Let's make a list of colleges with good financial aid without needing the non-custodial parent

Paying for College
1

Let’s make a list of colleges with good need-based financial aid without needing the non-custodial parent.

The idea is to have a convenient reference to suggest to students who have divorced parents, where the non-custodial parent is either uncooperative, or has significant income and/or assets but will not pay. Note that colleges should be listed based on need-based financial aid, not merit scholarships (for which there are plenty of lists around here), although aid given using both need and merit can be listed (but with appropriate description).

State universities can be included here, but please specify whether that is for state residents only.

It would be best to include a pointer to the appropriate financial aid page.

As always, students should use the college’s net price calculator to see how good the college’s financial aid is likely to be for their own situations.

2

I’m guessing you mean “meet 100% need” schools that don’t require the NCP? Or just any school that doesn’t?

Of the Profile schools, there’s this: https://profileonline.collegeboard.org/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv

…which is a start but doesn’t include Princeton which uses its own NCP form, for instance.

I’d start with Albright http://www.albright.edu/admit/home/home/financial-aid/apply/

and Vanderbilt http://www.vanderbilt.edu/financialaid/undergraduate/index.php#incoming

“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.”

3

University of Chicago: “We do not require additional information from students’ non-custodial parent. In cases where students’ parents are divorced or separated, provide financial information from the parent who has primary custody of or contributes more than 50% of the student’s financial support.” Requires FAFSA and either its own supplemental form or CSS Profile. https://financialaid.uchicago.edu/prospective-students/apply-for-aid/aid-application-guidelines

https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/uchicago (Chicago’s net price calculator) indicates that a student from a low income family will see a $5,717 net price with just need-based financial aid ($17 shown with a $5,700 Odyssey scholarship).

4

Interesting that Chicago is on that CB list as requiring the NCP form. Since it clearly does not, that makes me doubt that list.

5

They just changed their policy recently to not request it.

6

Vanderbilt

The list will be very short, unless you’re including Calif residents and UCs.

Most schools that meet need require the NCP info because most aren’t going to hand over a bunch of need based aid when there may be a well-heeled NCP in the child’s life.

7

So…

  1. Albright
  2. U Chicago
  3. Vanderbilt

As far as I know that’s it, of the 100% meet-need schools. Obviously there are many that don’t require NCP info that don’t promise to meet need.

8

California residents only can find good financial aid for many situations at California public universities, which use FAFSA only and therefore do not require non-custodial parent information.

For California residents from low income families, the following UCs’ net prices are likely within student self-funding range, although both federal direct loan and work earnings will be needed, based on the net price calculators on their web sites run as of the date of this posting:

UCB: $7,950
UCD: $8,500
UCLA: $8,700
UCSB: $9,200
UCM: $8,500-$9,500
UCR: $8,343 (commuter), $9,613 (off-campus)
UCI: $8,800-$9,800

The following may be a bit too much of a stretch unless the student can find a living situation significantly lower cost than the estimate:

UCSC: $11,250
UCR: $11,676 (on-campus)
UCSD: $12,500

Note: UCR is the only one where the net price varies based on housing situation for high-need students. Of course, actual off-campus and commuter costs may vary significantly from the estimates.

The CSU net price calculator is at http://www.csumentor.edu/finaid/pais/ . It looks like California resident high-need students commuting from their parent’s places will see net prices around $3,500-$5,000 (very affordable), but students who live in the on-campus dorms or on their own off-campus will see net prices around $11,000-$14,000 (may be a bit too much of a stretch, unless the student can find a living situation significantly lower cost than the estimate).

Non-California residents should not expect any need-based financial aid from California public universities. Those with financial need who apply need to realize that they are aiming for large enough merit scholarships, which are not particularly numerous.

9

That seems like an uncommon situation where the divorced parents are cooperative with each other and the student, and have enough to pay the (institutional) EFC despite the monetary drain of divorce.

In any case, there are plenty of threads where the OP student is asking which colleges to consider, but lives in a single parent low income family and the NCP is unlikely to be cooperative or willing to pay, but others keep suggesting colleges that would have good financial aid if the parents were married or cooperative and willing to pay, but will not give enough (or any) financial aid for the OP student’s situation.

Essentially, students in such situations are basically limited to a merit-seeking college list, or possibly in-state publics if living in a state with good resident financial aid without requiring NCP information.

10

William and Mary.

11

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=saint+francis&s=all&fv=212106+215743&cp=1&sl=212106+215743

Duquesne and ST Francis University ¶ give merit and need based aid and are FAFSA only

12

The University of Redlands gives merit and need-based aid (although it is not a meets-full-need school, as far as I know) and requires only FAFSA.

13

Denison, Wooster (has its own NCP form but it’s very brief, just asks for contact info), Wittenberg, Capital U, Adrian in MI. All are generous with need-based FA (and merit too) and require only FAFSA.

Of course most schools in the country require only FAFSA but AREN’T generous with need-based aid.

14

Should include the disclaimer that this is for Virginia residents only. Its net price calculator at https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/wm gives a net price of $6,400 for a Virginia resident, but $35,950 for a resident of some other state, in a high-need situation.

http://www.wm.edu/admission/financialaid/howtoapply/freshmanortransferstudent/index.php indicates that William and Mary does require FAFSA and CSS Profile, but “We DO NOT require the CSS Non-Custodial Form.”

15

University of Delaware claims to meet full need of in-state students. I’m not entirely sure how that is considered since our bottom line amount (including non-billed costs) is higher than our EFC. The package included loans but no work study and so far has been the best package we have received.

My daughter applied to Beloit, Ohio Weslyan, and Wooster specifically because they did not require NCP profile. Beloit and Ohio Weslyan’s financial aid, while not stellar, may have been doable and they ended up offering more aid then calculated by the NPC. Wooster’s was a little disappointing since the actual package left us owing close to $3000 more than the NPC caluculated. All three of these schools also included merit aid.

Also, when I first started researching this I got the message that if we were receiving child support we would not get a waiver for the NCP profile. This turned out not to be true, most of the schools that required it have waived it. And at this point it looks like the others just haven’t reviewed it. In our situation, he does pay child support (garnished), but there has been no contact for ten years and I included the protection order I had to get when I left him in 2003. So don’t be afraid to try, it really does depend on your personal circumstances.

16

@dedex13
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University of Delaware claims to meet full need of in-state students. I’m not entirely sure how that is considered since our bottom line amount (including non-billed costs) is higher than our EFC.


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Does UDel claim to meet 100% of need of instate students?

What is your EFC?

What is the school’s COA?

What aid/amounts were you given in grants, loans, and work-study.

17

Some of the need can be met by ESC (expected student contribution = federal direct loans + work earnings).

http://www.udel.edu/npc/ suggests that a Delaware resident student with EFC = $0 but without merit scholarships will see a net price of $7,000 (all of which is listed as federal direct loans or work earnings).

18

oops…sorry I missed this…

<<<
The package included loans but no work study and so far has been the best package we have received.


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Does FAFSA app still include a question about whether the student wants WS? If so, was that Q answered to indicate that your DD wants WS?

I noticed that you were concerned that some NPCs were showing a different amount of Pell. Have you asked for Professional Judgement to remove the child support income since that will be ending this spring?

19

I can’t speak to whether they have “good financial aid” but with respect to not requiring a non-custodial parent profile:
Juilliard
The New School

20

Aid at the Juilliard School is primarily merit based and is based on the strength of your audition there.

New School…need based aid is limited.