<p>My parents have been divorced for 9 years. My father owes my mother 18k in child support. My mother makes around 65k-80k / yr, and my dad makes something like 20k-30k / yr. My dad is not expected to contribute at all to my education. Mother has custody of me.</p>
<p>I have been running NPCs on my potential schools however I have heard that they can be inaccurate for students whose parents are divorced. What emphasis should I place on the numbers the NPCs are giving me? Should I expect more/less from the numbers I am being given?</p>
<p>They can be inaccurate. My parents are also divorced. Many schools require that the non-custodial parent’s finances be taken into consideration. If a school has that policy, you can run the NPC for both parents and add them together for a rough estimate. </p>
<p>As s0206 says, for those schools that require NCP financials, you need to run the NPC for each and then add them together. That usually will give you some idea, but not quite because that there are two house holds is usually taken into account and also the formulas tend to be less aggressive with lower incomes. It’s not a direct percentage against income formula. As a parent’s income goes up there are step ups and increases in percentages. </p>