The CSS Profile opened yesterday. I am divorced. My ex-husband makes $64k per year and pays $1,100 a month in child support. I receive Social Security Disability for my daughter every month -$1,290. I have a part-time job and make $8k a year. We pay the same in expenses. Which one of us makes the bigger contribution financially towards our daughter?
Most CSS Profile schools require both parents to complete the information (separately). CSS Profile does not have a test like the new FAFSA does to determine the parent who contributes the most financially.
See the link below to sort by the CSS schools that do and don’t require non-custodial parent info: CSS Profile Participating Institutions and Programs
Always verify this info at each school’s website. If you can’t find the info on the website, call the FA office and ask.
I assume that Profile schools will consider the FAFSA parent as the parent of record, with the other parent only needing to provide information if non custodial parent information is required. I could be wrong, but that seems to make sense. So it would be important to determine the FAFSA parent.
The SSDI that you receive for your D exceeds the amount your ex pays in child support. It seems like you might be able to make a case that you provide more support. Do you file taxes and if so, do you claim her as your dependent?
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I haven’t seen any Profile schools address this FAFSA change in custodial parent definition.
I am not sure I’ve seen any details from DOE as to how divorced people should calculate/determine which parent provides more financial support for FAFSA purposes…does that exist? Figuring out who provides more financial support could be complicated in some cases, like this one.
In the absence of the Profile school directly addressing this on their website, calling the FA dept of schools on the list makes sense.
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Schools have to evaluate for federal aid based on the federal methodology, which requires that the parent who has contributed the most to the student in the base year be the parent for FAFSA. Basically, all schools that participate in federal aid will have to obtain the FAFSA parent’s information. I’m not sure why a school would differentiate … either they will require information from both parents if they collect non custodial parent information or they will only require the FAFSA parent to provide information.
Who claims the student on the tax return doesn’t actually matter, but it can come into play in household size. There is a place on the FAFSA to update household size, if necessary (for example, if the FAFSA parent doesn’t claim the student as a dependent, they can indicate on the FAFSA that there are 2 in the household).
It’s always wise to contact schools if you have questions, since the best advice for each school will come directly from that school. A lot of schools have updated their websites to address the 2024-25 changes, so you might actually be able to find it on their website.
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I agree custodial parent should be the same for CSS and FAFSA…all I meant is we just have no direction right now on how to determine which parent is the custodial parent for FAFSA.
I wonder how base years work for FASFA? In divorce…
In 2022 I contributed the most $. But in 2023 taxes it will flip to the father contributing more.
Do we have to determine/possibly change every year who fills the fafsa out or does the base year determine who fills it out or four years?
One school told me that there are four questions they will ask to determine who contributes more on the FAFSA. This information has been shared with the schools, but I can’t seem to get the actual questions. I wonder if it’s AGI versus AGI. AGI versus child support etc. etc.
The four questions aren’t a secret. Here’s the Department of Ed infographic: https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/who-is-my-parent.jpg.
It’s always been a fact that “parent” for FAFSA could change year to year. Prior to 24-25, the FAFSA parent was the one with whom the student lived the most in the prior 12 months. That could and did change year to year for some students. This is no different … just using financial support rather than living situation as the criterion.
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