<p>My parents were divorced in 2004. My mother remarried in 2006 and I live with her and my stepfather. My stepfather makes a good income and my mom is a teacher. My father pays child support and does not have a good track record of doing anything above that and I am unclear about how and if he will help me with college expenses. My stepfather is not interested in funding my college education. Should my mom ammend the FAFSA some way so the universities I am applying to can know our situation? In short, on paper (the FAFSA) it looks like my family can contribute substantially, but in reality it is just my mom who makes a teacher's salary. I am a high achieving student (good GPA and test scores) and have worked, paying most of my bills since I was 16. Can anybody give me some advice???? Also, pardon me but I am trying to get used to using this site, advice there might help also!</p>
<p>no, she must report your stepfather's income. Your father's income doesn't go on the FAFSA if he is not your custodial parent.</p>
<p>honestly, you can call each school and tell them your 'situation' but it is up to the school to decide to 'let stepdad off the hook'.</p>
<p>The theory is that his income contributes to the household.
To not report it and get caught would literally be a federal crime.</p>
<p>FYI, child support is considered income too I believe</p>
<p>For FAFSA there are no exception to reporting your step parent's income. You have to do so. You cannot ammend FAFSA in any way - the instructions are very clear on this.</p>
<p>Completing</a> the FAFSA 07-08/The Application Questions(55-83)</p>
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[quote]
A stepparent is treated in the same manner as a biological parent if the stepparent is married, as of the date of application, to the biological parent whose information will be reported on the FAFSA or if the stepparent has legally adopted you. There are no exceptions. Prenuptial agreements do not exempt the stepparent from providing required data on the FAFSA. Note that the stepparent's income information for the entire base year, 2007, must be reported even if your parent and stepparent were not married until after the start of 2007, but were married prior to the date the FAFSA was completed.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't think any school will let your Stepdad off the hook. They probably cannot for federal aid purposes. Special circumstances are not allowed to change the intent of the law as written - only for unusual situations.</p>
<p>FinAid</a> | Professional Judgment | Principles of Professional Judgment</p>
<p>
[quote]
Limitations of Professional Judgment</p>
<pre><code>* Financial aid administrators are not allowed to use professional judgment to circumvent the intent of the law or regulations or to change the formula or tables used in the Federal need analysis methodology or to change the EFC directly.
[/quote]
</code></pre>
<p>As the FAFSA rules quite specifically state that there are no exceptions to the rule that a step parent is treated the same as a biological parent a financial aid officer will not be able ignore the stepparent info when it comes to and federal aid.</p>
<p>Child support received in 2008 has to be reported on FAFSA but, if the child support will be coming to an end once you graduate high school, you can ask that an adjustment be made to reflect that this income will no longer be there. The financial aid officer is the only one who can make this adjustment to FAFSA. You cannot. You have to report the income then ask them to adjust it.</p>
<p>The FAFSA computes an Expected FAMILY Contribution (EFC). Your step dad is part of your family because he is married to your mom. Presumably, he is contributing to the family expenses (housing, food, utilities, etc) which in theory eases the expenses for the rest of the family (including your mom and you...who benefit from his income). You can try to explain the situation to the colleges but this is done by contacting the financial aid offices directly. I would imagine they get this question somewhat frequently...I don't think they can make allowances in the federal funding...and I personally doubt that they will make an allowance for institutional funding. But you can try.</p>
<p>Your stepdad's income must be reported. I am not aware of any schools that will adjust on their end to ignore that income. You can try, but do not count on it.</p>