<p>My son will be graduating high school in May'11. I am a divorced castodial parent with very limitted income (part-time teacher). My ex is a doctor (MD), who "generously" offeted to contribute 10K towards my son's college education. Also, after my son turns 18, his father has no obligations to pay any child support either (per divorce in state of Indiana). Because of my ex's income which is in the mid 300K, my kids (I have 2) can not get ANY financial aid because schools are asking for both parents income stataments. Does anyone know of schools in New Englnd that when my son applies for the need based scholarship, the school will ask only of the custodial parent income?</p>
<p>FAFSA only asks for the custodial parent information. If you choose FAFSA only schools (the vast majority of schools) then your ex’s info will not be required.</p>
<p>Most public colleges do not require information from the non-custodial parent. </p>
<p>Here’s an old thread that might be helpful (but double-check info since it’s a few years old):</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/566187-fafsa-only-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/566187-fafsa-only-schools.html</a></p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Yes, schools that use the FAFSA ONLY (no Profile and no school form…these ask for non-custodial parent information) will only require the info for the custodial parent. BUT if the custodial parent receives alimony that is also reported on the FAFSA. </p>
<p>In addition, most FAFSA only schools meet less need so your aid may not actually be as much as you think you need.</p>
<p>Start looking at instate public universities within YOUR state of residence. If that is Indiana, start there. $10,000 will cover a goodly chunk…plus your kiddo will be eligible for $5500 in Stafford loans for freshman year.</p>
<p>Most of the public universities in New England have HIGH out of state costs. The private universities have high costs, and many use the Profile which will require Dad’s info. Why does this student need to go to college in New England?</p>
<p>How much CAN you add to that $10K that the dad is offering plus that Stafford loan? Figure out what you can pay and go from there.</p>
<p>Does your son have excellent SAT/ACT scores and GPA? If so, it’s possible he might garner merit aid at some schools. That could help you too.</p>
<p>I understand that you are looking at New England schools, but just in case , USC in California, a private that requires both FAFSA and CSS Profile for custodial parent only, does not require the non custodial parent’s financial info. They have their own simple one page form which only asks whether the non custodial parent is contributing, and approx how much, and how much the child support is and whether it’s up to date, and when it ends.</p>
<p>I got divorced in Indiana, but have been living in New England for the past several years. My son has a 3.85 GPA and SAT around 1800. He is a top 10 student in his class of 400 kids. He wants to go to school NE because he isa “home buddy” and very close with me and his younger sibling.</p>
<p>If your son can get his SAT up, he might be eligible for some merit scholarships. He should also take the ACT- he may do better on that. </p>
<p>What is your home state? that state’s public schools will likely be the most affordable.</p>
<p>If your son keeps his dad informed along the way, and your son appears to be doing as much as he can to minimize costs, hopefully the dad will come forth with any necessary extra money. But, your son would need to keep your dad informed throughout the process, otherwise the dad will assume that your son overlooked less expensive options.</p>
<p>Again, FAFSA only schools do NOT meet need, so even tho they won’t look at your ex’s income, they won’t be generous either.</p>
<p>Do you have a husband? If so, his income will get counted? I’m asking because you only work part-time so I was wondering how you support yourself? If you haven’t remarried, do you get alimony?</p>
<p>Jules, I don’t know which New England state you are in, but your best bet is to look at public universities where you are an instate resident. EVERY New England state has a public university. Out of state costs will be high, but instate will be more reasonable. Check out the schools within YOUR home state. More than likely, at least one of your son’s buddies will be heading in the same direction.</p>
<p>Good grief, is that 10K total or 10K per year?</p>
<p>I don’t get an alimony. And, yes, I am remarried, but my husband lost his job about 18 months ago. My ex is re-married and has 3 more kids. When my son tries to talk to him about going to college and helping with tuition, his father basically says that now he has 5 children and he has no money for college. Granted, he promised to pay 10K per year and I do have it in writing. My son really likes Northeastern University and Boston University. But these schools ask about non-custodial parent income. We looked at some state schools in NE, and they are serious consideation because I can’t see how can we affort to pay for Northeastern or BU.</p>
<p>Boston University has the Trustee Scholarship but it is VERY competitive. I believe Northeastern offers scholarships as well…again not a lot at full tuition, but there are some (we know a student who got this…she was told it was because she was at the TOP of their accepted student pool).</p>
<p>Again…check the state in which you reside. There are good public universities in each state…find the ones in YOUR state.</p>
<p>Jules, Fafsa will want income and asset information (other than cars and primary residence) for you and your husband-- so if he has any assets, those will count also although there’s a significant “asset protection allowance” which is not counted. If anyone in the family receives free/reduced price lunch (there are other income-based measures but that is the one with the most generous allowances), I believe the assets might not be counted. So if your son qualifies and hasn’t signed up for reduced price lunch, it may have an added benefit for you.</p>
<p>You should run a financial aid calculator and find out what the IM and FAFSA estimated contributions are for your family. </p>
<p>[EFC</a> Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp]EFC”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp)</p>
<p>Profile would want the income and asset information on all 4 parents/stepparents.</p>
<p>Even for Mass which is expensive instate, if your son qualifies for a Pell (max is over $5K) and your ex provides $10K/ year, your son could get the maximum $5K Stafford and meet full costs. With a summer job, he could pay for incidentals.</p>
<p>By the way, I think BU used to have a webpage which made it very clear that they use merit $ to attract top students. Your son’s SATs are not high enough right now for BU to throw $ at him. (According to their website, their middle 50% is 1850-2090 and he would want to be at or above the top of that range for the school to want to attract him). </p>
<p>Here’s some info on Northeastern’s scholarships:
[Northeastern</a> University Undergraduate Admissions > Costs & Financial Aid > Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/admissions/costs/scholarships.html]Northeastern”>http://www.northeastern.edu/admissions/costs/scholarships.html) </p>
<p>If your son happens to attend a Boston area public school, it looks like both schools have money set aside for them. You may want to ask the gc about his being nominated for them: </p>
<p>from NU:
Boston Public High School Scholarships
Students attending a Boston Public High School (BPHS) and who are in the top 10
percent of their high school class and demonstrate exceptional academic and personal achievement including leadership skills, community involvement, strong work ethic, resiliency, or other qualities indicative of the ability to contribute to Northeastern’s diverse and vibrant community may qualify for this scholarship. BPHS scholarships include full tuition, room and board. Students must be nominated by their high school guidance office or headmaster.</p>
<p>from BU:
[Other</a> Scholarships | Boston University Admissions](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/costs-aid-scholarships/scholarships/merit/]Other”>http://www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/costs-aid-scholarships/scholarships/merit/)</p>
<p>Boston High School Scholarship
This prestigious four-year, full-tuition scholarship is awarded to approximately 20-25 seniors graduating from Boston public high schools. Boston Scholars are selected for their ability to face the intellectual challenges at Boston University and for their potential to contribute to the University community and society. Eligible nominees are invited to visit campus for a personal interview.</p>
<p>Students must be nominated by their high school principals or guidance counselors. Nomination forms are distributed to schools as an interactive PDF attachment and may be returned via e-mail to <a href=“mailto:scholars@bu.edu”>scholars@bu.edu</a> or printed and mailed to: Boston University Admissions, 121 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215. The Common Application, BU Supplement and all supporting materials including the nomination form must be submitted by December 1.</p>
<p>Actually Boston University has a “formula” for the awarding of merit aid. It is on their website somewhere. Basically you put in your stats and it gives you an estimate of the merit aid you would be offered.</p>
<p>My son has a 3.85 GPA and SAT around 1800. He is a top 10 student in his class of 400 kids.</p>
<p>*Your son’s SATs are not high enough right now for BU to throw $ at him. (According to their website, their middle 50% is 1850-2090 and he would want to be at or above the top of that range for the school to want to attract him). *</p>
<p>Very true. And, really, to get “big merit” (not just a small amount that won’t make a dent in the $50k per year costs), a student’s SATs would more likely need to be well above 2150. </p>
<p>The problem is that many privates will give $10k per year scholarships/grants, but in your son’s case that won’t work at all. Tuition, fees, room, board, books, etc are costing $50k+ each year.</p>
<p>Your son does need to test again - take both the SAT and ACT. </p>
<p>What state are you in? Frankly, your instate publics are likely going to be the best choices unless he can substantially raise his test scores. </p>
<p>Look at it this way…for you to afford a private college, your son would need a full tuition scholarship - that would leave Pell, $10k from the ex, and a Stafford loan to pay for room, board, any fees, books, transportation, misc costs. It’s very doubtful that at this point your son would get a full tuition scholarship to a private school in the NE. </p>
<p>*Even for Mass which is expensive instate, if your son qualifies for a Pell (max is over $5K) and your ex provides $10K/ year, your son could get the maximum $5K Stafford and meet full costs. With a summer job, he could pay for incidentals. *</p>
<p>True… Are you instate for Mass?</p>
<p>We leave in Mass and UMASS is a very serious consideration.</p>
<p>There may be some schools in this thread that will provide enough merit aid to meet your needs:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/960946-good-safety-schools-northeast-student.html?highlight=student[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/960946-good-safety-schools-northeast-student.html?highlight=student</a></p>
<p>Also, although not NE, don’t forget about the SUNY/CUNY schools! I think their OOS costs are in the neighborhood of what many pay for their instate publics in the northeaast. And the SUNY’s that offer merit aid generally offer much higher amounts to OOS kids. You can find a listing of schools and programs offered at suny.edu.</p>
<p>Jules, </p>
<p>This is a totally out of the box suggestion, but he could go to some of the Minnesota state colleges for the same cost or cheaper as staying instate. Several of them don’t charge out-of-state tuition. I know someone who is really thriving at Morris. There, he would qualify for an automatic $3500/year scholarship:</p>
<p>[University</a> of Minnesota Morris | Admissions | Scholarships, Costs & Financial Aid | Scholarships | Automatic Academic Scholarships](<a href=“http://admissions.morris.umn.edu/costsaid/scholarships/automatic/]University”>http://admissions.morris.umn.edu/costsaid/scholarships/automatic/)</p>
<p>Look at the costs – $18,500 out of state, including laundry. After the automatic scholarship and $ from dad, he would only be left with $5K and spending money. If you qualify for a Pell, he could attend without taking on any debt. If you don’t qualify for a Pell, he could take out a loan. Again, he could just work parttime and/or summer for spending $. He may even earn more scholarship money because they have competitive funds.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Minnesota Morris | Admissions | Scholarships, Costs & Financial Aid | Costs](<a href=“http://admissions.morris.umn.edu/costsaid/costs/]University”>http://admissions.morris.umn.edu/costsaid/costs/)</p>
<p>Anyway, I know it’s not BU but since your son doesn’t mind the cold, it would offer him yet another affordable options besides instate at Mass. </p>
<p>Here’s Bemjidi-- it looks like he would only have $1K automatic.</p>
<p>[Scholarships</a> - Undergraduate Admissions - Bemidji State University](<a href=“http://www.bemidjistate.edu/admissions/undergrad/explore/costs/scholarships/]Scholarships”>Scholarships | Admissions | Bemidji State University)
[Tuition</a> & Fees :: Business Services :: Bemidji State University](<a href=“http://www.bemidjistate.edu/offices/business/tuition_fees/]Tuition”>http://www.bemidjistate.edu/offices/business/tuition_fees/)</p>
<p>I know he wants an urban location. Unfortunately, Twin Cities does have out-of-state tuition however they do have a scholarship that awards the difference between out-of-state and in-state residence. Maybe he should apply. See National Scholarship:</p>
<p>[Residency[/url</a>]</p>
<p>To be considered for a National Scholarship, submit a complete application for freshman admission by the December 15 priority deadline. No additional application is required.</p>
<pre><code>* National Scholarship - Covers the full difference between resident and non-resident tuition rates each year for four years (preference given to admitted freshmen ranked in the top 5 percent of their high school class)
</code></pre>
<p>The tuition is higher at Twin Cities but I still think he should apply in case they offer him a merit scholarship. </p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/costsaid/value.html]Great”>http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/costsaid/value.html]Great</a> Value](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/costsaid/residency.html]Residency[/url”>Reciprocity | Office of Admissions)</p>
<p>Here’s info on their honors program:
[Admission</a> to Honors - University Honors Program](<a href=“http://www.honors.umn.edu/admission/index.html]Admission”>http://www.honors.umn.edu/admission/index.html)</p>
<p>What does he want in a college? lots of on campus activities? Sports to watch? </p>
<p>What is his likely major?</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>The tuition is higher at Twin Cities but I still think he should apply in case they offer him a merit scholarship. *</p>
<p>I don’t think his scores are high enough for a scholarship from UMinn-Twin Cities. To be well into the top 25%, his SAT would have to be at least 2100. With an 1800 SAT, he’s around the top 50%. </p>
<p>Test Scores
Middle 50% of First-Year Students </p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 520 - 670<br>
SAT Math: 600 - 710<br>
SAT Writing: 530 - 650
ACT Composite: 24 - 29</p>