<p>My son will be a Sophomore at a private college this fall. I filled out the CSS Profile and FAFSA last year and his mother, (non-custodial parent), did as well. His college requires both parents, even though divorced, to fill out the Profile each year. I recently found out that my son's mother has refused to fill out the Profile for this up-coming year. My son has tried repeatedly to convince her to complete the Profile, but she still refuses.
Any suggestions for what I should do? I have no contact with my son's mother.</p>
<p>I just hate it when kids get put in this situation through no fault of their own (I hope).</p>
<p>Did she give him a reason? Does she realize his aid will likely not be processed without her form?</p>
<p>Did he get aid last year? Has she seen his aid letter and seen how much he got in grants that he will not have to pay back? Ask him to show her that, highlighting the amounts were true grants, and tell her he will not even be considered for those same grants this year if she won’t fill out the form – he will be ineligible for need based aid without her help on this. The actual dollars on paper might sway her… sorry this is happening. My ex FORGOT to do his this year, and had to be reminded by the college (in spite of a couple of emails from me with the links and due dates ahead of time). But he did it in the end… hope your ex comes through as well.</p>
<p>She told my son that she didn’t have to do it. I will take your advise though. He is trying again today to convince her of the gravity of her decision.</p>
<p>You might get the school to send a letter to your son that says he will be ineligible for school FA if he does not submit his NCP’s information by the deadline (if this is not on the website).</p>
<p>If this is her oldest or only child in school, she may not know that the rules have changed since she was in school and the parents are required to submit the information if the child wants FA. We all learned this at some point, but many 40 or 40-somethings think it is like it was back in the day, when 18 year olds were independent. Your son can google a few articles about the requirements and give them to her.</p>
<p>Who paid the college bills for the last year? If non-custodial parent has no $$ on the line here, maybe she just doesn’t care if you have to fork over more money to make college happen. (Or is being spiteful??)</p>
<p>If you are not able to cover the costs without this aid that is hanging in the balance, have your son let her know he will be not be returning to college because of her if she doesn’t fill out the form. If she is contributing to the college costs, have son let her know how much the price is going up without the aid.</p>
<p>Can son tell you if she supports him attending this college, and is just digging in “on principle” of not sharing her info, or is she maybe trying to derail his college experience? Does she care about son at all?</p>
<p>Understanding WHY she is refusing is best way to clarify how to proceed. Agree that getting the college to send a letter spelling out requirements on their letterhead would be good.</p>
<p>I paid the remainder of the costs after his financial aid. I have no expectation that she pay anything. I cannot afford the price of full tuition un-aided.</p>
<p>Have your son remind your ex that filling out the forms do not obligate her to paying any of the college cost (as you already know since she did not pay anything last year). </p>
<p>However, he not filling out the forms is only hurting her son, because he will be the one who cannot continue to attend college. </p>
<p>Have your son stress to his mom that he hopes his mom loves him more that she hates you. Not filling out the form is hurting him and not hurting you again, because it is he, her son who cannot attend college without her help.</p>
<p>Thank you! Thats all good advice.</p>
<p>Have the school send her a reminder. </p>
<p>What is the reason? There’s something behind it, is your son at odds with her too?</p>
<p>I think the school sent my ex a reminder when he didn’t do his form. But if he didn’t plan to do it, I expect he would have ignored it.</p>
<p>Time for your son to register at the local community college as a backup plan. Then plan for transfer to a lower cost state university or some such. He can tell his mother that that is what he has to do (laying the guilt trip on her) to see if she changes her mind.</p>
<p>If even that is not affordable, then he may have to drop out of college and work until he is 24 and no longer needs parental information for college financial aid.</p>
<p>He should check the withdrawal and readmission policies at his college in order to arrange withdrawal to facilitate readmission later.</p>
<p>If Op is attending a school that uses the CSS profile, they usually have stipulations that if you start as a dependent student, you finish as a dependent student for institutional aid, even if you meet other factors that make you independent (marriage, turning 24) for federal aid. If Op were to take this route, most schools would not consider until he is 26/27 and he would have to prove that he has been self supporting for at least 5 years.</p>
<p>If that is the case, then the student’s mother may be forcing him to drop out of his current school for whatever reason. He needs to make alternative plans.</p>
<p>One possibility is that the mother had a significant increase in income or wealth (or remarried to a high income or wealth spouse) which would eliminate financial aid eligibility anyway, but she does not want to reveal that fact to the student or the ex-husband (student’s father), and still does not want to pay. Still, the effect on the student is the same – the student will be forced to drop out of the current college if the college is now unaffordable to the student and father, so he must make alternative plans.</p>