<p>HI,
I am remarried and my daughter from my first marriage lives with me and my husband. My exhusband, her biological father, has claimed her on his taxes for the last 6 years.
When we file the FAFSA and (other forms)... Whose salaries do we need to put?
Any info would be appreciated.
She's considering Fordham(RH) and Penn State any info specific to these colleges?</p>
<p>Thank you.
DeeGee</p>
<p>You put your and your H’s incomes and assets because she lives with you. It doesn’t matter who claims on taxes.</p>
<p>* She’s considering Fordham(RH) and Penn State any info specific to these colleges?</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Neither school is known for giving great need-based aid. </p>
<p>Is your D a NMF? If so, then Fordham gives a good merit scholarship for that.</p>
<p>Are you instate for PSU? If not, which state are you in?</p>
<p>Do you know what your likely EFC will be? If not, have you run any calculators?<br>
You might try this one for a quick rough estimate… [FinAid</a> | Calculators | QuickEFC](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Quick EFC - Finaid)</p>
<p>do you know how much you can contribute each year?</p>
<p>*She lives with me and my husband who make about 200,000 annually combined. *</p>
<p>Ok…your income is too high for any need based aid. All your D would be offered is a $5500 student loan.</p>
<p>Your D is a junior. That’s good. If you can’t afford to pay “full freight” at her college choice, then you’ll need another strategy.</p>
<p>how much can you pay each year?</p>
<p>What are her stats?</p>
<p>I know that this can be shocking (and may be disappointing to your D), but it’s good to find this out all now…too many find out waaaay too late.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! We live in NYC, so obviously, we are not In-State for Penn. 
As she is only a junior, we have not run any calculations as of yet. Should we be? Also, is it better to wait until aid forms are completed before changing the title of property from my mom’s name to my mine or leave as is- or is this a consideration at all? What if my husband’s primary residence is PA? I know this is all a bit complicated, but really, whom over the age of 40 can say their lives are not? hahaha Thanks for any and all help!</p>
<p>Your income is too high for aid.</p>
<p>With an income of $200k (and no savings), your EFC will be about…$50,000. </p>
<p>It will be higher if you any unprotected savings/stocks/assets.</p>
<p>PSU doesn’t give aid to OOS students…they really don’t give aid to instate students either (except those with low incomes who get fed/state aid…which you won’t qualify for).</p>
<p>At PSU, you would be expected to pay the full COA…about $40k
PSU only gives merit scholarships to Shreyers honors students…but only about $4500 dollar. Yuck!</p>
<p>At Fordham, you would be expected to pay the full COA…about $50k…unless your D has high stats or is a NMF and gets a merit scholarship.</p>
<p>You need to determine how much you can spend, tell your D how much, and tell her that she needs to work with that budget. She can either spend that much…or apply to schools that will give her merit scholarships to supplement what you can spend.</p>
<p>Your D and you live in NYC…that is where she has residency.</p>
<p>What’s the story with your mom’s house? do you own it?</p>
<p>Do you and your H own TWO homes…yours and his? If so, that other home is an asset.</p>
<p>Yes…it is NOT too early to run calculators…you need to do this now. However, it already looks like you won’t qualify for aid.</p>
<p>If your DD went to school in NYC, I dont think you can claim PA residency for her. If she goes to boarding school, and she spends most holidays with you and your DH in PA, not so clear to me (although others might disagree). Yes, lives get complicated.</p>
<p>Is her dad contributing? My understanding is that NYS Courts will order NCP to pay tutition, at least part.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Good question. </p>
<p>And…If the dad has to pay child support or something until age 21, then that money gets listed as well.</p>
<p>It sounds like the family is living in NYC, but the OP’s second husband still owns a home in PA that he may use for some purpose (maybe to live in while working during the week). However, that is not the child’s home…nor the custodial parent’s home.</p>
<p>I think this family needs to prepare for the likelihood that the child isn’t going to qualify for any need-based aid. so, their options are…</p>
<p>1) commute to a school like Fordham to avoid room and board costs…but still pay about $36k per year for tuition and books.</p>
<p>2) go to a SUNY which has a COA of under $20k</p>
<p>3) find schools that will give assured scholarships for stats.</p>
<p>4) find schools that give competitive scholarships for stats (these aren’t quaranteed).</p>
<p>The situation will worsen if the student applies to any schools that require the info from all parents …CPs/spouses…and NCP/spouses.</p>
<p>OMG- What a wealth of info-though NOT the info I was hoping to hear. 
Thank you so much for your time, advice and help.</p>
<p>deegee, you should probably run the EFC calculators on College Board’s website as that will give you a better idea of what your EFC is likely to be for both FAFSA and Profile schools (without the NCP data, at least). Your D derives residency from her custodial parent in most cases, although there are some states such as KY that will grant instate tuition if either parent is a resident. I don’t think PA is one of them, but you could search PSU’s site for residency info if your H or her dad is a bona fide resident of PA.</p>
<p>If you’re just beginning that FA learning process, I recommend the book “Paying for College Without Going Broke” and finaid.org as excellent places to begin (other than this forum, of course:) ).</p>