<p>im sure a lot of you are in a similar situation. my parents have been divorced since i was 9, and i live with my mom. its not like i dont have any contact with my dad, but hes not the one who pays for stuff lol. so heres my question: when applying for financial aid and all that good stuff, do both parents' incomes count? or just the one u live with? i really dont kno how this works. cuz i cant pay for a top college without significant financial aid. if only my moms income counts (since i only live with her) then i will ok cuz ill qualify for a lot of financial aid. but if both parents' incomes count (even tho i dont live with my dad) i dont think ill qualify for much. any thots from someone whos been there?</p>
<p>There are different types of financial aid and different criteria for awards…so you’ll need to be aware of the differences when you’re looking for aid. FAFSA determines your eligibility for federal student aid and only your mom’s income/assets will be considered for that. State aid is usually based on FAFSA information, supplemented with information your state requires, so it’s very likely that will be your mom’s info alone as well. For institutional aid (need based aid that the college gives) most schools use only FAFSA, but some schools require supplemental info on both parents - they will specify whether they require the CSS Profile, and if that includes the non-custodial parent info, or if they use their own financial aid form. Scholarships may be based only on merit (your gpa and test scores) or on a combination of need and merit.</p>
<p>ok thanks! i guess that means if they only use fafsa im fine.</p>
<p>Most “top colleges” will require the filing of the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA for need based financial aid consideration.</p>
<p>The FAFSA will require ONLY the income/asset information from your custodial parent and spouse if she has remarried. However, the calculation from the FAFSA really is only used to determine your eligibility for federally funded need based aid. Almost all colleges require the FAFSA as a financial aid application form.</p>
<p>NOW…the Profile is required by many (if not most) of the “top schools”. The Profile will require information from BOTH of your parents AND any spouses they may have if they have remarried. There are some schools that do not require the non-custodial parent Profile but many do. So…if you apply to a school that requires the Profile, your dad’s info will likely be used in part to calculate your financial need.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider…most FAFSA only schools (the ones that will only use your mom’s info) do NOT guarantee to meet your full financial need. As mentioned…the FAFSA is primarily used to determine eligiblilty for federally funded aid…depending on your EFC (expected family contribution…view this number as the MINIMUM you will be paying), you could qualify for a Pell Grant, SEOG, and some state funded grants, and a stafford loan. The total of this aid will not fully fund a four year residential college in most places. And…these are for low income students. </p>
<p>Where are you considering applying?</p>
<p>The biggest question to ask BOTH of your parents is the amount they WILL be able to contribute to your college costs each year. That number really is more important than anything else. Regardless of what the FAFSA or Profile calculations show, if your family is unable or unwilling to meet their contribution, you will be back at the drawing board. So…please have a conversation with your parents about this.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice! umm im definitely applying to wvu and cmu. wvu i dont have to worry about because i qualify for a lot of merit aid. its a financial safety. cmu doesnt offer merit aid… other schools im considering are cornell, rpi, jhu, upenn, case western, rit. not rly sure yet but thats my general idea.</p>
<p>Nearly all top schools will ask for non-custodial parent info.</p>
<p>If your dad won’t be helping with college, I wouldn’t bother applying to the schools that will require his info. It will just be a waste of time because they won’t process your aid package without his info. And even if he does supply info, you won’t be able to afford the school because he won’t contribute based on his income.</p>
<p>So, if you’re happy with WVU, then that may end up being where you’ll attend. However, if you want more choices than that, you should apply to some other schools that will give you big merit for your stats.</p>
<p>I’m sorry that you have to deal with this, but it’s not an unusual situation. Many kids with strong stats can’t afford top schools because their NCP’s are not going to help pay for their educations. </p>
<p>The problem is that schools that don’t consider NCP info, are typically the schools that won’t meet need. Therefore you’d end up with an unaffordable gap. </p>
<p>What are your stats?
What is your intended major?
How much will your family contribute each year? If you don’t know, ask.
Is your mom’s income lowish?</p>
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<p>No…first, as mentioned above, most FAFSA-only schools do not meet full need. Also, just because they use FAFSA doesn’t mean that they don’t have other institutional aid forms. Finally, many of the Profile schools don’t require NCP info. You probably should get an idea of who uses Profile and what they require and also look at the info college board posts on average percentage of need met. Then you can get into the nitty gritty of which schools are likely to be affordable to you. Also, don’t overlook the schools that have committed to low/no loans! Here are a few links to get you started:</p>
<p><a href=“https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv[/url]”>https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv</a></p>
<p><a href=“https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv[/url]”>https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv</a></p>
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<p>Cornell, UPenn, Johns Hopkins are profile schools.</p>
<p>Case Western and RIT have their own financial aid form. You will need to check to see if they ask for non-custodial parent info on that.</p>