I am a single mom, I have 2 (9, 10) kids which I have sole physical and legal custody of. I recently got engaged to a man who has one child (11) he has custody of and another he pays child support for (10). He makes 85k a year, I make about 15-21K a year, combined we could make up to 106K a year. I am worried I will lose all my aid. I worry because as it is with 4 kids, we do are making it, but the additional burden of higher education might have us struggling. I just started the fall term, after this, I will be a sophomore, so I have more to go… help?
Are you concerned about losing the Pell Grant? Your income alone would seem to qualify you for a full Pell grant. With $100,000 in family income, I think you would no longer be eligible for the Pell if you marry.
Do you have other need based aid?
You’re right to be concerned.
Does the school use the FAFSA? You can run the numbers as a single person and as a married/combined household at the fafsa4caster and see how your EFC changes.
You will likely lose ALL of your aid once your new husband’s income is added in. Your EFC is probably 0 right now…it will likely rise to over $20k per year.
You need to WAIT to get married…wait until you’ve filed your LAST FAFSA for aid for your FINAL year.
And by then, your kids will be getting ready for college…and then they will also face this issue of a high EFC…even higher because you probably will be earning more.