Divorced parents and financial aid??

<p>I've been thinking of applying to Bates or Colby (honestly I don't really have much to distinguish them from one another as they seem really alike and I've never visited either), and I was leaning towards Bates because I've heard it has an artsier and less isolated vibe. However, my parents are divorced and my mom (custodial parent) only makes about $30,000ish (Both my parents' incomes together would be like $76,000). I saw that Colby doesn't use the noncustodial parent's income in determining financial aid, so that is a big factor for me- I'd pretty much be golden for financial aid. Is this true that they don't use it?? Is this a factor that should encourage me to apply to Colby as opposed to Bates? They say on their site that they sometimes take noncustodial info at a later point, but what does that mean? If anyone could help that'd be great! :)</p>

<p>Hmmm… I just looked at Colby’s website, and it says that “If parents are separated or divorced, the College may include an expected contribution from the noncustodial parent.”</p>

<p>You might want to ask Colby’s FA office when they do and when they don’t include an expected contribution from the noncustodial parent.</p>

<p>My notes say Colby does in fact require the NCP.</p>

<p>And I don’t believe either is need-blind.</p>

<p><$60K and <$75K seem to be magic thresholds in terms of financial aid. That is, some schools give full tuition to those whose family income is below certain thresholds without such in-depth review.</p>

<p>You may want to contact someone who understands all of this (or maybe someone on this forum does?) and see if it is worthwhile for your parents to run the numbers, and maybe tip a few more dollars into an IRA or something if they are near to one of those thresholds.</p>

<p>I am speaking way out of my depth here, but I just wanted to raise the flag that this might be worth checking before 31 December rolls around. $76K is very close to “<$75K” and it could make a difference.</p>

<p>Thanks for responding! But I actually didn’t end up applying to Colby (I’m at a college I love though!! and financial aid is working out great!)</p>