I read that the parents living abroad address will be taken into consideration but what about if the student has an address in the USA? I will be the legal guardian of my nephew, and I will support him 100%. will my financial information be used to help him to get some financial aid? Honestly, his parents do not have the means to pay for his education.
Legal guardian in that this is court appointed???
What are you looking for? Is he an American citizen?
If he is a citizen, and lives in your home and you are looking for instate residency for tuition status, check your state requirements.
If he is not a citizen, he will be treated accordingly.
No, if he has parents who are legally responsible for him (not a court ordered change of guardianship), it is their financial information that will be used on his FA applications, FAFSA and CSS. If he has a US address, he can use that, but the parents still fill out the forms.
If his parents have little money, that usually works out in his favor. He may get more need based aid than if you file using your financials.
Absent a legal adoption, when would an aunt ever be required to provide financial information for need-based financial aid?
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Exactly. If this is a legal guardianship (with court papers to prove it), the student would NOT use the guardian financials at all. If this is a true legal guardianship (court papers to prove it) the the student would be independent for financial aid purposes for the FAFSA…and that’s assuming the student is an American citizen.
So…
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Is this a court appointed guardianship with court papers to prove it?
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Is this student an American citizen?
Even if the other relatives are paying all the living expenses for this kid, if they don’t have court ordered guardianship…they are not “legal guardians”. So…what’s the answer?
thnk you for answer.
I have legal paperwork for legal guardianship from the foreign country, not from the USA court.
He is USA citizenship.
if he is considered as independent student, he does not have tax returns to show since he does not work. I do support him 100%.
answers to your questions:
- Legal paperwork from the foreign country. No from USA court
- He is USA citizen.
@kelsmom would legal paperwork from some other country be considered clear evidence of legal guardianship here.
@guardianabroad if this kiddo is a U.S. citizen, what would be gained by him not using his bio parent income and assets? Or are you looking for instate tuition status?
Here is the description of guardianship for FAFSA: Federal Student Aid. It’s important to note that colleges routinely require documentation. My suggestion is to contact the college financial aid office & explain the situation. Ask to speak with someone who reviews guardianship claims on FAFSA.
It will either be that parent information is required, in which case it sounds like the EFC would be low, or the student will be independent due to guardianship. In this case, any student income and/or savings is assessed at a relatively high rate, so if the student does work and/or have significant savings, the EFC might be a bit higher than expected. The guardians will not have to provide information on FAFSA, in any case. It’s possible at Profile schools or some private schools that have their own form in addition to FAFSA that guardian information could possibly be requested. This is dependent on the individual school policy.
the parents leave outside of USA and they are not USA citizens. They do not have financial means
Thank you for the link.
I’m still confused as to why you wouldn’t want to use the parent income.
What do you think the advantage is to not using them?
No advantage, I am just confused. I understand now if the parents information is used then the student will be considered out of state applicant for every college even for NY colleges where he resides with me. Now, I have another concern. he is my dependent in my tax return, will that affect somehow in this college application process? What I am trying to achieve is to get the most possible financial aid for him. I guess this is a question for my tax preparer. If you can enlighten me though. I would appreciate. thx for the time you take to respond.
Residency rules are different from financial aid rules. I don’t know how that would work for guardianship. I do know that the fact that you included the student on your tax return won’t be an issue in terms of financial aid.
@sybbie719 what are the NY rules for residency for this student who will be graduating from a NY high school in terms of tuition status?
@guardianabroad your tax filing status has absolutely nothing to do with this student’s college application and aid issue.
Happy New Year,
this is not a tax preparer issue because many of them have no idea how college financial aid works
The type of guardianship that the student currently has does not make him independent for financial aid purposes.
Aunt has guardianship to make medical and educational decisions as loco parentis in absence of parents because they are not physically in the US (the family is separated by distance, the family unit has not been broken and the child has not been removed from the home).
Regarding NYS tuition; as long as student has graduated from high school in NYS after attending for at least 2 years student is eligible for in-state tuition.
The FAFSA must be filed using the parent’s information. Parents must sign the paper FAFSA in order for student to receive Federal aid.
Unfortunately, because parents do not have a physical presence in NYS, student will not be eligible for NYS aid (TAP, Excelsior).
If family meets the income guidelines, student will be eligible for opportunity program services (EOP, HEOP, SEEk, College Discovery), but will not be eligible for financial part of the opportunity program.
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thank you so much for the information.