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<p>However, they will still count the income and the assets of the parent in addition to the income/assets of the spouse.</p>
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<p>Yep. A lot of medical schools don’t consider you independent until you’re 26 or even 30, regardless of the fact that you’re in a graduate professional program, and will want the parents’ reported finances anyway. (Not all of them, though.)</p>
<p>Not that it matters that much, as getting anything other than loans for medical school, or any professional school programs is very rare.</p>
<p>True…</p>
<p>My point wasn’t really about money…my point was that they may be at different colleges and their schools aren’t going to say, “hmmm…I bet their marriage isn’t real.”</p>
<p>and, yes, for med schools, it’s going to be loans anyway…some do merit, but that’s based on stats.</p>
<p>Just when I thought I had heard of every scheme to game the FA system, a new idea pops up. ■■■■■ or no ■■■■■, any idea like this is a zero sum game. For every winner, there is a looser who deserved aid and did not get the aid they should have.</p>
<p>If someone wants to take the risks involved in this for the chance of getting some more aid, they are welcome to do so. There are always risk to doing stuff like this, not to mention the fact that it is not a savory thing to do. Better hope neither of them want to run for some important office some day. When you are a young adult you have really little or nothing to lose. 30 years later stuff like this can come back to haunt you.</p>
<p>I think “retreated” was supposed to be “■■■■■■■■”. Yes, if this person is truly a sophomore in college (or even in high school to be real honest)… I wonder what our education system has come to.</p>
<p>(posted by sMITten’s mom)</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>While what you suggest is immoral and unethical (and perhaps illegal?), it would work, likely easily. FAFSA is FAFSA, and that is what UC will use. The chances of your file being pulled for review are probably not high.</p>
<p>cpt: Regents’ scholars do receive full need.</p>
<p>Though I feel these “questions” are coming from ■■■■■■, I wanted to post how one private school handles these situations for others considering this course of action. At USC, undergraduates - married or not - who are considered independent must fill out a budget form showing how they support themselves on the income they report. If it is clear they cannot support themselves on that income, they must state how much in additional funds they receive and from where the additional funds are coming. Those funds are considered as a resource in calculating aid - which is far less favorable than having your parent income considered. A “resource” is considered 100% available for funding your education, while as a dependent student your parents’ income and assets would only have a % considered available.</p>
<p>^^the BIG difference alamenom, is that private schools are using THEIR money for scholarships. UC is using ‘other people’s money’, i.e., taxpayers’, and FAFSA is the only required application.</p>
<p>Yes, I am aware of that. As I mentioned, I am posting for the benefit of others who may be considering this course of action. In addition, the posters asking the questions do not mention if their beloved attends a UC or a private or public in another state, and the ■■■■■ in post #16 does not mention UC at all.</p>
<p>Alamemom brings up a good point. While a student who gets married may be independent for FAFSA federal aid purposes, they may still end up being dependent when it comes to schools giving out their own institutional aid. So, for some students, this may backfire.</p>
<p>At some of the really deep pocket schools they have policies in place that if you start as a dependent student, you finish as a dependent student when it comes to institutional aid. </p>
<p>for example:</p>
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<p>Sounds good until you’re a few years down the road, making money, and she takes half of everything.</p>