<p>My son is applying to colleges and is concerned about the debt he'll have upon graduation.</p>
<p>He is thinking of taking a year off so that he can spend more time at his dad's to qualify him for the custodial parent as his income is lower than mine.</p>
<p>He has not received any financial packages as he has not completed his FAFSA and wants to wait a year to complete the FAFSA so he can use his dad's income.</p>
<p>He has two college coaches from DIV 3 schools (no sports' scholarships at that level) who call him at home as they want him to play sports there.</p>
<p>I'm concerned that if he takes a year off he will lose his athletic edge and the plusses that come with that.</p>
<p>I want to suggest to him that he complete the FAFSA using my income as I am the custodial parent (my income is relatively low--just more than his dad's) and see what financial aid packages he receives, and then make a decision if he feels he doesn't receive enough aid.</p>
<p>So here's the question: If he doesn't receive enough aid, can he defer for a year and then submit a new FAFSA using his dad's income (since he will have spent more than half a year with him). Thanks in advance for your help!</p>
<p>This seems really silly of your son. He hasn’t even applied for aid yet and he’s borrowing trouble. Plus, if those coaches really want him, they’re going to make extra effort to make it attractive for him to attend. He needs to apply for aid, see what he gets, and then go from there. Trying to scheme the system for better aid packages almost never works. It’s risky, it’s not very ethical, and when the schools ask you, well, why do you want to defer? Or when they ask, I see you took a year off, why did you choose to do that and what did you do in the interim, is he going to say “I did to game the system”? It just doesn’t sound like he’s really thought this through. </p>
<p>Does he have a plan for how he’s going to spend the year? If he lives with his dad, is his dad going to pay the bills for him? If you fund him while he spends more time with his dad, will that compromise the custodial status he’s trying to establish? </p>
<p>There are a lot better ways to make college affordable than trying to cheat the FAFSA. Would not recommend this course of action.</p>
<p>I agree with ^^^, although it’s not necessarily “gaming the system” if he actually moves to Dad’s location and works there all year. I do think it sounds like he may be using this as an excuse for feelings of ambivalence about going to college. After all, it seems like there are real potential gains here if he shows some enthusiasm. It would be worth your while to find out what’s really on his mind.</p>
<p>He will definitely lose his competitive athletic edge if her takes a year off from sanctioned athletics. You are right to worry that coaches will stop pursuing him.</p>
<p>The term “defer” is usually used to describe an applicant who has already been admitted and decides to wait a year to matriculate. </p>
<p>Your plan of doing the FAFSA with your income and seeing what aid comes in seems the most practical, particularly if son wants to play his sport.</p>
<p>You also need to check and see if any scholarships he is eligible for will not be available if he defers. My daughter’s merit scholarship (full tuition waiver plus some cash) required her to start college in the fall folowing HS graduation. She would not have ben eligible for it the following year.</p>
<p>I am surprised you haven’t yet filled out the FAFSA as it seems to me that the “early bird catches the fattest worm” there. If the DIII schools are private institutions, they are going to ask for the father’s income regardless, arent they? Don’t they have their own separate forms in an effort to avoid exactly what your son is suggesting he try and do. </p>
<p>I also agree that the competitive edge might be lost. Most coaches pull together a recruiting class and although at DIII there is a good opportunity to walk on, it’s not the same kind of support he would have if he was a true freshman.</p>
<p>I also agree that it sounds more like a personal issue and not a financial one for your son. While we certainly cannot know your family situation, i think there is probably more to your son’s gap year suggestion.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help–you bring up some good points.</p>
<p>He’s not trying to cheat the FAFSA though. If he were doing that, then he’d say his dad is custodial parent this year. He would actually adjust the time he spends with his dad next year so that it would be over 50 percent.</p>
<p>So that I’m clear and give him good advice, when you defer for a year is there usually a reason given that is more profound than “I’d like to work for a year?” or “I’d like to take a year off?” That would be the truth, because he’s not going to be traveling in Europe or anything like that.</p>
<p>He has been accepted at one university and will be hearing from some others soon. The places he wants to go to are not profile schools so only custodial parent income is needed unless his ap needs verification.</p>
<p>I am not a proponent of taking a year off. It is much harder to go back to school after you’ve had a year off. Working is much more fun than going to school, because you get paid to work. His opportunity for college is now and he’d be wise to take it.</p>
<p>He should do the FAFSA 4caster once with each income. He might be surprised at how little difference there really is. Does he know if the school even meets full need??</p>
<p>I would think that it would be impossible to stay competitive in his sport if he’s not on a team. Plus, next year the coaches will be focused on the next group of high schoolers-I don’t know that they will keep in contact with him over the next year if he’s not playing.</p>
<p>He might be over-thinking this. Does he want to go to college next year or not? Does he want to play his sport next year? If yes, then he should run that FAFSA and find a school in his price range that’s still taking applications. Would he consider a community college if they had a good program in his sport?</p>
<p>As another poster mentioned, some schools require more than the FAFSA. Those schools often consider the incomes of not only the custodial parent, but also the non-custodial parent AND the incomes of the custodial and non-custodial step parent, if there are any. </p>
<p>I would definitely see what packages shake out in the spring. You might be surprised.</p>
<p>I am a proponent of taking a year off for maturity reasons and other learning experiences. Whether that’s found in a PG year at a prep school ( a middling step to college where you no longer have parents overseeing you, but you’re clearly not on your own), travel, service learning etc. A lot of kids who are not ready for the independence of college would be well served by a year of maturity. If you read around a lot of these threads, you will see that the “traditional” path that goes from HS to college is not the only path.</p>
<p>*You also need to check and see if any scholarships he is eligible for will not be available if he defers. My daughter’s merit scholarship (full tuition waiver plus some cash) required her to start college in the fall folowing HS graduation. She would not have ben eligible for it the following year. *</p>
<p>Also, if your son spends the next year working, his income may end up causing his EFC to be high anyway.</p>
<p>^^Good point. A dependent student has a small amount of protected student income and anything over that 50% goes to the EFC. So unless he plans to sit on his backside for the year and do nothing, or do some sort of volunteering, he may push his EFC up by working full time.</p>
<p>He can always start out the year in college, and then decide after a semester if he wants to take some time off. Sometimes it’s easier to do it that way, since the hard work of applying etc. is already out of the way. Most schools will let you take a semester or two off and the return.</p>