions for certain schools, since I’ve decided not to apply to two of the ones I added, and simply haven’t removed them yet. Maybe that
will work in my favor.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the help! I’ll call the schools next week and see what I can find out.</p>