How does child support affect financial aid?

Paying for College
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<p>Well, it turns out that my dad is contributing gifts to my mother, of $1500 a month (not $1200 a month). So my dad isn’t legally bound to pay my mom, but it’s kind of like a responsibility, because my dad makes about $66,000 a year and my mom makes $17000 a year, and my mom has to pay for things like food for my brother and me (when I’m not in college) and fixing the house. </p>

<p>In the financial aid forms, we put the money my dad contributes as child support and alimony, because we didn’t know how else to put it down. But we don’t want to send the message that my dad doesn’t pay anything to my mom. My mom needs the money.</p>

<p>A while back, I resubmitted my financial aid forms to Swarthmore. Now, it’s weird, because in the original aid form we said that my dad paid $14,400 in child support on the CSS Profile, but on the Non-custodial form, we put down $5,000 in child support and $9400 in alimony (5000 + 9400 = 14400). That’s a contradiction. So we changed the form by changing the number on the CSS Profile from $14,400 to $5,000, expected no real change in financial aid, because it now matches the Non-custodial Parent profile.</p>

<p>But it turns out that now, we’re expected to pay more!!!
And I just don’t understand that.
Here’s what the revised letter said:
“This revision considers the corrected 2008 child support information reported in your recent letter–that your mother actually received just $5,000 not $14,400 and that your father actually paid just $5,000 not $14,400 in 2008. This corrected information about the flow of child support from your father to your mother resulted in this corrected decision.”</p>

<p>Now, we’re expected to pay $2,500 more this year! And I just don’t know why, because we really didn’t change the information – we just changed the forms to match what was on the Non-custodial parent statement. My dad does indeed pay $14,400 a year (actually it’s more like $18,000), and approximately $5000 goes just to me and the rest is used for maintenance and just helping my mom get by. It’s not that my dad just pays $5000 to my mom each year–it’s more like $18,000.</p>

<p>So I’m quite worried now. I don’t know why we have to pay more due to that small change (which wasn’t really a change at all!), and I also don’t know what we’re going to do about reporting my dad’s “gifts” – will the College even factor that in? </p>

<p>And since my dad is really making gifts, then another question I have is, what’s the difference, financially, between being married and being separated? </p>

<p>I’m just confused now, and stressed by the increased bill, and I don’t know what to do. It seems that the College is totally misunderstanding my parents’ situation. And it just seems disappointing to me that, since Swarthmore is known as a school with great financial aid, we have to pay so much. Also, I should say that my dad will be retiring next year. How will that play in to my financial aid? Can anyone help?</p>

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<p>The school looked at everything you provided & made a decision based on that information. It is possible that the increase was the result of more than just the child support. There may have been other changes made at the same time that resulted in the increase. Profile schools do not follow a set formula the way FAFSA schools do (and even FAFSA schools vary in their interpretation of the rules). The best way to find out what happened is to call & ask. I suspect a school like Swarthmore will be upfront about the changes made.</p>

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<p>So, what do we do about reporting child support, and what is the financial difference between being married and being separated?</p>

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<p>My guess is that your mom’s total income was never an issue as it was low even with the $14K of extra support. But you have now effectively increased your Dad’s available income by almost $10K by removing the part you previously classified as alimony. That $10K increase resulted in the usual 25% increase to your Profile EFC. That’s why some of us were trying to tell you to classify it as one or the other on all forms consistently, not remove it from the equation altogether (as treating it as a gift would do). I think kelsmom probably had the correct answer when she told you to report the $9400 as untaxed alimony to your mom.</p>

<p>By removing the $9400 from your mom’s income did you qualify for additional federal/state grant money to offset the lower institutional aid? Or is that already reflected in the new balance?</p>

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<p>^ So, you mean, I should put the $9400 on the CSS Profile under “Enter the amount of any other untaxed income your parents received in 2008” ? Since it is really just I who fills out all the forms, I don’t really know if the alimony counts as untaxed income. I thought I was being consistent when I changed the CSS Profile child support amount from $14,400 to $5,000. So, you’re saying that I should put on the CSS Profile, $5,000 under child support my mom received and $9,400 under amount of other untaxed income my mom received?</p>

<p>And if I do that, would the financial aid office count that as my dad’s expense?</p>

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<p>Your dad’s expenses don’t count at all for FAFSA purposes. However, I assume his alimony payments would be considered for Profile purposes.</p>

<p>I think the very best thing you can do is stop worrying & call Swarthmore. Be ready to explain exactly what everything is, then see if it makes a difference.</p>