I grew up with a single Mom making around 50k a year. Over a year ago she got married to somebody who makes around 80k, so now the household income is two parents, and over 100k. We didn’t move, and he is not going to pay for college at all, but he is still included in FAFSA. Can I still qualify for financial aid? My mom doesn’t have much money to help pay, and now I’m afraid I’m going to be drowned in debt because she did this.
First of all…your mom did not screw you over. Congratulations to her for finding someone significant to share her life with. Please be happy for her.
Yes, your mothers spouse’s income and assets must be included on the FAFSA even if he isn’t planning to pay directly for college. But surely his income is being used to pay living expenses that previously your mom was paying alone. Perhaps this can free up a little money to help pay for college.
With a $50,000 income and one kid in college…and a single parent…I don’t think you would have qualified for the federally funded Pell Grant anyway.
The Direct Loan of $5500 really would have been and still is the only guaranteed aid you will receive based on the FAFSA.
So…how much can your family pay for you to attend college? If the answer is $0, then you need to look for ways to fund college. Do you have a job? Do you live within commuting distance of a community college? Do you have superior SAT or ACT scores and GPA that would make merit aid a possibility?
Gee… tell us how you really feel about your mother and stepfather.
Yes, you can still qualify for financial aid. It is called “merit aid” and you’re going to have to earn it. You can do that by doing well in school and on your standardized tests. You can increase your chances by applying to colleges where you are in the top echelon of applicants. You can even apply for as many scholarships as you have time for. They usually require essays, and no, you don’t want to write about how your mother “screwed you over” by remarrying.
If you are a truly exceptional student, you can apply to tippy top colleges, where anyone making <$180k-or-so will qualify for aid.
Your mom fed you, protected you, clothed you, put a roof over your head. That is a lot of love over the years.
Sorry that it hurt your financial aid, I bet she had no idea and probably it is hurting her as well.
Perhaps you can look at some compromise with them relative to a few years at the local college and you can commute followed by two years at a school you want to attend. They and you they could have a plan to fund those two years, and you will have earned the good grades on your end as part of the deal. Plus some savings by you.
I have a brother as well, but how would that have not gotten me a federally funded pell grant? 50K is less than some colleges tuition for an entire year, how do they expect somebody to pay for college with that low of a salary? Especially in Boston where the cost of living is insanely high.
Can your mother contribute anything? Depending on your stats you may qualify for merit aid.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that the majority of people who get the pell grant have an income of $20,000 or lower.
People who get the full Pell Grant of about $6000 have incomes $20,000 a year or less…because their FAFSA EFC is $0.
I don’t think an income of $50,000 is going to yield a full Pell Grant. Maybe a small amount but not $6000.
The maximum Pell grant is just a little over 6K with an EFC of 0. It is not paying for 50K colleges. If you also live in a state with a generous state grant it might be paying for tuition at a 12K/year commuter or community college. If you want the expensive schools and you have no money and a 0 EFC you need merit aid as well.
Oh I thought FAFSA contributed a lot more than that. Damn how do they expect people to pay for this. My GPA is 3.4, 3.8 weighted, SATs I got an 1180, then 1320. Taking it a third time in December. Also co-founded a club, and I’m indoor and outdoor track captain.
The maximum Pell Grant is just over $6000 a year. As noted…even IF you had gotten that, your college costs would not have been covered.
What public universities can you commute to?
You may not have qualified for much Pell. The max. Pell Grant is $6k/year, but you may have only received a thousand or two, if that.
You can only borrow ~$5500/year, so there’s not much chance of you drowning in debt. What are your stats? Do you qualify for merit aid anywhere? Where’s your dad? Is he able to contribute?
Well I live in Boston so a good amount, but the T is still very unreliable. Might just go to MassBay, they have a great transfer program to UMass, schools. Students can automatically get into any UMass school if they maintain above a 3.0 GPA. UMass Amherst is a great school, and has a great architecture program, but the Average GPA coming in from high school is a 3.7. Could also commute to Framingham State, BU, or BC, but even if I could get into BU or BC they’re insanely expensive. My dream school is Northeastern, but also insanely hard to get into(average is around a 4.0 weighted). Right now I am set on taking a gap year and applying next year after I graduated because I’m dealing without a lot of anxiety, depression, and sleep issues I feel I need to address first. I think I also have potential for a scholarship in track if I improve this year, right now I’ve only had D3 and D2 coaches reach out to me. I’m going to look at URI as well, but I can’t commute there. I also have family living in Boston that maybe I could crash with for a year if they’re generous enough. Also have family in Minnesota as well. Also I understand that I should be happy for my Mom, but that doesn’t take away the anger, but I guess I wouldn’t have gotten much Financial Aid anyway.
Why are you angry at your mom? Surely living on $130k is much better than living on $50k.
Where’s your dad? Can he contribute anything?
A good time to learn that the universe doesn’t revolve around you.
UMass Boston. Bridgewater. UMass Dartmouth. All could be very affordable.
How old is your brother? Congratulations to your mother for finding a partner who married her with 2 teens/young adults. Is there a bio father in the mix anywhere?
You and your mom should borrow from the library this book to help you better understand how financial aid works, including any income you have as a student and how your savings are counted: “Paying for College: Everything You Need to Maximize Financial Aid and Afford College”
You are the only one who can make the decision “to drown in debt”, it doesn’t just happen. Where you go to college is not who you’ll be - another great book.
There are ways to do it debt free, just have to find what works for you. It completely sucks that college in this country costs so much but here we are.
I’m a single mom who hustled to put myself through school years ago with no help except living rent-free with some generous folks. Now my D is a freshman at a private school - she lives at home to save on costs and has a very generous merit scholarship that allows me to pay the leftover of her tuition monthly so if all goes as planned there will be no debt. She doesn’t qualify for any financial aid besides loans due to my income. So if you can get Merit/talent you don’t need FAFSA.
Your mom didn’t screw your financial aid- if you read the book I referenced you will see more money is always better than less. Appreciate her and make the most of your gap year. Good luck, you’ll be fine!
Another book to read…Paying for College Without Going Broke.
It’s an older book but the ideas are still good ones.
What is your SAT or ACT, and GPA. Really getting merit aid based on those would be good.
D2 schools do give scholarships. Why aren’t you interested in any of them? Would they have the potential to be affordable?
I stated my GPA and SAT and other things in a reply above, don’t feel like writing them again lol. And for the D2 schools, it’s not that I’m not interested in competing D2, it’s that all the schools that reached out to me were small private schools that aren’t great, and wouldn’t be worth the money. For example, one was Franklin Pierce in NH, which is extremely small and pretty damn expensive.