Hi, I’m a current junior at a competitive high school in Illinois. When applying, I’ll have around a 4.6 Weighted GPA, and 34 ACT. Right now, my top schools are Brown and Vanderbilt. I’m most likely doing ED1 Brown, and ED2 Vanderbilt if applicable. I was wondering if there was any information regarding divorced parents at either of these universities. My parents are going through an intense divorce process right now, and will be divorced by the time I apply next fall. My dad makes around $200,000, and is my non-custodial parent. My mom makes around $100,000, and is my custodial parent. However, my parents are unable to pay around $300,000 for my college due to financial reasons (sibling already in college, very expensive house my mom and I live in - trying to sell). My dad is also very shady, and despite making this much, I doubt when the time comes he will pay for this. Does the FAFSA consider divorced parents? What if parents can’t afford this much for college, but make more than the average family? I’ve also heard Brown hates divorced parents, but this is not my fault considering my dad had an affair and divorce was inevitable. Please help, I’m so worried.
I highly doubt that Brown, or any other selective university, for that matter, hates applicants----part of Admissions’ role is to attract applicants, not turn them away; and FA’s role is to make sure that as many admitted students as possible can afford Brown. HOWEVER, Financial Aid/Net Price Calculators almost universally break down when it comes to situations like yours (many will have a disclaimer at the bottom.) I’d still recommend running Brown’s NPC, but keep in mind that’s it an ESTIMATE, not a guarantee of aid.
If you and your family are worried about affording Brown, I’d strongly recommend applying Regular Decision in-order to compare FA offers in the Spring.
Brown FA: financialaid.brown.edu
I’m sorry your family is going thru divorce, hugs to you.
Many private schools require CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA. Most schools that use the CSS Profile require non-custodial parent (NCP) financial information. Brown does, so with $300k in income, your family is unlikely to get need based financial aid there.
Among highly selective schools, Vanderbilt does not require NCP financial info, although they reserve the right to ask. UChicago does not require NCP info either. Look on collegeboard’s website for more Profile schools that don’t require NCP info.
In your case it makes sense to prioritize Vandy over Brown. But that school is a reach for everyone. You are going to ultimately need to identify match and safety schools, focusing on FAFSA only schools and/or Profile schools which don’t require NCP financials, assuming your dad isn’t going to contribute. Hopefully your mom can secure a legal obligation requiring your dad to help with the cost of college as part of the divorce agreement.
Will UIUC be affordable for your mom?
Adding to the above, if you have high stats, looking for schools which provide merit aid (whether they require CSS Profile or not) would be another avenue to finding an affordable college
The most important question is…how much DO your parents plan on contributing to your college education? What is that annual dollar amount? If you don’t already know that…ask…because really, that is your budget each year for college.
You have an excellent GPA and ACT score. You would be eligible for decent merit aid at University of New Mexico, University of Alabama, and Arizona. All three if these would likely come in lower than the net costs at UIUC.
Look at some of the schools in the upper plains…Utah, Montana, Wyoming. Their OOS tuition costs are less than at many other places. And you might get some merit aid there as well.
Brown requires the Profile as well as the non-custodial parent Profile, so the incomes and assets of both parents will be considered, and also any incomes and assets from their spouses if they have remarried.
Vandy doesn’t require the non-custodial parent form, but as noted above reserves the right to ask for additional information.
Because your finances are playing into this…why are you applying ED to Brown? Brown doesn’t “hate” divorced parents. I’m not sure where you got that information. But the college does expect both parents to be contributing towards college costs regardless of marital status.
Honestly, I think you should think about applying regular decision to your colleges when the time comes. That way, you will have multiple net costs to compare for affordability.
And please…please don’t plan to apply to Brown and if the financial aid is not sufficient plan to guilt your mom into taking out loans. Sorry, just don’t.
@doglover06 Only one parents information needs to be provided on the FAFSA due to being divorced/separated and that would be the parent with whom you resided with most last year and pays more than 50% of your support. However, both Brown and Vanderbilt require the CSS Profile for custodial AND non custodial parents so both parents income and asset information will be taken into consideration when awarding institutional aid. When families can’t afford the bottom line (after aid is offered) that’s when tough decisions have to be made. Colleges differ in the amounts of institutional scholarships they offer, and some are need based while others are merit based. One of the best things you could be doing right now is applying for outside scholarships on a regular basis throughout your senior year to help close that financial aid gap. There are student and parent loans that can be borrowed for any financial aid gap but they are based on credit (with the exception of direct student loans) and before you know it you can be in a lot of debt. Once you get your aid offers you could consider appealing also.
Vanderbilt does not require ncp financial info. They do reserve the right to ask for it, as I stated above.
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/financialaid/undergraduate/faq.php
Outside scholarships will reduce both Brown and Vandy’s need based financial aid dollar for dollar (generally starting with loans and/or work study), so OP should consider how much time and effort to spend on seeking outside scholarships. Generally, they require a significant amount of work and are highly competitive.
Brown and Vandy are both incredibly difficult to get into, so neither is a sure bet for anyone. Don’t choose not to go after outside scholarships on the chance it might not be a net-positive for one of these schools.
@TheFAFSAGuru could you please give the reference for where Vandy requires the non-custodial parent Profile?
@Mwfan1921 @thumper1 I did not realize that Vanderbilt doesn’t “require” NCP info (although they could ask for it), so that works out great in this situation! It’s important to check with each individual college financial aid office as to specifics regarding requirements. This is a good example of that. I skimmed the website, but missed this excerpt.
“Vanderbilt does not automatically require or send a non-custodial application. There may be times when we will request information and documentation from your non-custodial parent. We will send the appropriate forms if this is deemed necessary.”