<p>My father is a lawyer in manhattan and makes a bit over $500,000 a year, and my step-mother is a fashion designer and makes about $100,000. I'm a senior in High School and a few months ago they sat me down and told me that they somehow didn't have ANY money to help me pay for school and I should pay my own way through... In short: they're terrible people. </p>
<p>As that was kind of sprung on me last minute everything has been a mad scramble and I've figured my best option now will be to go to a community college on my own dime (I got a part-time job and moved out a few weeks ago).</p>
<p>I managed to get an outside scholarship and I can afford the community college on my own right now. But what do I do two years from now? It seems I won't be able to get a dependency override, and my parents refuse to even fill out the FAFSA or co-sign a private loan. Does anyone know if I have any other options?</p>
<p>Can I sue them to help pay? I turn 18 in 3 months, but aren't you still technically a minor for financial aid until 21? I feel like if the government and these colleges are saying my parents are expected to contribute, then I should be able to compel them via the courts, no?</p>
<p>Your parents make $600k a year and don’t have ANY money to give you towards college? Are they in massive debt or just unbelievably selfish?</p>
<p>What are your stats? Are you a NMF? </p>
<p>If you have the stats for merit scholarships, maybe you should take a gap year and reapply. Even if you start at a CC, you’re going to have issues when you transfer. </p>
<p>I don’t know if you’ll be able to sue or not, but I think after two years on your own you may qualify for a dependency override at some schools you transfer into. Likely not all of them, or even most, but at least some.</p>
<p>My stats are slightly above average: 700CR, 650 M, and 3.3 GPA. And I did receive generous merit scholarships from most of the schools I applied to, but without my parents filing the FAFSA the gaps were way too big for me to even dream of filling with a job while in College. </p>
<p>And even if I convinced them to put their info and sign it, the gap would be exactly the same as I don’t imagine their incomes qualify me for any aid. </p>
<p>@Sonybd - From talking to the schools I was accepted into, even two years from now none of them will give me a dependency override.</p>
<p>Typically, your parents have no legal obligation to pay for a college education. You won’t be able to sue them. However, if your parents are divorced, the agreement or decree may impose that obligation on one or both. The fact that you have a stepmother suggests that you may have divorced parents.</p>
<p>Cross-posted–were your parents divorced before your mother died? Did she have a will?</p>
<p>Also, there has to be a bit more to this story. Why won’t your parents sign FAFSA? That doesn’t obligate them to pay anything.</p>
Dependency overrides are not for students whose parents are not willing to pay. They are for very unusual situations such as documented abuse and documented proof of lack of contact from the parent for many years. It is highly unlikely you will get a dependency override in your situation. There is no dependency override for being 2 years on your own.</p>
<p>You are a dependent for FA purposes until you turn 24, not 21.</p>
<p>No, you can not sue to make your parents pay. There is no legal obligation or requirement for them to pay for college.</p>
<p>It is a very unfortunate situation you find yourself in. Good for you for taking a realistic approach by starting out at community college. To even get federal student loans in your own name, your parents need to provide their financial information so you can file FAFSA. Are they aware of that?</p>
<p>What is their reason for not filling out FAFSA? Do they realize that that doesn’t obligate them to anything and will allow you access to Stafford/Direct student loans?</p>
<p>Oh and in response to your question about their reasoning for not paying: They informed me that they’ve just recently bought a new car, have to redo the roof on their house, and haven’t put any money into retirement. So basically, the crux of their reasoning is they can’t pay because they’d rather spend the money on themselves. In reality it’s probably more because my Step-mother and I have had a lot of tension, and they just don’t want to pay. Hence, if suing them is an option, I’d have no regrets about doing so.</p>
<p>@megmno, They’re reasoning is that they don’t want to. </p>
<p>@swimcatsmom, I don’t understand how they can have no obligation to help me pay for school, yet they’re information is required when I file. It makes no sense. It’s like saying a 13 year old is dependent and can’t move out, but they’re parents have no legal obligation to pay for food. Do I have no options for college besides waiting 6 years until I’m 24???</p>
<p>A family friend has tried mediation, and they simply stand by the idea that they can’t pay, and that my father paid his way through school so I should be able too as well.</p>
<p>No, I’m not Cinderella…?</p>
<p>PS sorry for the out of order responses, I’m responding on my IPod.</p>
<p>Refusing to fill out the FAFSA or any financial aid forms is a major problem that I see often. A lot of people refuse to share this information. They know that there is little to gain from the information; the OP certainly isn’t going to get financial aid, and if they even know about the Stafford loans, that isn’t enough to get them to move. It is a pain in the rear to fill out these forms. Also, for all you know, there could be issues with taxes and other financial problems that they do not want to even face, much less share. </p>
<p>You need to look at Momfromtexas’s thread on full ride scholarships and talk to your guidance counselor about the situation. You might want to see if you can get a copy of the divorce decree and see if there is any mention of college payment in the provisions. </p>
<p>If you live near NYC, there are any number of state schools with low tuitions available.</p>
<p>With whom are you living, if you are able to move out?</p>
<p>How very sad…are you in your father’s will, or will the evil stepmother inherit all? (Any way to find out?) If there is nothing for you in your father’s will…well, I’d probably cut off all contact with them. If your parents earn $600,000/year, there is no way that they should be denying you help for college.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that if they won’t cooperate at all, you are stuck and will either have to wait, or go to a community college. You might try calling the schools you’ve applied to and tell them your parents won’t sign the FAFSA and see if they can suggest a workaround. This is a Catch-22 that some students find themselves in–your parents have no obligation to educate you after high school, but the schools consider their finances in determining whether to give you aid or not.</p>
<p>It seems the crux of what you guys are saying is that no legal obligation exists for them to pay (which is an insanely ridiculous loophole) unless a divorce agreement existed between my father and mother that stated a responsibility. But even though they were never married, can some sort of de-facto responsibility exist, under which I could sue my Father? Just like when mothers sue for child support? </p>
<p>For all the ridiculous things people win lawsuits over, I’m in shock no judge has ever found affluent parents have a responsibility to aid in costs for College.</p>
<p>Something does not add up here. You are in senior year and you have applied to colleges, right? You have responses, right? With whom were you living as you were going to high school? Who is paying for your expenses? NYC is very expensive. How on earth did you move out and get a room in Brooklyn as a high school student? You would need money to do this, a lot of it. My son lived in a lousy part of Brooklyn and it was still expensive. How are you even able to pay for CC, pay your rent, utilites, transportation, etc?</p>
<p>I’m waiting on legal aid from a youth group called “The Door”, in NYC. But they seem constantly overwhelmed and it’s difficult to hear back from them. Is anyone aware of any other legal aid that might be able to help me?</p>
The financial aid system is set up to help families who do not have the financial ability to pay, not for situations where parents have the ability but are unwilling to pay. This does not mean parents have a legal obligation to pay for college. It is made difficult to get a dependency override because if all that was required to get more aid was for the parents to refuse to pay, every parent would do that. It is not the FA system at fault here, it is your parents. Unfortunately you are the one suffering for it.</p>