HELP!!! CSS/DP Forms = Nasty Problem!

Paying for College
1

<p>First off here is my situation...My parents are divorced and have been since I was 3 years old. My mother has sole-physical custody over me, so I live with her 95% of the time. My mother makes 15-20K (maybe less--won't tell me yet, but I have to find out soon so I can narrow down my choices even more, but the most she makes has to be a max of 20K). My mother has not remarried and has been employed off and on--mostly off--throughout my lifetime. She also has no savings, and will not be able to pay for any of my college expenses.</p>

<p>My father, on the other hand, is quite the opposite of my mother. His annual income is in the (lower) hundred thousands. He has remarried, and my stepmother's annual income is a little less than 100K. They both have a tremendous amount of savings. I will also not be receiving any money from my father due to my not growing up with him, thus not knowing me very well...bottomline, no money from him for college. :(</p>

<p>My father pays child support, but I don't really see it because my mother uses it to pay her living expenses due to her unemployment and only pays some of my living expenses. I have been living with my mother for all of my life, and yes the situation does bog me down, gets pretty frustrating, and many times affects my academic performance, I always have looked forward to the day college started because I knew I would be "rewarded" for my family situation with a nice financial aid package.</p>

<p>As you might've concluded by reading this, my problem deals with CSS and Divorced Parent forms.</p>

<p>If I only had to deal with the FAFSA, I know that I would get a tremendous amount of fin aid because of my mom's statistics. And then I would be happy and go on my merry way.</p>

<p>But now I have to deal with the CSS/DP forms. </p>

<p>Half of the schools that I would like to apply to (Syracuse, Tufts, Tulane, Washington & Lee, Hamilton, Babson, Bates, BU) all require that I complete the CSS and DP, while another school (William & Mary) only requires the CSS. These schools are my top schools and it would be devastating to not even be able to seriously give them a chance.</p>

<p>I barely see my father, relatively speaking. While he does pay child support, I barely see that additional income in my life (due to my mother's irresponsibility and hoarding).</p>

<p>Now, since it seems that I will have to include the CSS and DP forms, I will not receive any fin aid money from the gov't and the school I will attend because it will look like because the sum of all my father/mother/stepmother's incomes is so high, that I won't need fin aid.</p>

<p>So it looks like unless an unforeseen miracle occurs between now and the dates of the early actions and regular decisions at those colleges, I will not be able to attend (even if I get accepted) at any of the schools mentioned above due to the tremendous costs of those academic institutions.</p>

<p>So (FINALLY!) here are my questions:
1) At the schools listed above, is there anyway get around sending them those forms because of my circumstances, either by talking to an admissions officer or another school official and explaining my situation?
2) If there is no way for me to get around the CSS and DP, I guess I will have to apply to schools that only mandate the FAFSA, and not the CSS and DP; any schools--with any degrees of size/academics/selectivity similarity to the schools I listed above--that only require the FAFSA that you think I should look into? (Any schools you can think of would be welcome, but I really would like to go to a school is somewhat academicathat has less than 15K ugrad population, with decent business and spanish/hebrew depts, and a focus in being a global citizen)
3) Any personal instances of this same problem occuring to you and what you did or what the final outcome was?
4) Any other suggestions?</p>

<p>Thank you very much. The CC crowd has been incredibly helpful over the past couple of years, and I really appreciate it!</p>

2

<p>I have no knowledge of the CSS forms and stuff like that. Could you not call the CSS "people" and explain your situation? That is all I know, whcih is not much.</p>

<p>But, I do know that there are a lot of fair priced Universities where I live in the South which have what you are wanting academically. Depending on where you live, and if it would not make your mother sad, look up some of the Public Universities in the south because they really have what you would like academically for 10k until you are deemed a resident and then 6k when you are a resident (and do not have to worry about out of state tuition). But they are fairly big Universities. </p>

<p>Are you still in contact with your old guidance counselor? Or do you live near a big library where you can research some other schools, like if you have to?</p>

3

<p>I am really sorry to hear that you are pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place through no fault of your own.</p>

<p>
[quote]
1) At the schools listed above, is there anyway get around sending them those forms because of my circumstances, either by talking to an admissions officer or another school official and explaining my situation?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No, the only way your will be able to "get around" it is to attend a college that only requires the FAFSA which means most of the colleges on your list now come off. </p>

<p>Colleges operate on the premise that parents are the first payers of their child's college expenses regardless of marital status. At some schools, if one of the natural parents have remarried they will take into consideration the income and assets of the steparent in determining the EFC. </p>

<p>Your father makes over $100,000/ a year, your stepmother makes close to 100K, and your mother works. Between the 3 of them there is more thatn $200 income. The school expects at minimum, your parents to work it out and pay for your education. FA is not based on what they want to pay, but what the college deems that they can afford to pay based on their income and assets. No school is really going want to hear a woe is me tale.</p>

<p>IF your father is not going to provide you with any support for college, then you will have to look for schools that only take the FAFSA or schools where you can possibly get merit money. Keep in mind that even with schools that accept the FAFSA, some have their own institutional & non-custodial parent forms that need to be filled out.</p>

4

<p>Fill out the CSS. There is a portion on there that allows you to explain special circumstances. Explain your special circumstances. A financial advisor will be understanding and try to help you (if you get accepted of course).</p>

5

<p>Sybbie is correct. Yes, there is a "special circumstances" section on the Profile. Special circumstances include things like loss of employment, unanticipated and high medical expenses...things like that. Special circumstances would NOT include a divorced parent who pays child support (thus having some kind of support and contact with the child's family) who does not want to pay the bill. If it were that easy to do special circumstances, EVERYONE with divorced parents would fill that section out so that only one income would be "counted" in the finaid formula. Clearly that is not the case. The good news is that there are quite a few very very good schools that are FAFSA only schools...where you only have to put the income of your custodial parent. You will need to check for institutional forms (as Sybbie stated). You don't post your stats, but I do know that on your list, Tulane gives decent merit aid to students it really wants to recruit. I do now know whether need is considered in their awarding of merit aid. Babson also has merit aid, but I do not know how competitive it is. BU does not meet full need. Ditto Syracuse. You don't mention where you are an instate student. What are your state universities like?</p>

6

<p>You said that your mom isn't very forthcoming with info. Have you asked her about college and the support decree? Is there any possibility that your father was ordered to pay for college as part of the divorce decree? If her lawyer was thinking ahead, it should be in there. If not, maybe someone out there knows if it is possible for you to petition the court to get your dad to pay for some or all of it.</p>

7

<p>Tjmom is correct that OP should have a sitdown with his/her mother as the divorce decree may have a stipulation for the father to apy X amount of dollars toward the college tuition. Most of the times the stipulations are for the cost of attending an instate school not a school that costs $40,000+. </p>

<p>The down side to having a college support order in place is that even with schools that accept the profile, Dad will still have to supply his finanical aid info because FA is not given based on what is on the divorce decree but by the demonstrated need based on the income & assets of both parents.</p>

<p>Depending on where you live (I know you can do it in NYS) your mom may be able to go back to the court and request an upward modification due to a change in cirumstances (student now going to college) where once again the judge/hearing examiner will evaluate the income/assets of both parties.</p>

8

<p>Just a couple of observations:
1. Don't be too hard on your mother. If she has been intermittantly employed, and when working makes only 15-20K, you can rest assured that support payments ARE going to support you if there is a roof over your head, food on the table, clean clothes on your back and transportation available. Those are almost impossible to provide on her salary alone. Those are traditional and appropriate uses for child support, and can cost a lot more than you think.
2. Have you actually talked to your dad about this recently, or are you relying on what your mom says or a discussion that happened a long time ago? He may wrongly assume if he refuses to pay that financial aid will make up the difference. Make sure he understands the implications of his decision.
3. tjmom makes good suggestions. Some support agreements end at 18 and others continue until 21 or graduation from college. Many cover college expenses. In some states (like NJ) courts have routinely held that a college degree (and hence college expenses) should be part of the support obligation, and you or your mother could seek to compel your father to contribute. But also be aware that the court may use the cost of attending your state university to determine what constitutes a reasonable contribution. It will require lawyers, but may be worth a call to legal aid to find out if they can help--they do a lot of support work.
4. If all else fails, remember that you still have plenty options, though they may be more limited than you would like. If you're not able to financially swing your dream schools, join the crowd! And concentrate on finding good choices that are finanicially realistic given your situation.</p>

9

<p>This is a very complicated issue. I agree that you need to sit down with your parent(s) and discuss the financial aid situation. There may be things about your family finances that you do not know. For example...your child support could be very large with the anticipation that some of it was to be saved for college. Your father, while not contributing to the family, could have given the home, or significant alimony or some other financial settlement to your family. Please look into some other colleges as well. I cannot advise you on schools with hebrew/spanish programs, but someone else may be able to do so. I agree with others...in many cases with divorces, if the income of the parent paying child support substantially increases, the other parent can go back to court. The downside, however, is that in many places child support ends when the child reaches age 18 unless otherwise specified in the divorce decree. Please continue your college search with an eye on FAFSA only schools. But keep in mind also, that even at THOSE schools, you may not get a "free ride".</p>

10

<p>MAYBE YOU CAN FILL OUT A NON-CUSTODIAL WAIVER FORM.</p>

<p>How is Eligibility Determined when the Parents are not married to Each Other?
It is Emerson College policy to expect information and financial support from both biological/adoptive parents of students applying for financial assistance. The custodial parent is required to provide income, asset, and other information on the FAFSA. The non-custodial parent is expected to provide information on the Noncustodial Parent Statement. If either parent has re-married, the stepparent's information must be included.</p>

<p>What Criteria is used to Determine, which Parent is Custodial vs. Noncustodial?
The custodial parent, as defined by federal financial aid regulation and Emerson College policy, is the biological/adoptive parent with whom the student lived more during the 12 months prior to applying for aid. If the student lived with neither parent during the prior 12 months, or lived equally with each parent, the custodial parent is the parent from whom the student received more financial support during the past 12 months or during the most recent year the student received support from a parent. In determining custodial parent status, it does not matter which parent claims the student as an exemption for tax purposes.</p>

<p>What is the Noncustodial Parent Statement?
The Non-Custodial Parent's Statement is a form which noncustodial parents of financial assistance applicants report their income, asset, and other information. If a student's biological/adoptive parents are divorced, separated or were never married to each other, the Noncustodial Parent Statement is required for consideration of Emerson College institutional financial assistance. Emerson College will not release, electronically or otherwise, the income and asset information of divorced/separated parents to the other parent.</p>

<p>What if my Noncustodial Parent is Reluctant to Provide the Necessary Information?
Sometimes noncustodial parents are reluctant to provide information initially. We are happy to speak directly with them and often find that we can resolve their concerns. Providing information does not necessarily mean that a noncustodial contribution will be expected. But, his/her refusal to provide information or financial support will not, on its own, constitute sufficient justification for a waiver of this requirement and could result in decreasing the student's eligibility for financial assistance.</p>

<p>If the student's noncustodial parent refuses to submit the information and the student does not qualify for a waiver, Emerson will assume that the noncustodial parent will contribute at least 50% of the total cost of Emerson in that given year. Additionally this may cause a delay in processing your financial aid application.</p>

<p>What if it is Impossible to Provide a Completed Noncustodial Parent Statement?
We recognize that extenuating circumstances in individual cases may make it impossible to obtain information and/or support. If the noncustodial parent's whereabouts are unknown, if there is an established history of non-support, or if there are certain other extenuating circumstances, we may exempt the student from the Noncustodial Parent Statement requirement.</p>

<p>To request a waiver because you believe it is impossible to provide a Noncustodial Parent Statement, send the following to: Emerson College, Office of Student Financial Services, 120 Boylston Street, Boston Massachusetts 02116.</p>

<p>Submit a letter explaining exactly why it is impossible for you to provide the Noncustodial Parent Statement. Include a description of the history and current status of your relationship with your noncustodial parent, the history and frequency of any contact you have had with that parent, and a history of any financial support provided for you by that parent.
Attach any supporting documentation, such as legal/court documents or 2 letters from any of the following sources: a letter from an attorney, member of the clergy, therapist, teacher, guidance counselor, or other non-family member who is familiar with your circumstances and in a position to confirm your explanation of the situation.
If requesting a waiver please follow these instructions diligently; simply writing on the Noncustodial Parent Statement that the whereabouts of the noncustodial parent are unknown is not sufficient to be considered as a waiver request. Your complete request must be received prior to our published deadlines to receive priority consideration for financial assistance.</p>

<p>Emerson College reserves the right to request any additional information needed to make a final decision on a waiver request. Decisions on waiver requests are made at the sole discretion of the Office of Student Financial Services.</p>

<p>Students will be notified of the outcome of waiver decisions in writing.</p>

<p>What if my noncustodial parent submits the Noncustodial Parent Statement after the published deadline?What if I submit my noncustodial parent waiver request after the published deadline?
If we do not have the Noncustodial Parent Statement or a complete waiver request by our published deadlines we will assume that the noncustodial parent will contribute at least 50% of the total cost of Emerson. We will look at information submitted after the deadline but there is no guarantee that your award will change. We will revise awards on a funds available basis if the Noncustodial Parent Statement or a waiver request is submitted after our published deadlines and change in the expected contribution is warranted.</p>

<p>What if the Separation/Divorce is very recent and occurred after the Aid Application is filed?
Additional documentation will be required if the parents become separated or divorced after filing financial assistance applications. Documents required may include:</p>

<p>Copy of the Separation Agreement (if available)
Copy of Final Divorce Decree
Noncustodial Parent's Statement
Noncustodial Parent Federal Tax Returns (if applicable)
Income verification (including child support and/or alimony)
Documentation to determine household size/number in college
Documentation to determine parent's assets
Other additional documentation
If neither a Separation Agreement nor Divorce Decree is available, a letter explaining the relevant details may be sufficient. For federal aid purposes, there need not be a "legal separation"; the student's parents may be considered separated when one of the parents has left the household for an indefinite period of time and no longer makes a substantial contribution to the finances of that household. However, if parents still live in the same household, they are not considered separated and information for both parents must be reported. Also, when one parent resides outside the household for employment purposes only, the parents would not be considered separated.</p>

<p>What if my Parents or I have Questions?
For questions about any aspect of the financial assistance application process, contact the Office Student Financial Services at 617-824-8655 or by e-mail at <a href="mailto:finaid@emerson.edu">finaid@emerson.edu</a>. Please include your name and Emerson College ID number in any e-mail communication. When a divorced or separated parent contacts us on a student's behalf, we ask for clarification regarding their status as either the custodial or noncustodial parent, so we can ensure the confidentiality of each party's personal information.</p>

11

<p>In this case, there is support, so there will not be a case for a NCP waiver. I also suggest you sit down with Dad and stepmother and talk about your desire to attend college. Don't demand and don't talk about $40K schools initially. Just talk about your desire to get a good education. You might also discuss having a relationship with your father in the future. See what he says and if he offers any support. Many NC parents feel astranged from their kids due to pressures from the custodial parent. Now that you are an adult (or will be soon), that might change.</p>

12

<p>he's going to be 18. So no more child support.No?</p>

13

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<p>This is for situations where the student has not received support from the non-custodial parent and has not had any contact with the student. The OP receives (or received) child support. There is no history of non-payment. If child support ends at age 18, this simply means that the parent has fulfilled their obligation to pay it...it would not mean that there is a history of nonpayment. There has been recent contact (if only by sending checks) with this OP and family. The NCP waiver is for situations where the student has had NO CONTACT with the parent. It is not for situations where the non-custodial parent has been paying support payments, but does not agree to fill out forms or contribute to the college education of their child. Simply put...if it were that easy....there would be a LOT of families opting to divorce when their kids were in 11th grade, with the parent with the least income (or no income) being declared the custodial parent. Then the non-custodial parent would just say "no..I'm not completing the forms and I'm not paying your bills for college." Clearly that is not the way the finaid system works. </p>

<p>But...there are a LOT of FAFSA only schools out there that provide very very fine college educations. Most of these do NOT ask for any information from the non-custodial parent. And your instate flagship university, while not your first choice, might be a way to go. Others in similar financial situations go to community college for two years and work part time...and save money. Then they transfer elsewhere. Check out York College in Pennsylvania. It is inexpensive for a private school, and offers decent financial aid as well. I do not believe they have a hebrew program. Not knowing your criteria for a college (other than major) it is difficult to help you much...If you have SAT scores in the 1300 range for CR and Math, and are in the top 10-15% of your class, you might want to look into Muhlenberg.</p>

14

<p>Oh and since you're looking at Tulane...look at U of South Carolina. They offer terrific aid for students OOS with decent stats. DD got a McKissick Scholarship there...her total cost of attendance would have been about $13,000 per year. A 1300 SAT and high class rank would put you in the running for this. South Carolina is a large school, but it is a jewel. DD decided not to go there, but we still think it was a mighty fine place.</p>