<p>Hello. As the title states, my family and I are trying to apply for financial aid and we simply have no clue where to start.</p>
<p>My parents are divorced. My mom only works part-time, but my father makes more than 200K a year. We were reluctant to apply for financial aid because I did not list that I was doing so on any of my applications and we don't think we will be getting any money.</p>
<p>My parents are currently trying to fill out the FAFSA and I am trying to get them to do the CSS Profile as well. I have a 529 plan tucked away for college funding. Will we have to list this plan on the FAFSA/CSS? Does it matter how much money is saved up?</p>
<p>Also, I do NOT want any of the colleges I applied to see where else I applied to, and I realize this is possible with the FAFSA and CSS profile. How do I prevent this?</p>
<p>I am applying for merit aid. Do I need to fill out the FAFSA/CSS to get merit aid?</p>
<p>Thank you! Any help at all would be appreciated!</p>
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<p>Who do you live with most? Mom or dad? If you live with mom greater than 50% of the time, you would ONLY put her information on the FAFSA. Any child or spousal support would also have to be listed…but not your dad’s financial info.</p>
<p>If you live with your dad, you would put HIS info on the FAFSA but not your mom’s.</p>
<p>If it’s equal…you would put your DAD because HE is the higher wage earner and presumably provides more of your support.</p>
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<p>For the Profile, the parent you reside with will complete the Profile. The OTHER parent will complete the Non-Custodial Parent Profile form. I’m not well versed on 529 plans but do consider yourself lucky to have one. Someone else here will let you know about those. I think a lot depends on whose name is on the account.</p>
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<p>You do realize that the financial aid offices and the admissions offices at all schools that are need blind do NOT communicate with one another. MOST schools are need blind. I suppose you could submit your forms one at a time to each school but truthfully, that is a pain to do and I’m not sure worth worrying about.</p>
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<p>You need to check EACH school to find out their requirements…this varies by school.</p>
<p>Also some schools will not allow you to apply for institutional aid in subsequent years if you don’t apply as an incoming freshman.</p>
<p>Another thing…if you checked that you were not applying for financial aid on your application, you might want to notify the schools that you ARE in fact applying if you do so.</p>
<p>It’s true that if you live mostly with your mom, then you list her income and her savings/assets on FAFSA.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that your parents have split their assets thru the divorce??? If assets are still in both parents’ names, then I’m guessing that your mom would list her half of the value (if I’m wrong, someone will correct me …lol)</p>
<p>However, it sounds like your mom works part-time and perhaps your dad provides for your mom and children with child/spousal support (or pays the mortgage or whatever). If so, then whatever your mom is receiving from your dad would also be reported.</p>
<p>For CSS Profile schools…a number of them require NCP info…so if that’s your dad, then he’d fill that part out. (Also, some schools don’t use the CSS Profile NCP form…some schools have their own NCP form.)</p>
<p>If your dad still owns half of your home, but he doesn’t live there, I don’t know if his share of the equity is an asset to him - since it’s not a primary home for him. </p>
<p>*We were reluctant to apply for financial aid because I did not list that I was doing so on any of my applications and we don’t think we will be getting any money.
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<p>I don’t know how that works. I don’t know if you’re supposed to contact your schools about this or not. If you indicated that you’re not applying for aid, but now you are…it seems like you need to do something, even if the school is need-blind.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how 529s are reported. I think they’re an asset of the parent…but in your case, which parent?</p>
<p>For FAFSA, 529 plans are always reported as an parent owned asset, even if the student is the owner and not just the beneficiary. Look on the statements for the 529 plan to see how it is titled…if in the non-custodial parent’s name I’m not sure if it would be reportable for FAFSA purposes so you might want to have that parent call the FAFSA help line for guidance. For Profile, I would have the NCP list it with their assets.</p>
<p>From the federal handbook: Qualified tuition programs (QTPs, also known as section 529 plans because they are covered in section 529 of the IRS tax code) and Coverdell education savings accounts are grouped together in the law as qualified education benefits and have the same treatment: they are an asset of the owner (not the beneficiary because the owner can change the beneficiary at any time), except when the owner is a dependent student, in which case they are an asset of the parent. When the owner is some other person (including a non-custodial parent), distributions from these plans to the student count as untaxed income.</p>
<p>Prepaid tuition plans allow a person to buy tuition credits or certificates, which count as units of attendance. The number of units doesn’t change even though tuition will likely increase before the beneficiary gets to use the tuition credits. They are an asset of the plan owner, and their worth is the refund value of the credits or certificates.</p>
<p>College savings plans allow a benefactor to deposit money into an account that will be used for the beneficiary’s college expenses. The buyer does not pre-purchase tuition credits as with a prepaid tuition plan. Rather, this type of plan is essentially a savings account, and its value as an asset is the current balance of the account, as “money received.”</p>
<p>In the student’s freshman year, there would be no distribution at the time the FAFSA is filed. At that time, a 529 owned by someone other than the custodial parent or child would not matter. In future years, the the distribution for the year is reported on “other money received” by the student (not parent).</p>