<p>^I completely agree and uphold your same ideas. I believe that financial aid rewards should exist on a continuum and not be formulated to represent specific cutoff income/asset values.</p>
<p>I’m currently a high school junior and I’m very interested in applying to an Ivy League school. My parents are divorced, and I know that my mother’s total income and assets are less then 60,000 dollars a year. My father’s is above 60,000, but he’s not my legal guardian. Does this policy apply to me too?</p>
<p>Since you have a unique situation, you may want to ask this question in the financial aid forum as well where the posters are more knowledgeable about the process. ([Financial</a> Aid & Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/]Financial”>Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums)) It’s more of a question on whether your father is still considered legally responsible for your college tuition, and it’s a good question to resolve now as this will apply to your applying for financial aid at any school, not just at Harvard.</p>
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<p>In your personal situation, you will use your mother’s financial aid information since she has provided you with the greatest extent of financial support over the course of the past 12 months. For purposes of college admission, the parent/guardian who has contributed most to your financial support within the past year is considered the “custodial” parent, which is not the fundamental equivalent of custody in the legal sense of the definition. </p>
<p>However, since you have interest in applying to elite private universities, your father will be required to submit a non-custodial form (there is a non-custodial addendum to the CSS Profile) and his income and assets will potentially be judged as a means of financing your education. Fortunately, the Federal government does not consider the non-custodial parent’s financial information in determining aid allotment, but it may affect the financial allocation from the institution itself. You may be in position to petition for a waiver, but this may only be viable if there is a lack of contact and uncertainty of whereabouts. Nevertheless, many institutions are unaccommodating of this request.</p>
<p>I have a question. I am applying to Harvard, but I have a problem understanding the whole financial aid situation. My dad makes less than 30 k a year and my mom makes like 20 k. I know that if your FAMILY INCOME is less than 60 k, you will get a full ride. Both of my parents are LEGAL parents, but practically I have lived only with my dad in the last 8 years. My dad is the only one that raises my stepmom, my two brothers, and me. How would Harvard review this, as my mom has a different family and she doesn’t contribute any money but she is still my Legal parent. would Harvard consider it as only my dad’s income counts or both of my parents.</p>
<p>@lufausljc: Your stepmother’s level of personal income and assets will be included with those of your father for purposes of determining your financial aid reward. This holds true even if a prenuptial agreement was authorized prior to the marriage that relieves the stepparent from any financial accountability for your college tuition (the federal government does not recognize these agreements when evaluating need). The stepparent automatically assumes the responsibility for providing support upon marriage. Obtaining your mother’s financial information will not be necessary in your particular set of circumstances.</p>
<p>I think mifune is giving bad advice here, at least in a Harvard forum. (I may be wrong, though. In my experience, familiarity with mifune’s posts means admiration for mifune’s intelligence and care. But I think mifune is accurately describing FAFSA requirements without recognizing that most private colleges require much more information than FAFSA.)</p>
<p>While the federal government takes into account only the income of the custodial parent for purposes of eligibility for things like Pell grants and subsidized loans, almost all major private universities that commit to providing full need-based financial aid consider income AND assets of BOTH custodial and noncustodial parents AND the current spouses (if any) of both parents as well. Other children in both families will also be considered, too, so the expected contribution from a parent with no other children will be different from that of a parent with three stepchildren in college, even if they have the same income and assets.</p>
<p>So just to confirm JHS, will the Ivy’s consider assets (such as ones house) in determining your financial aid?</p>
<p>Income, assets, size of family and unusual expenses are all taken into account to determine your FA package, but home equity and retirement funds are not considered as a part of the asset that is used in the financial aid calculations. So all assets other than home equity and retirement assets count. </p>
<p>(This is for Harvard only though. I’m not sure about the policy of other schools.)</p>
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<p>There are, of course, multiple factors that complicate the financial equation. As family situations deviate more from the “norm” of the contribution of two domestic parents, specific institutional policies and particular legal arrangements create unique scenarios. </p>
<p>For the FAFSA, in particular, only the custodial parent’s information will be necessary (along with his or her spouse). The only portion of the non-custodial parent’s financial information will be matters pertaining to child support or alimony received. The CSS Profile is slightly more complicated and almost always a requirement for universities that allocate quantities of need-based aid derived from university resources. It often requires the submission of more information, from both the custodial and non-custodial parent, including the financial information of the spouse(s). There are ways to honestly navigate around this, though. For instance, financial responsibility from the non-custodial parent will be permissibly absolved if the student was legally adopted by the stepparent or if a waiver form is submitted and granted, although different universities have varying levels of intractability with regard to waivers. I have read that Harvard’s position is fairly stiff (although I was able to obtain one), which is understandable since universities are fairly conscientious of their allotments of a limited number of institutional resources and wish to be thorough and mindful of all potential resources in the needs analysis process. However, even if financial information necessarily needs to be provided from the spouses of remarriages, the prevailing family contribution calculation involves two parents, rather than three (in the event of the remarriage of one parent) or four (in the event of the remarriage of both parents). Moreover, it is difficult to generalize if the information from three or four different individuals is necessary since legal agreements and specific instutional financial aid procedures largely determine that. </p>
<p>Such unique family circumstances are similar to my own. I live with my father (who has not remarried) and my FAFSA and CSS Profile information exclusively consisted of his financial information. I did submit a non-custodial waiver form, which was subsequently granted to every institution to which I applied (every college on my list required both the FAFSA and CSS Profile) although I do have normal contact with my mother. Again, it very much depends on the dynamics of the situation and is more often dictated by legal concerns rather than domestic organization. </p>
<p>The only way to resolve these issues is to specifically contact each university to which one is applying. It’s best to settle these issues and have a general financial aid estimate before the application is submitted, as it would be very regrettable to have it come as a surprise that one cannot attend exclusively because of inadequate financial aid allotment.</p>
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<li><p>I think Harvard is practically unique in not considering home equity at all, although the way in which it is taken into account may differ from place to place.</p></li>
<li><p>mifune’s most recent post seems much more reliable. But I suspect that his/her circumstances are indeed unique, far beyond the quite common situation of a kid having divorced parents, living with one of them, and one or both have remarried people with their own children. I think it’s very rare for colleges to waive consideration of a non-custodial parent’s financial resources unless that parent is truly absent and hostile despite legal pressure.</p></li>
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<p>The poverty threshold in America: [2009</a> Federal Poverty Guidelines](<a href=“http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml]2009”>http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml)</p>
<p>I’d say that $60,000 isn’t too bad.</p>
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<p>Quoted for truth.</p>