My D was accepted ED2 at Univ of Richmond. I am low income but I think my ex makes pretty good $, he won’t tell me. He is late getting his W2’s to UR, they gave him more time as he didn’t file taxes yet for 2015 & lost all his W2’s, he had several jobs, also had 1099s, he’s a chef. UR says they add me & him together & if he makes too much we won’t get any aid or reduced aid. We will get $ via FASFA but it’s not much. Does anyone know what the magic # is that he can make & we’ll still get aid? If he makes $50k will we get something? Do they add incomes or just EFC? So worried she won’t get aid & cannot attend. He may make around $80k, would that kill it? Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks! Looks like I have to sweat this out a couple more weeks & I’m losing my mind.
Each school has it’s own calculations.
You may get aid, but if your exH’s income causes a higher “family contribution” will he pay it? If not, who will pay it?
He won’t pay anything so no one will pay so she can’t go.
Parents are first in line when it comes to paying for college. Unfortunately because you have a noncustodial parent the net price calculator will not be correct. There will be an EFC based on the income/assets of both you and your ex. UR does not care who pays it a long as it gets paid.
If you EFC goes up because if his income and he is unwilling to pay ( remember providing his income and filling out the forms does not obligate him to pay), who will you pick up the slack
To get an idea you can try running UR net price calculator with your income and then run it again with his income ( if you know enough to get a good estimate. don’t add in things such as your child’s Stafford loan you do not want it counted twice.
Unfortunately, every school calculates efc according to their own formulas. U Richmond is a CSS profile school, so your ex’s income will be considered, regardless of his willingness to contribute. The $ that your parents have given you to help with household expenses may increase your efc also, although that is probably not as big a factor as your ex’s income. UR is known for being fairly generous with need based aid, but not as generous as tippy top/ivy schools.
I am still guessing that UR’s aid package will be more generous than what would have been offered by W&M OOS. to get a rough idea of what UR may offer, run some different scenarios on UR’s net price calculator which include varying estimates of your ex’s income. Their NPC will give you the best idea. Luckily your D has some grandparents who are willing to help, that is a real plus! Most students in this situation are not so lucky. I hope it all works out for your D:)
Did your child apply to any schools that only ask for the custodial parent’s information?
If you don’t have some backup plans, you need to be working on that.
Another factor that goes into the calculation for aid, is number if people in the household. If you will have more than one child in college at the same time, that works to your advantage in terms of getting aid.
But you would have to assume, that if your ex makes $50k and you make much less than that, and there is not a lot of substantial assets, and the UR price tag is $60k, you should be getting something.
Thanks everyone - my D is my only child so no other kids. I have no idea what he made so guess I can use the et price cal w/ different #'s but very confusing for me, I have trouble understanding it. She was accepted at College of Charleston which we can easily do as well as Roanoke which we can do due to their generous merit aid & we are going there monday for their scholarship competition, they seem to offer many & she’s a talented writer so would hope D gets something. OF course, she wants to go to UR, and we need them to give us around $28K to make it work.
Yes, we I have learned, W&M being public would not have offered as much. She applied at UMW but we are basically discounting that as their merit awards aren’t as good as Roanoke and since it’s public I don’t think it will be but the location is much better. Unless I have the wrong impression, it seems Roanoke is a little better school, anyway. Both schools are not CCS schools. Roanoke being private AND not a CCS school I think make it the best financially. Still praying UR comes through.
My ex is a piece of work indeed.
What is a Sydney loan?
At the FAFSA only schools, you should get a pretty good idea from the NPC if she’ll be getting any aid. Some of the NPCs also show merit aid if it is based on stats.
Sorry about the auto correct, I meant Stafford loan
the direct cost of UR is $62730
http://financialaid.richmond.edu/prospective/cost.html
@BelknapPoint , if grandparents pick up the ~32k, does it need to be reported on next year’s financial aid?
You could run the Richmond net price calculator with a few different scenarios for his income and get an idea
Glad you have some affordable alternatives. Congratulations on that. Did your D apply to any in-state public Us?
Your info is confusing. You say that, “no one will pay,” but then you say that you only need $28k for it to work at a private that costs a lot more??? And you’ve said that grandparents will pay.
Please give less confusing info
OP- nothing in the divorce decree about his responsibilities for college? Does your D have a good relationship with him apart from the money?
For the vast majority of kids, the College they end up attending is a result of balancing the $$ available with the educational opportunities they will have. As a single mom, some of the most valuable life lessons you can teach your D are to embrace the opportunities that come her way and to make the most of them, even if they are not always her “dream” scenario, and also to make wise financial choices that don’t end up leaving her, you, or those generous grandparents financially vulnerable. I have watched my mother in law struggle financially after taking out big home equity loans to finance an expensive private college education for my husband’s youngest sister, a dedicated, but underpaid social worker. My MIL is now divorced, retired, and is struggling to maintain her home and enjoy her retirement.
You also have to consider the fact that you will need to reapply for aid each year. So if you get good aid for this year, but then you ex’s income goes up next year, the award can be reduced for subsequent years.
@mom2collegekids & others The $28K is what UR would have to come up w/ in need based aid to make it work. The other part is being paid by FASFA $ ($10K), me, and 2 grandparents contributing. If UR doesn’t give us at least that amount ($28K) then she will have to go to another school. That s what I mean. None of the grandparents can pay the entire amount of tuition so if she gets no aid at UR, the FA woman there said we’d get the FASFA but that still leaves around $52K due, once we apply the grandparents $ it leaves us needing around $28K
She is accepted at other schools we can easily pay yes and if she can’t go to UR she can’t, she knows that but we certainly aren’t going to make any decision until we get the final say on the aid award. The waiting is killing me so trying to play w/ the #'s and see how my ex husbands income might effect it. He made much less in 2016 than in 2015 so when we apply next yr she might get more aid.
Yes, per divorce decree he has to pay 50% but he wont & I can’t afford to fly to MA to take him to court, I have tried, he never shows up on purpose just to screw me up so I have to come back. I can’t do it any more so it is what it is. My D hasn’t seen him in 5 yrs, they have an ok superficial relationship, they don’t speak much but she’s asking him about this & he says he has too many bills, might lose his job, might have his car repossessed, on and on.
She was accepted at College of Charleston & Roanoke for those who asked so we have back ups but really want UR to work out so hopeful. We know it might not.
FAFSA does not actually give you any $$ directly, it is used to determine eligibility for federal aid. With your husband’s income included, your D probably won’t be eligible for the pell grant at CSS schools (at FAFSA only schools which don’t consider his income, she may get a pell grant) . Filing the FAFSA also allows your D to apply for federal direct loans ($5500 freshman year, $6500 sophomore, $7500 junior and senior years). I think that the only federal (FAFSA) aid your D will be offered by UR is $5500 in federal loans, and possibly some work study, but she will not receive that up front, she will earn it throughout the school year.
The husband is an ex, so his income will not be on the FAFSA.
@twoinanddone , so D is still Pell eligible at UR? My apologies @cloudysmom , it seems I posted incorrect info, please disregard!