Financial Aid / Marriage Situation

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>Hi everyone!
I've been looking over the threads in this USC forum, and haven't found anyone asking about my particular situation. So I apologize if someone has already posted about this and I missed it.</p>

<p>My situation:
I recently got married, about two weeks ago. I'm twenty and just transferred to USC, and my wife is twenty-one and is currently attending SMC (I know we are young, but we come from conservative families :). </p>

<p>I am going part-time at USC for the first year (16 units total), and then full-time for 1.5 years after that (48 units total), thus accomplishing my 64 units in 2.5 years.</p>

<p>After getting married, I realized there are some practicalities regarding marriage and financial aid that I would like to learn more about. For the 2010-11 academic year, my father's income had to be reported on the FAFSA because I was dependent until just recently. This means that my first year at USC has an incredibly high EFC, and my father is not supporting me. Thus I am taking part-time coursework this first year to cut down on tuition costs, and also working during this time to pay off my tuition without loans. Which is all good, I think I can manage it.</p>

<p>However, for the 2011-12 academic year, I will be considered independent on the FAFSA because I am now married. Since my spouse and I have combined income / assets that are MUCH lower than my parents', the EFC will undoubtedly lower considerably, thus increasing my financial aid. </p>

<p>Yet USC also uses the CSS Profile to determine aid, which I am less familiar with. So my main questions are:</p>

<p>-Do I still have to put parental info on the CSS Profile, even if I am married and independent?</p>

<p>-If so, will USC base all there aid calculations on my parents' income still, even if the FAFSA EFC is super low? Will I be eligible for federal grants, but not USC grants?</p>

<p>-Will USC recognize my independent status if I transfered there initially as a dependent student? I have heard that some schools do not consider you an independent for the entirety of your undergraduate years, if you were dependent in the first place...</p>

<p>-Does the Financial Aid Office have any kind of rule that goes something along the lines of: "If you already gave us your parents' income information, then we will continue to use that as our basis of aid, regardless of independent status." I like to call that the "F**K YOU!" clause.</p>

<p>I'm afraid that USC might just ignore my recent independent status for next year, since I have already given them extensive information about my fathers' income, assets, tax forms, and other stuff that they requested back in May when they were calculating aid for the 2010-11 year. What do you think?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for any help and advice you can provide! It is REALLY REALLY appreciated! My wife and I are bit alone on this one, and we could totally use your advice / suggestions.</p>

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<p>As you mention, *your aid for this year *was figured on last year’s financial information and will be unchanged by a mid-year marriage. </p>

<p>

No, if you are able to answer “No” to the questions to establish independance, parental information will not be included on your FAFSA or CSS/Profile for 2011-2012. However, *there are circumstances *where after receiving the FAFSA and CSS/Profile USC will request your parental info. This most often happens when it is clear that you and your spouse’s income is not sufficient to cover your expenses or that you are living with family members. In both cases it is apparent that you are receiving outside financial support and are not financially independent, despite being married. In those cases your parental information may be requested.

USC will base the calculations on you and your spouse’s income and assets. Your EFC may not be as low as you expect, because for very young people they expect a MUCH higher % of income and assets in available for your education. If they determine you are receiving family support in addition to your income, that will be considered a resource and added at 100% to your EFC.

I do not think this will be a problem, but call the USC financial aid office to inquire. The phone number is on page 1 of the Financial Aid FAQ thread.

I almost did not respond to this post because of the highlighted item… As I said above, if you and your spouse have sufficient income that it is clear you can support yourselves without parental help and without living with family members (which is considered financial support), they will not request parental information. If it is clear you and your spouse ARE receiving help from family, USC will request information about that.</p>

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<p>Thank you very much, this information is very helpful! My wife and I are paying for our room / board costs through what we make working part-time this entire past year. We also have savings to help alleviate living costs for the spring, as tuition will become somewhat burdensome for me. I hope all the information I submit on the FAFSA and PROFILE reflect this independence correctly! I don’t want to mess it up somehow, because I am pretty new to the financial aid system. I’m unfamiliar with what makes me “look” financially independent, I just know that I am. So I just have to make sure I fill it out properly, and hope that all the information looks right to them.</p>

<p>Is there anything you know of that I should NOT do with our savings and funds that would make us appear dependent, even though we are independent? I just want to be cautious, and know the boundaries. For instance, I probably shouldn’t open a CD at the bank, or spend all of my savings on fall tuition so that it looks like I have no money in the spring when I apply for aid, etc etc. I’m just unsure.</p>

<p>Thank you very much for you help! We really appreciate it.</p>

4

<p>I would suggest picking up the book *“Paying for College Without Going Broke” *from the Princeton Review series (as much as I recommend this book, you would think I would get a commission!). The 2011 edition will be released October 19th - you can pre-order now (Amazon, Borders…) so you don’t forget. There are sections for independent students, short-term suggestions to maximize aid, and line-by-line instructions for both the FAFSA and CSS/Profile. Wait to pick up the 2011 edition - it will have all the latest info - a lot of stuff changed this year.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Oh nice! I actually saw your recommendation of that book on one of the other threads, and bought it a little while ago. Its the 2010-11 version, but I haven’t read too much of it yet. I’m definitely going to use the line-by-line instructions, I’m sure they are very helpful! I will be sure to pick up the latest version when its released. Thanks!</p>