Help me understand financial aid!

Paying for College
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Hi! I am currently a junior in high school and I am very confused about how exactly financial aid works. I am the oldest child and when my parents were going to college either financial aid wasn’t like today, they didnt bother applying, or their parents just did it for them. My parents at divorced and remarried, which makes things extra confusing. We make too much for significant financial aid but not enough to pay for as much as they expect us to. Including all step-siblings, siblings, and half-siblings at both houses I have 6 + one more half-sibling on the way, not including myself. No one but a millionaire could pay what they’re expecting us to pay for that many children. Still, I figured I’ll apply for financial aid since some schools actually did only put our EFC at ~$35k including room and board. That’s assuming I did it right and my parents are honest with how much money they have saved up, and I’m not sure either of those are true. Anyway, here are my main questions:

  1. How does FASFA calculate the EFC? I’ve heard a few different things so I’m confused. Is it biological mom + biological dad? Mom + stepdad OR dad + stepmom? Or mom + stepdad + dad + stepmom? I heard it’s the household of whoever gives the most “financial support.” If so, there is not a clear answer for me. They split custody 50/50. My dad does claim me on his taxes and his numbers would get me slightly more aid so can I just pick him?

  2. For colleges that use all parents and stepparents’ income, can I say that one stepparent is not contributing? Because that’s my situation that is messing it up. Stepdad makes 300k and that added to my dad’s income makes me get no aid, but my stepdad and my mom do not believe that he should have to contribute since he is not my father and my father is financially able to do so. I am assuming the answer is no, I cant do that

  3. When my sister enters college (my junior year) how much can I expect that to increase my aid package?

  4. Some NPC’s ask how much the noncustodial parent will contribute but also say they consider all parents/stepparents. Is running it once and inputting how much my mom can contribute accurate or do I still need to run it twice?

  5. Does merit aid and need based aid “stack?” For example, if one school says my EFC is 35k and I get a 10k scholarship does that just replace the subsidized loans and work study portion and then not change anything else unless the merit aid is more than the need based or would it be $45k total? At UVA for example (my dream school) our EFC with room and board and everything was 35k (IF i did it right) which is about $15-20k outside my price range. Would a $15k scholarship make that affordable or would it not change anything?

  6. extra more personal question:
    How do I get two divorced people and their current spouses to sit down and have a civil conversation about how much money they make, have saved up, and should/will pay?? Seems impossible. Maybe it is. I have a feeling they’ll be filling out the Fasfa while hiding their answers from each other like little kids passing secret notes.
    Thanks!!

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  1. How does FASFA calculate the EFC? I’ve heard a few different things so I’m confused. Is it biological mom + biological dad? Mom + stepdad OR dad + stepmom? Or mom + stepdad + dad + stepmom? I heard it’s the household of whoever gives the most “financial support.” If so, there is not a clear answer for me. They split custody 50/50. My dad does claim me on his taxes and his numbers would get me slightly more aid so can I just pick him?

for FAFSA, your custodial parent and their spouse are the ones listed. Starting next year, the custodial parent is the one who provides the most financial support…and this might not be the parent with whom you reside.

  1. For colleges that use all parents and stepparents’ income, can I say that one stepparent is not contributing? Because that’s my situation that is messing it up. Stepdad makes 300k and that added to my dad’s income makes me get no aid, but my stepdad and my mom do not believe that he should have to contribute since he is not my father and my father is financially able to do so. I am assuming the answer is no, I cant do that

you cannot just say that a step parent won’t be contributing. On the FAFSA, your custodial parent spouse’s income and assets will be required. No choice.

for schools using the CSS Profile, some require both custodial and non-custodial parent forms including ALL spouses. Again…you can’t just say someone isn’t contributing. And all this info is required.

remember, the contribution is a family contribution…and these married folks are now part of your family

  1. When my sister enters college (my junior year) how much can I expect that to increase my aid package?

starting the 2024-2025 academic year, there will be no discount on the FAFSA for having multiple siblings in college at the same time. No one knows what the Profile Schools will do. We also don’t know whether schools using the FAFSA only will do something different when awarding their institutional aid. So stay tuned.

  1. Some NPC’s ask how much the noncustodial parent will contribute but also say they consider all parents/stepparents. Is running it once and inputting how much my mom can contribute accurate or do I still need to run it twice?

I don’t understand your question. You need to do the net price calculator for each school…providing what that school asks you to provide. No changes.

  1. Does merit aid and need based aid “stack?” For example, if one school says my EFC is 35k and I get a 10k scholarship does that just replace the subsidized loans and work study portion and then not change anything else unless the merit aid is more than the need based or would it be $45k total? At UVA for example (my dream school) our EFC with room and board and everything was 35k (IF i did it right) which is about $15-20k outside my price range. Would a $15k scholarship make that affordable or would it not change anything?

some schools stack merit and need based aid and some don’t. Some schools stack outside scholarships with aid awarded by the colleges…and some don’t. You need to contact each college and ask this question

  1. extra more personal question:
    How do I get two divorced people and their current spouses to sit down and have a civil conversation about how much money they make, have saved up, and should/will pay?? Seems impossible. Maybe it is. I have a feeling they’ll be filling out the Fasfa while hiding their answers from each other like little kids passing secret notes.

first…the non-custodial parent and spouse will never see the FAFSA unless you share it.

second…for Profile schools requiring the non-custodial parent form, neither parent sees the other parent’s info or forms.

in terms of conversation…I would suggest you talk to each of your parents separately…not all at once. Keep it simple, and tell them you just want to know what, if any, financial support they can give you for collefe

And lastly…in complicated situations like this…you probably want to look at places where you can get very significant merit aid…which doesn’t require financial info from either parent.

@kelsmom can add…

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The above is correct. I will add that for divorced parents, the draft of the 2024-25 FAFSA defines the parent who must provide information in the FAFSA as follows: “If the parents are divorced or separated, answer the questions about the parent who provides the greater portion of the student’s financial support, even if the student does not live with them. If this parent is remarried as of today, answer the questions about that parent and the stepparent.”

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Okay. So Fasfa would just be my dad and stepmom? That’s actually really good news. How do they determine most financial support? Or do I choose? My dad pays child support and claims me on his taxes. My mom pays for my car insurance but my dad bought the car. I’m in public school now but when I was in private school my dad did pay for it. However, my mom pays for most little things and had 60% of the time custody until 2 years ago. Now it’s 50/50. My dad has 1, will be 2 more children than my mom and my stepmom doesn’t work while my mom makes ~30k. My dad and stepdad make about the same so if I can just do my dad’s household that’s great

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Your explanation of your current situation sounds like your dad is your FAFSA parent, and your stepmom’s income & assets would be included.

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You say your dad and step dad make about the same income? $300,000 a year?

Are you expecting to receive need based aid when your custodial parent earns $300,000 a year?

You wrote this:

My dad and stepdad make about the same so if I can just do my dad’s household that’s great

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I didnt expect to at all. When I put in all of his stuff I still got some aid. Not a lot and not everywhere, but some places yes. I’m pretty sure it’s all of the siblings because out of curiosity I ran it without all the siblings for a school that said our efc was like 40 and it changed it to 70-80 (full pay) without all the other kids. My dad also has very little money in savings. I do have a college fund with 36ish thousand. Brown, for example said no aid while UVA and a few others said 35-40k.

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Number in the household will be him, stepmom and the dependents on his tax return (new rule for 2024-25).

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It sounds like I wouldn’t need financial aid but because of all my siblings I do. And my dad complains about having no leftover money all the time. No clue where some of it goes. He also does not understand how much college costs. For example he said my college fund (36 total) will cover a nice dorm and meal plan if I get my tuition covered. I’ve looked at the living expenses and 9k/year is maybe a basic dorm at most places, no fees or meal plans or books. He said he won’t contribute in addition to my college fund. Also said he’d cover living expenses if I got my tuition paid for though? I’m trying to let him know how much college costs. My neighbor got a full tuition scholarship to Tulane and still had 18k/year in living expenses/books/fees so I’m hoping hearing about that helped. Either way, not expecting over 10-15 (maaaaybe) from him including college fund per year even though his salary is high. He knows I’m smart and could get a full ride to my state school so he doesn’t want to pay for a different school, which I understand especially given all my siblings. I’m not mad about it, but because of it if I can possibly get aid I’m going to try. He also has really crappy health insurance because private insurance is really expensive and my baby brother’s C-section birth and brief NICU stay racked up some medical bills. Some NPC’s asked about medical bills and since my stepmom is pregnant again and will have given birth within 12 months of applying for financial aid I assumed our medical bills would be the same. So maybe that helped?

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Did you say those siblings were going to be in college at the same time as you. As noted…the siblings that will be listed on your FAFSA will be your custodial parent and those he declares on his tax return.

And for Profile schools…everyone counts!

From the UVA website:

Only the custodial parent’s information needs to be included on the FAFSA. The Profile is requested of both the custodial and non-custodial parents, if both are living.

So you would need to submit the income and assets of both your custodial parent and spouse, and non-custodial parent and spouse. If your dad and step dad each earn $300,000…that’s a $600,000 total. You would need dozens of kids in your family to qualify for need based aid. I think you did something wrong on that net price calculator.

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I hope you plan to apply for this…and any other very generous merit awards out there.

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He can only use bills that were actually paid. So his deductible and copay…and that’s it. How much is that?

Are you expecting that the second baby will also be in the NICU?

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Good for you for trying to figure this all out now.

I suggest you also look for schools that give merit aid for your stats. You’ll still (most likely) have to fill out FAFSA or whatever forms that school requires, but at least you won’t have to worry so much about a change in assets or income, or one of your parents suddenly remembers an IRA inherited from a grandparent or partial ownership in a family cabin or beach house. You don’t really know what your stepmother’s financials look like until she fills out the forms.

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Just to be clear on this OP, you won’t get any need based aid from CSS Profile schools because all 3 working parents, with income of $600K+ will have to be reported on CSS Profile. So if you are running NPCs at schools that require CSS Profile (check each school’s website) make sure you are including income from bio dad, step dad, and the $30K bio mom earns. You also report all assets for both families.

What this means is that you are likely going to be merit hunting…applying to schools where you can get significant merit aid and/or have a relatively low COA to start with. So CSS Profile schools that don’t give merit will be off the list because you will be full pay at those. Schools where you can get significant merit aid will be those that offer merit, and where your stats are, at a minimum, in the top 25% of that schools’ typical applicants.

If you want to share your stats/profile with us we can help you build a college list…it might be best to start a new thread for that. Any chance you are a national merit semifinalist based on last fall’s PSAT test?

Your step one is to get an annual budget for college from your two bio parents.

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My error was thinking I could just run it once because it asks how much the other parent is contributing as a question. Oops.

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Running the net price calculator twice (once for each “family unit”) and adding them together is NOT going to give you accurate results. At all.

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Not sure about the nicu my mom and I just guessed a rough number of how much we think their medical bills were. Their health insurance has a really high deductible so most of it was out of pocket. It’s basically just in case someone gets cancer or a sup girl bad car wreck with a bunch of injuries or something

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Good for you for thinking about this now. As noted above, you’ll want to concentrate your search on schools where you can get significant merit. If you can find a school or two with guaranteed merit, you can add in some where you have a very good chance of getting significant merit. It’s very important to find that school or two where you would get guaranteed merit, in case the scholarships at other schools don’t come through in the amount you need. There’s a lot of great information on CC - happy hunting.

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What am I supposed to do then? That’s what the websites say to do. They say run it for each family unit and add the EFC’s together.

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I actually have already done a thread on here for merit aid, thanks tho!