Does a financial aid app with high income hurt chances of receiving merit aid?

I am almost 100% certain that we won’t qualify for financial aid, but am toying with the idea of applying anyway when D22 applies to college this fall. I have no idea of my ex’s income, so if he makes too much, together with my income and my husband’s income, we won’t qualify. My ex will not share his income details with me (and neither would I share mine with him!), so if we decide to apply, only the colleges will know if our combined income pushes us out of financial aid range.

My question is this: if we don’t qualify for financial aid because income is too high, does that have any impact on a college’s decision whether to award merit aid? We are chasing merit at schools where she is 75th+ percentile, but don’t want to screw that up if a higher income financial app application would cause these schools to assume that we can pay full price.

Thoughts?

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Apply. If the school is need aware and you need is zero, no impact. If the are need blind, no impact. If you have need and they are need aware, there could be an impact. But it sounds like you would be low need. If you are a cynic, there is nothing better than a low need student that you can count in the % getting aid calculation.

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We usually don’t qualify for FA but my kids received merit from most schools. Getting merit will reduce the amount of FA received. Can the parents fill out their section of fafsa separately?

FAFSA is for custodial parent only. The OP must be referring to the CSS Profile. As an FYI, some schools stack merit and financial aid, some don’t.

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Yes that is correct. The FAFSA is only for the custodial parent (me), but most private schools also require the CSS profile, which both my ex and I would complete separately.

I’m not worried about the impact of financial aid on D22’s chances of being admitted, but rather whether the appearance of not needing financial aid will impact her chances of getting merit aid. In our divorce agreement, her dad is only required to contribute up to half of an in-state education. If his income is high enough to knock us out of the running for financial aid, then the only way she can go anywhere except for our state school is if (1) I make up the difference, or (2) she gets loans. I can make up some of the difference, but with many schools being $70K+/year, definitely not all.

She’s an excellent candidate for merit aid, so I don’t want to mess that up by “showing our cards” with a potentially high income on a financial aid application - if that would indeed influence whether she would be awarded merit aid. I guess my question is whether her chances of receiving merit aid would be better if we apply for financial aid and don’t qualify, or just not applying for financial aid at all.

You are way over thinking this. If a school didn’t want to give merit aid to high net worth families, not applying for FA would be the ultimate way to show high net worth.

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Ha! Good point!

We were in your exact situation. I don’t know my ex and his wife’s income but knew there was no chance of getting any need-based aid unless a school’s aid calculation placed more weight on the custodial parent income (mine). We took a chance and filed the FAFSA & CSS (the majority of the schools my D applied to required CSS). She was very successful with merit awards (including a competitive full ride). Out of 14 schools, only one school gave a very small amount of need-based aid (less than R&B but appreciated).

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Thank you! That is very helpful.

There is not always a clear delineation between “merit” and “need-based” aid. For example, back when I was in college, I benefitted from scholarships that were based on some kind of merit, but required me to have financial need for said scholarships.

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I agree with much of the above feedback. With that said you can also be a bit strategic in your apps. Here is the list of schools that require CSS Profile…you can search by those that do NOT require NCP financials.

https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx

Always double check the info on the school website though, for example, this database says Bucknell doesn’t require NCP financials, but they do. Among highly selective colleges, UChicago and Vandy don’t require NCP financials, but do reserve the right to ask.

This is an excellent tip! I just assumed that for the most part, private colleges and universities would require the CSS. I will take a look at the list. Thanks!

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I agree with most of the previous information.

One clarification is that if a school is Need Aware, showing as being capable of full pay can sometimes enhance your child’s chances of being admitted.

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Note that some colleges like Princeton have their own supplemental FA form (not CSS Profile), and may have their own rules about non custodial parents. Check their web sites.

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