<p>I realize this is a common problem on CC. My situation is that I have an ex husband who says he will contribute to college for my D,(the amount he currently pays in child support) makes a considerable income and has assets. I had no faith whatsoever that he would fill out the forms and supply the information on time. I did a test run yesterday. I informed him that my D was applying early admission and the information was needed by her for 2006 to get an estimate by the financial aid counselor at the school. Two months notice, 5 reminder emails, 6 phone calls and he gave her the forms filled out with false information and no tax returns which she told him she needed. His interest income didn't match his assets, he omitted property, said he rented instead of owned a home , excessive medical expenses that he has no receipts for etc. The figures and lies were outrageous. In the end this was a smart idea being I would have been horrified if he filled out the PROFILE that way or lied to the school.
Any advice on how to handle this?We had no agreement in our divorce regarding college. I don't believe we would qualify for much FA at private schools based on his income included. I realize fafsa only schools are an option but we decided long ago she would attend school out of state. (for personal reasons we don't want either kid to stay here and will both move once the youngest leaves HS)I have decided to contact a lawyer to at least see if I can ammend the divorce decree to have child support continue until 21. My state changed the law from 18-21 if ordered by court after we divorced. My main concern is what will happen if he does send misinformation to the schools? Will she not be able to take out loans, have liability, etc? I really don't want the expense or stress of seeing an attorney as when we divorced it was amicable and we didn't use one back then. He is a good father but horrible when it comes to finances, planning, etc. My daughter had already had the heart to heart about how not supplying the information will only hurt her etc. Any advice, past experiences, etc would be appreciated.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I realize fafsa only schools are an option but we decided long ago she would attend school out of state.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Regardless of what state you are from, there are plenty of schools out of state that use the FAFSA only to compute need based financial aid. In fact, I believe many public universities use only the FAFSA. Also there are private schools as well which only use the FAFSA.</p>
<p>First reassure your ex. that he will be filing the non-custodial CSS profile so if he is concerned that you will be in 'his business" this will not be the case at the FA office will not provide you with his FA information, nor will they provide him with yours.</p>
<p>Now that this issue is settled, you must both realistically sit with your D and talk about how much you are both willing to pay/ borrow for her education.</p>
<p>IF your ex is only willing to pay what he currently pays in child support - will you fall short at a school that may require you to be full freight payers? Keep in mind that FA will be based on what you are able to pay, not how much you are willing to pay and most schools do not even care about side deals/ court agreements for college.</p>
<p>Depending on your state, check to see if you can go back and get an upward modification to your child support agreeement based on the fact that your child is now attending college.</p>
<p>Take solace in the fact that there are ~4000 colleges in this country and only a few hundred require the profile, which as Thumper stated still leaves you with many schools for you and your D to consider.</p>
<p>all the best.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are worried about your ex misrepresenting his income & assets, but if he tells the truth your daughter won't qualify for financial aid in any case. Given that situation, it may not be worth getting upset about the financial aid part -- I would suggest that you figure out how much you can afford to pay for college, have a frank talk with your daughter, and then make sure that she applies to some colleges that you are sure you can afford. Encourage her to focus on colleges where she has a good chance of merit aid. </p>
<p>If she also wants to apply to colleges that will ask for the CSS Profile... go ahead -- but let go of the process and let your daughter be the one to interface with her dad. Don't worry about whether or not he accurately represents his resources -- that is his problem, not yours. I fact, the CSS Profile system is set up to keep all of his information separate and confidential -- so that is one of those things you simply don't need to know about. </p>
<p>It seems to me that what you face is -- if he refuses to fill out the forms, the college may deny aid; but if he does fill them out, you are likely to be deemed ineligible. Soo you could be getting all worked up over something that won't help in any event.</p>
<p>Now -- as to the possibility of going to court to get child support extended -- that's another matter entirely. Keep in mind that child support you receive will have to be reported as untaxed income on your FAFSA -- it can be a big help, but it could change the financial aid picture at FAFSA-only schools.</p>
<p>Thank you to all for the advice. My biggest fear is how his not filling out information would affect her application for merit scholarships also. The schools she is looking at require profile and fafsa be completed also for merit aid awards. I understand she probably won't be eligble for much with his income but i'd hate for her to lose out on lower interest loans or work study etc because he didn't complete the forms. I did send him a letter suggesting we see a mediator to work this out legally. I believe he will contribute but am concerned that his laziness will affect the outcome of awards.
As for state schools we are looking at MA. The out of state tuitions are very similar to most of the private universities with some merit aid awards added.</p>
<p>Reading some of your other posts, it seems you are from Utah looking at schools in MA. Some you have listed are Holy Cross, Wheaton, Stonehill. As you know, all of these are mighty costly and most do not meet full need. All require the Profile. In fact, most private schools in the northeast are mighty costly, do not meet full need and require the Profile. State schools in MA do NOT give much merit aid to students from other states....they just don't. Now...there are TONS and I mean TONS of private LACs that are in the mid-Atlantic states and midwest that are thousands of dollars less expensive than the ones in the northeast. There are also other state universities who are trying to attract out of state students with good financial incentives to students with high stats. I'm wondering if perhaps it might be worth considering some of those...and many (many many) do not require the Profile. Also depending on your child's stats, some of these schools provide very plentiful merit aid. Since your DD is a junior, you have a while to explore options that might offer her merit aid, and are affordable regardless of whether the NCP fills out the foms or not. I don't want to hijack this thread any further, but if you would like more info, perhaps you can post it here or better...start another thread...maybe called: Schools like northeast LAC's not requiring Profile.</p>
<p>nurse,</p>
<p>I think you will get a lot of help in finding schools that give Merit $$ on the parents forum. I would also recommend searching for post by Curmudgeon, a parent who was straight up with the fact that his D would need merit aid to attend college.</p>
<p>I would suggest checking out the following links on the parent's forum</p>
<p>schools with good merit aid:</p>
<p>what I learned about free ride scholarships:</p>
<p>USNews Top 100 Liberal Arts College - Merit v. Need Only</p>
<p>hope this helps</p>
<p>USNews Top 100 Doctoral Colleges - Merit v. Need Only </p>
<p>My ex-husband never filled out the profile for my daughter and I think most of those schools waived it. She applied to small schools. </p>
<p>I am dealing with my son now. I am planning to write a letter to the schools indicating that my ex husband refused to fill out the forms for my daughter, has not paid me child support for the past 4 years and will not cooperate with the forms. I think this will work.</p>
<p>curlygirl, was your D's financial need met by the schools?</p>
<p>I find these two statements particularly telling: </p>
<p>"We had no agreement in our divorce regarding college." </p>
<p>"I really don't want the expense or stress of seeing an attorney as when we divorced it was amicable and we didn't use one back then."</p>
<p>An attorney would undoubtedly have inserted some language about college expenses (whatever the two of you decided) into your agreement. I guess I don't see why you think the stress or expense wouldn't be worth it now-- you would have been saved this stress and expense if you had used a lawyer during your divorce, or even just used standard forms available to everyone. This is a common issue in divorces. </p>
<p>Good luck to you and your kids.</p>
<p>Or you could quit being nosey about your exes finances. Just fill out the profile and check the box that will automatically send him an email from CSS. It will explain that his financial info will remain private and not available to you or your daughter. He will likely feel much more comfortable about the whole affair.</p>
<p>Follow your first instinct and apply to FAFSA only colleges and save your daughter and yourself a lot of frustration.</p>