<p>I'm going into my senior year and am planning on attending 1. Mizzou or 2. Texas A&M for Meteorology.
I am the first one in my family to go to college, my parents both have high school diplomas but nothing more.
My mom makes $51,000 annually and my father makes $250,000. Because of my dads income solely, I don't qualify for most scholarships but based solely on my mothers income, I do. My parents agreed to not pay more than half of my tuition each, but my mom can't afford her hald because its almost her entire half, which resulted in me getting a job and now the plan is for me to pay one year, my mom pay one year, and my dad pay 2. I am writing my scholarship essays on this challenge and how it affects my family emotionally and financially, but is there really anything else I can do? I just want to decrease my tuition as much as I can. Please help :( </p>
<p>Stats etc:
Top 13% of class
3.75 GPA
26 ACT
National Weather Service Certified
CoCoRaHs member
Certified to identify mesoscale storms
Philanthropy Club President and Cofounder
Stuco Vice President
Class Council 4 year member
A Capella Varsity Choir Member</p>
<p>Are you instate resident in both Missouri and Texas? If not, you may find that the school in the state of your residence will be affordable, while the OOS school will not be.</p>
<p>I’m a little confused. Are your parents divorced? Do you reside with your mom? If so, only HER financial information, including child and spousal support, would go on your FAFSA form. If your parents are divorced, and you do not live with your dad, his income and assets would NOT be included on the FAFSA. </p>
<p>Both Texas AM and Mizzou are FAFSA only schools.</p>
<p>If your parents are married, their total income must be included on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>As Thumper states, both schools you mention (and likely your public state colleges as well) use FAFSA only in coming up with your expected contribution. So only your mother’s financials will be in the picture in determining your aid package from such schools. Still none of any of these schools are likely to meet full need. You are not likely to qualify for much PELL grant funds or any even; the max with a zero EFC is $5700. So your only guaranteed aid would be the Direct Loans.</p>
<p>Why don’t you run your mom’s numbers (child support from Dad has to be included) through the NPCs of the schools you are considering? Also include your in state publics. That gives you some idea what you can expect to get from these schools. Get COA figures for the school, and find out if your Dad will indeed pay half that figure. Then you and your mother try to come up with the other half. Half the cost of college, by the way, can range from $30K+ (some private schools) to just a few thousand if you go to a local state school.</p>
<p>That’s if your parents are separated or divorced. </p>
<p>Yes, my parents are divorced. All together at the end of the year though I end up having spent just a little bit over a month more with my mom than my dad. And I’m not really looking for a full ride, just looking for any other options </p>
<p>OK…so why do you think your dad’s income will affect financial aid awards at Texas and Mizzou? These are FAFSA only schools, and because you live mostly with your mom, hers is the only financial information that will be given to these colleges.</p>
<p>Are you implying that Texas and Mizzou have merit scholarships that ask for non-custodial parent income on their applications? Please provide the reference to those.</p>
<p>Mizzou will be an out if state university for you, with out of state costs. They do award merit aid to some out of state students, but it is not guaranteed. In terms of need based aid at Mizzou, it is probable that you will get a Direct Loan of $5500 only. Most instate public universities reserve their need based grant awards for their own instate students. But apply and see! You never know.</p>
<p>You are instate for Texas. Seems to me that the costs there would be more favorable. </p>
<p>What scholarships are you looking at that ask for your dad’s income?</p>
<p>It’s the date that the FAFSA is submitted that determines your parents’ status of being separated or not, not their status as of the last day of the year. Though the 2015 FAFSA (which is what you will be completing for your first year of college) asks for income for the calendar 2014 year, some things are to be filled in as of the date you are submitting the form, such as marital status of parents (separated as of that date), assets, etc.</p>
<p>Please don’t get all sassy… I don’t know how any of this works. I was just curious on whether or not I would have a chance receiving any sort of scholarship or financial aid in my weird situation. Sine my parents custody is pretty close to being even, i wasn’t sure on how that would all work. I’m not implying that Mizzou and A&M have scholarships for non custodial parent income either. I’m just asking questions, i don’t know anything on this subject which is why i came here to ask if anyone else knew. </p>
<p>Also, if anyone knows of any scholarships that give at least $1000 please let me know! I’m going to try to apply and write for as many scholarships as I can in an attempt to cut my tuition in half.
Mizzou is my #1 choice, and after the NPC calculator it looks like $30,000 a year, splitting into $60,000 for my dad, $30,000 for my mom and $30,000 for me.
A&M says anywhere from $0-$20,000 annually. This is great and obviously i’d take this offer if Mizzou is too expensive, but I would really like to go to Mizzou so i’m going to try my hardest to cut the Mizzou price down. </p>
<p>I gather you think I was being “sassy”. I didn’t intend that. But you did say that your dad’s income prevented you from getting scholarships. I wondered what those scholarships might be. I don’t think that is being sassy in the least.</p>
<p>You have an affordable option in Texas. I suggest you apply to Mizzou, and apply for aid as well. You never know…it could work out.</p>
<p>The reason I asked about the divorce BTW is because that should spell out how much each parent is responsible for. That will let you know what you need to be responsible for, be it scholarships, working or loans. Good luck </p>
<p>At Mizzou, it is possible to get OOS tuition after freshman year if you follow their direction on how to do this very carefully. That means if Dad pays year 1 at OOS rates, the other three years will be at in state. Usually, it’s the amounts that count.</p>