<p>Is there also 32k to spread over four years for each of your two siblings or is there only 32k total?</p>
<p>For each of us. My mom has separate accounts for the five of us that are at about 16-17K, and my dad has about 80K total. So divided by 5, and then 4, it comes down to about 8 a year. </p>
<p>OK, so they can pay $8k a year out of these college savings set-aside accounts for you per year. But can they pay anything out of current income since you won’t be at home, eating food ($1.5k)? Can you earn $4k each summer to put toward college? I would hope that your mom would give you the $2500 American Opportunity Tax Credit savings if she is able to take that credit on her return assuming $4k of tuition is paid in each of the next four calendar years with money from these (non-529, non-Coverdell) accounts.</p>
<p>So maybe you will have $8k + $1.5k + $4k + $2.5k = $16k per year for college.</p>
<p>If the income levels the OP is stating are accurate, and with 5 dependents, it’s unlikely the mom is paying much if any taxes. The max refundable AOC is $1k.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there is absolutely no way she will give me any more than the 16K I will get from what she has saved for me total. She’s just that kind of person. She doesn’t really even have that much interest in how my college apps are coming along, and it’s taking quite a bit of effort just to get her to sit down for a few minutes and help me fill out the CSS Profile. Hopefully I’ll be able to work during the summer, so that might give me a little. I don’t know about $4K, but obviously I’ll do everything I can to get as much as I can. </p>
<p>Yep, she’s not paying any income tax as far I know. </p>