<p>FAFSA reflects household income. For FAFSA, if the parent is separated and supporting the student then the household has basically one income earner plus the kids. If the ex is paying child support to the head of household then that income gets added back. If the ex is not contributing anything then there is nothing to add back to the household. If the parents remarries then there are two potential income earners in the household supporting the kids. And again if the ex is supporting then that income is also added back to the household income. The “number” counted on the FAFSA reflects the household…or at least that’s how I look at it. CCS/Profile colleges count the household income as well as request information from the biological parent in a case of divorce.</p>
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<p>Just remember…this is handled by each school on a CASE BY CASE basis. For every “success story” getting a non-custodial waiver, there seems to be a story about someone who tried and was not successful.</p>
<p>BUT check each school. Some schools that require the Profile do NOT require the non-custodial parent form at all.</p>
<p>And, FAFSA only schools do NOT require non-custodial parent info.</p>
<p>Do not automatically assume you will get a non-custodial parent form waiver. You might…and you might not.</p>
<p>UCDAlum82, FAFSA only asks for the custodial parent’s income and assets, plus the spouse of the custodial parent if he/she has remarried. FAFSA does not collect income or asset information about the non-custodial parent. So the FAFSA formula does not expect the student to report on resources of all 4 parents.</p>
<p>If you were to marry someone with kids in college, you won’t be expected by anyone (except maybe your new husband) to pay for his kids’ college education. However, your income and assets are required to be reported on FAFSA if he is the custodial parent, as as a result his childrens’ EFC might increase significantly.</p>
<p>The idea is that spouses contribute to the well-being of the household financially.</p>
<p>For the 350 or so PROFILE schools, approximately one third require the non-custodial parent (and spouse, if any) to report income and assets, while the other third, about 250, don’t.</p>
<p>It’s not really the NCP that’s bothering me. My father in unemployed and has not remarried. It is my stepdad that is giving me issues.</p>
<p>Why wouldn’t CIA use his bio-father’s information if he needs to supply non-custodial parent income/asset data, rather than his stepfather’s?</p>
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<p>Until a divorce is finalized, his step-dad counts on the custodial parent form, since his step-dad was with his custodial parent. I don’t know that this man would still count after the divorce on the CSS though. They would have bio-dad on the NCP.</p>
<p>I thought the OP was talking about the FAFSA only. OP…do you live only with your step dad? If you live with your mom…and your mom and step dad are SEPARATED (divorce does not have to be final)…then ONLY your mom’s info would go on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>In ALL cases, bio dad’s info would go on the Profile.</p>
<p>Wow this thread got convoluted.</p>
<p>To the OP:
For FAFSA you will use your mom’s info only
For Profile: You will use your mom’s info and your biological father’s info. If your biological father is married - they will want the total family income/financial status.</p>
<p>Your long gone step dad will have no bearing.
For FAFSA - it matters not when the divorce is finalized. It is the status of the relationship on the day that the FAFSA is filed.</p>
<p>*“bio dad”
*
That’s a very sad comment about the world we live in. </p>
<p>Unless the step dad adopted the OP I can’t imagine what legal obligation he would have in financing anything as regards his soon-to-be ex-wife’s children that were a result of a previous marriage.</p>
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<p>Not true. As JustAMomOf4 points out, it’s not the official divorce date that matters for FAFSA, it’s the date of separation.</p>
<p>CIA, don’t panic. The world of financial aid is a pithy, twisted one. Don’t start freaking out and start thinking that your life is a long horizon of burger flipping. Right now concentrate on being kind to yourself and your mom. </p>
<p>Some positive steps that may make money differences later:
- Let your teachers and school counselors know what is going on in your life. If you don’t want to speak about it, just send an email to them.
- Ask counselor and look in phone book for support groups and for peaceful resolution training. You and your mom don’t need too much of the typical teen/mom arguments on top of all this. There is some excellent peace/mediation training out there and it could come in handy for both of you.<br>
- Embrace the things you love. Music, friends, pets.
- Get some exercise. It truly helps.
- Do your best in classes.
- Squeeze in some SAT prep classes OR get an SAT prep book (about $25) and do some prepping at home. Strive for a strong SAT score in June (register now for June testing). It’s smart to get the SAT done in the junior year. Next fall will be intense. </p>
<p>I’m not saying the FAFSA isn’t important. It is. But it sounds like the dust needs to settle a bit first and then you will work with what you have. A strong FAFSA doesn’t do you any good if you are curled up into a ball and weeping in frustration and sadness. Please take steps to take care of yourself and to grow as strong as you can under the circumstances. MAke it easy for teachers to write in their recommendations that you are resilient and mature and hard working. We are all rooting for you.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I’m not an FA expert, by a long shot.</p>
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Hmm. I know that PROFILE requires financial information of both biological parents and any stepparents… but I’m not sure about divorced stepparents.</p>
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Definitely false for FAFSA, which considers separated essentially the same as divorced; but what about PROFILE?</p>
<p>I think we may worry OP unnecessarily when we throw the PROFILE in on top of the FAFSA. </p>
<p>Most colleges require the FAFSA. Only private colleges (I believe) require the PROFILE in addition to the FAFSA. Conquering the FAFSA first makes sense. OP is smart to be asking questions early. But she/he should not panic. Lots of students navigate this every year. There may be a clearer financial picture for OP in just a few months as the divorce finalizes.</p>
<p>I don’t mind throwing in the profile since my (Early) #1 school (Rochester) requires the CSS.</p>
<p>Why would an ex-step-parent’s income be listed on CSS Profile?</p>
<p>There’s no reasonable expectation that an ex-step-parent will contribute anything. Remember, this child is a junior and the mom/step-dad are already separated. By the time she’ll start college 18 months from now…this ex-step-dad cannot be expected to contribute.</p>
<p>If this is the case, this will just encourage lying…the mom will almost be “forced” to claim that they actually separated on Dec 31, 2009 to suggest that they didn’t live together at all in 2010. I don’t like ridiculous situations that encourage lying just to have a reasonable expectation.</p>
<p>However, if the parents are not divorced, the school will probably ask for stepdad’s information on the profile as the profile.They will look at it to the extent of which they consider the mom to have “benefitted” from the marriage. There will be a space on the profile where the parent can explain their situation.</p>
<p>I don’t remember off the top of my head if the profile ask for date of separation or divorce. When it comes to distributing their own institutional aid, the school can ask for anything they want.</p>
<p>Since your situation can be a little sticky, I would hold off filing early decision anywhere.</p>
<p>The Profile recognizes a legal separation. They do get concerned about a recent separation or divorce - within 6 months - but that doesn’t appear to apply to the OP.</p>