Financial Aid Change in Circumstance advice?

<p>Hi. If possible, would someone read this and offer me any possible advice? . . . My daughter will be a freshman this year at UC Davis. This past year her father and I have separated after 23 years of marriage. It was nothing I ever expected. I was a stay-at-home mom the entire marriage and now, in this ecomony and my lack of experience, it is difficult finding a job. We sold our marital home and I was able to purchase a place of my own. I did not qualify for a mortage because of my unemployment, but was able to find a home and paid cash. When my daughter and I filed this year's FAFSA, the income tax info we provided was based solely on my husband's income. He earned too much for my daughter to qualify. However, I am the one who is helping her through school; as he is no longer reliable in his mid-life-crisis. Without a job, I do not qualify for any loans. We appealed to her financial aid office, however they believe I can be responsible for 20,000 towards her schooling because I have a bank account of 50,000. I am 50 years old, can't find a job, will lose my health insurance when the divorce is finale. I need that money to live, however, they seem to look at is as if I am not in a bind. My apologies in advance if this is not making sense. My question basically is what kind of loans should my daughter or myself look into?</p>

<p>If you separated during 2008 and are the custodial parent, it sounds as if you may not have filed the original FAFSA correctly. Did you follow these guidelines?</p>

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<p>If this was not filed correctly, I suggest correcting her FAFSA asap and contacting the FA office at her school. If she was verified already, they may have to exercise professional judgement to determine her correct EFC. No guarantee this will result in a higher FA award at this point in the year, unless she becomes eligible for federal grants, but it’s worth trying, imo.</p>

<p>[FinAid</a> | Professional Judgment | Divorce and Separation](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Divorce and Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>

<p>Is the $20K in loans above the Stafford loans she’s eligible for? Without a source of income, your best bet may be a Parent Plus loan which has a very minimal credit check.</p>

<p>I can really relate to your situation. I think you should make another appointment with the financial aid office and have a long talk with them. Or, have you already done that and explored communication to the fullest extent possible?</p>

<p>Your situation will not be easily described or grasped on paper, at least not this year. Your divorce, the sale of the house, the purchase of a house, your age and lack of employment or recent work experience, and so on, all would play a role. It really needs to be conveyed fully, in detail, to your child’s representative in the FA office.</p>

<p>Any school that asks that you pay $20,000, when your total assets (excluding the house) add up to $50,000, is not giving adequate aid for your situation. I would let them know that you truly cannot safely pay this, and let them know that your daughter may have to go somewhere else. Not as a threat, but as a fact.</p>

<p>Are you training for work, or going back to school? Do you have job prospects? Is their assessment of your ability to pay based on prospective employment? Maybe they have a job that you could have…</p>

<p>I vaguely know that college costs are not always included in child support, but is there any legal avenue to get funds from your ex-husband?</p>

<p>mykidsmom,
you should post on the FA forum. Lots of very smart people on there including a couple of FA officers.</p>

<p>You can only get a reliable answer by calling the UC-Davis finaid office and discussing with them your situation and options. Any opinion offered by posters here is, while well meaning, specualtion. Hopefully you will find a college official sympathetic with your daughter’s situation.</p>

<p>I would suggest that your daughter take a gap year (defer admittance), or start at community college, if this cannot be fixed. It would be dangerous for you to take on loans and debt without a way to pay them off. NEXT year, however, you will have almost no income when you file your FAFSA (and they don’t include home asset in the equation). Your daughter should qualify for lots of financial aid next year. JMHO!</p>

<p>If you were separated (even if not divorced) when you filed your FAFSA you should have filed as separated/divorced and ONLY included your income, and half of your joint assets (bank accounts).</p>

<p>post on FA forum and get advice from the FA folks over there.</p>

<p>Thank you all for taking the time to respond. I had met with the Aid Office in May and provided copies of my change of address, separation papers, etc. I believe my error lies in the FAFSA for providing our jointly filed taxes. My daughter and I will go to the Office today and re-explain the situtation. Many thanks again for your kind words and advice, I truly appreciate it.</p>

<p>I think you can amend your FAFSA form online and get a new efc. they should fix this on verification though.</p>

<p>Many {{{hugs}}} to you and your difficult situation.</p>

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<p>This is only true if the daughter resided with you primarily. If YOU (the mom) were the custodial parent meaning the daughter lived with you only greater than 1/2 of the time, AND you were already separated from the husband and he was living elsewhere…you would use your information only.</p>

<p>HOWEVER…if you had joint custody of the daughter and she lived equally with you and husband…FAFSA guidelines say the parent who contributed MOST of the support would file the FAFSA. AND if the daughter lived with her dad most of the time…his financial info would go on the forms.</p>

<p>Also…unanswered question…and a finaid officer WILL be curious about this…if you had NO income…how were your bills paid? Was someone paying bills on yours or your daughter’s behalf (that would be your costs for living expenses…they certainly are not free), those would also be factored into the financial aid equation.</p>

<p>I’m sorry I didn’t make myself clear, I receive monthly spousal support of $1100. to pay mine and my daughter’s bills.</p>