I understand that FAFSA doesn’t care what the divorce says, but it does cap what he’s legally obligated to pay to a portion of the $8k SUNY charges in state tuition.
As far as having a conversation with my stepdaughter: the mother has convinced my stepdaughter that living at school will be scary and that she needs her mother to take care of her, so she ‘needs’ to live with her mother. This limits her to 2 schools: a state school that doesn’t have her major and this private school.
Either way, she will certainly receive more aid from her mothers income than ours when the FAFSA changes and I wanted to see if we had any preemptive options to minimize the impact.
Right…but the college could expect a LOT more in parents contributions. If he is required to pay only $8000 a year, can you pay the balance? For four years?
Perhaps some conversations need to happen regarding looking for additional affordable colleges!
Exactly. He might legally be required to only pay X, but school X will expect him to pay more, per the new FAFSA SAI methodology.
I’m not sure I see the advantage of NOT looking at the multiple schools within the SUNY system.
What is this special major that is not offered at the local public U. Many times, another major can still get a student to their career goal.
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I wish we were in a situation where that was possible.
But the mother has essentially told my stepdaughter she can go to 2 schools; this one and a state school that doesn’t have the major she wants.
I was looking to see if there was anything we could do to prep now for the FAFSA changes
Because her mother has told her she has to live at home for college. This limits her options. And no, this isn’t something we can override.
Well…the higher earner parent could quit their job. I’m not sure what you think can happen to increase or keep need based aid in subsequent years.
The best bet for this student would be looking for schools that will give merit aid from a college…as that is not dependent on anyone’s income or assets.
But if these two colleges are the only choice…the question remains…who is paying all of the costs for year one of the $72,000 college? Who? The federally funded aid guaranteed by the FAFSA is roughly $12,000. Then the one parent contribution of $8000. Thats $20,000. Where is the other $52,000 coming from.
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OP- what we are all trying to say is that there is no financial aid fairy.
The solution to “how are we going to be able to afford a 72K college” is “find a cheaper college”.
If that’s not feasible, the D needs to understand that a financial aid officer isn’t going to decide “oh this poor kid of divorce, her mom is controlling and anxious, we’d better give her more money so she can come here instead of going to one of the 10 other more affordable options”.
That doesn’t happen.
So options- start out at a commutable community college? Switch majors and make the public U work? Divorce your H so that your income doesn’t come into play? Find a cousin/aunt/other relative who lives elsewhere in the state to add another geographic option to the mix?
And again- not to beat a dead horse- the legal requirement for what your H needs to pay is likely not going to get a year of college funded (let alone four years). So what’s the mom’s plan for getting her D a college education???
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Honestly, I don’t think she wants D to go to college because then she’ll (eventually) leave the rural area where the mother lives.
I appreciate everyone’s input - thank you.
I am thinking you were being tongue-in-cheek re: the comment about quitting a job? Even if you weren’t, does quitting a job even work? There is a 2 year look-back on income and colleges often limit offsetting a loss of income to a layoff or other involuntary situation, not to someone quitting .
OP: Based on the situation you have outlined, I think the best bet is for the student to choose a major that is available at the large, public university that her mother will allow her to attend. Many students change their major once in college and I can’t imaging that the state school doesn’t have at least one major that would interest your stepdaughter.
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Also, sorry, I thought I added this earlier: the private university offers $35,000/year scholarships to local students who get in (rural area, this is 10-20 kids per year). So, if she lives at home there’s a ~$20k gap needing funding.
But is she is required to live on campus the first year, she may love it and then hate living at home for years 2-4 and she may prevail on her mom to let her continue on campus.
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I certainly do not advocate folks quitting jobs! The two year look back is real, but this family is talking about what will happen the second year their kid is in college.
Who is paying the $20,000 gap. And that’s when she is living at home. What about first year!
Also, living at home isn’t free. You say this is a rural area. Is there good and reliable public transportation or will this student need a car?
The gap is where the financial aid comes in.
This is September of her senior year in high school. She’s made no applications, doesn’t know if she’s going to be accepted and doesn’t know what her financial aid package will be.
I’m not sure why people are talking to me like I’m an idiot for assuming she’ll get more financial aid using her mother’s $28k a year income versus our $245k.
There are a ton of unknowns, I’m just trying to determine if there’s anything we need to do now to help us in 2 years in case she decides to go there. We will need to use our 2021 taxes for that, and 2021 is almost over.
Bio mom’s FAFSA will include her income, assets, as well as all of the child support she receives from bio dad. If the school is FAFSA only, their NPC should provide a decent estimate of COA.
Does this school meet full need? Not many FAFSA only schools do, so you all should expect a gap in funding regardless whose financials are used.
What people are trying to tell you is that most schools don’t meet full need, no matter what FAFSA number is spit out. There isn’t free money just waiting to be claimed. Most schools ‘gap’ students who require more money than the school has available - whether the student’s parent makes $28k a year or $245k a year.
Unless the private school near your stepdaughter guarantees meeting 100% demonstrated need, in some ways it doesn’t matter how much or how little her mother earns each year. Schools that don’t offer to meet full need (again, the vast majority) accept many students, give them an offer that doesn’t cover the full cost of attendance, and let the family decide if and how the family will figure out how to fill the gap.
That’s what people are trying to make sure you understand and why they are telling you that dad and mom need to get together right now with daughter to figure out what can be paid and how it will be paid.
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OP- nobody is assuming you are an idiot. The stuff is complicated for everyone- add in a divorce and it is complicated on steroids. Add in a situation where the traditional advice- find a cheaper school- doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
To answer your specific question- the two biggest factors on aid are assets and income- obviously. There are all sorts of “experts” out there happy to sell you single premium life insurance (take one asset- cash or a brokerage account) and convert it to a different asset (life insurance or a comparable annuity type product). That yields a nice commission to the person who sells you the product- but only in some cases will it move the needle on financial aid. Why? Because as posters here have pointed out, most schools don’t care about what you can “afford”- the aid is the aid is the aid, they will gap you (give you less money than you need) because they don’t have pockets deep enough to give you what you DO need. And in many other cases, you and your husband are already past the point of no return on aid- you earn too much- so reducing your assets for the sake of financial aid won’t net you much- if anything-- and then your stuck with a bum investment. If you have been maxxing out on your IRA/Roth/401K every year- great. Keep doing it. Colleges assume that those payments are “voluntary” and could be used for tuition- but what’s built up in the account is typically not considered.
Can you defer some of your earned income? Is part of your comp a bonus, and is your employer willing to push it out a year (and do you want to take the risk involved in that- company could have a bad year and bonuses get canceled, company could go bankrupt and then it’s up to a judge what gets paid out and what doesn’t). That might help you if the bonus is big and you can take the risk- but then you’re pushing the problem into the NEXT year, when the stepD is still in college. I know people who have stayed with their employer and converted to 1099 vs. an employee (W2) but that’s also a risky strategy. The IRS is leery (and imposes penalties on companies) of playing fast and loose with the definitions, and it’s not clear that becoming self employed and “writing everything off” actually yields more in aid since the formulas add some of the stuff back.
Other than that I’m flumoxxed as to what can be done at this point. I apologize if you think people are talking down to you- but we clearly don’t have all the information and with each of your posts we get a little more.
It would be logical to assume that the lower income parent, who is the custodial parent, means the kid gets more aid. That is not how the system works in most divorce cases which is what people are trying to help you get your head around.
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And also, it is really important to determine if the private school is a FAFSA-only school or if it uses the CSS Profile, as many (although certainly not most) private schools do. If it is a profile school, then they will be looking at both sets of parents’ financials from year 1.
It is also important to find out if the private school will stack the merit money for local students on top of any need-based aid, or if it is in place of a portion of the need-based aid for those who require it. Policies differ for different schools and that could make a real difference in your planning.
Also each college has to post a net price calculator on their webpage. You can go there and enter in different financial scenarios to see how the numbers play out
Reiterating what I posted above that the best solution may be for your step-daughter to find a major at the state school that she can embrace – or at the very least live with. It seems that would solve a lot of the problems, and since kids change their majors often once in school, maybe she can be induced to change her preference now?
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