<p>I was wondering if I should apply for financial aid given my situation. My parents are divorced and have a total income of approximately $300,000. I have a stepmother but she does not work. I also have one sibling in college who receives no financial aid. When I enter as a freshman next year, she will be a senior in college also. I'm not sure if this will benefit us, seeing that our family will have two kids in college. While our the total income is high, we live in an expensive area in California and since my parents are divorced, it is two households. Please help me figure out if I will even be eligible for financial aid. Thank you so much!</p>
<p>What schools are you looking at? It can’t hurt to run Net Price Calculators at the schools you are looking to. And if you have any public schools on your list that do not require non-custodial parent info, you may only be looking at dealing with half.</p>
<p>For FAFSA-only schools, the only income that will count is that of the parent you live with (or live with the most). For schools that require Profile, most will also require non-custodial parent info - at which point everyone’s income will be considered.</p>
<p>And, yes, schools will take into account the fact that both you and a sibling will be in college at the same time. But they will NOT care that you live in an expensive community!</p>
<p>You really should be looking at schools where you’d be eligible for merit aid that’s not tied to financial need.</p>
<p>I applied to UCs, CSUs, and some private schools on the east coast. Although my parents have joint custody, my father claims my sister under taxes while my mother claims me. Who do I use as my custodial parent because I split my time equally amongst the two.</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, if the number of nights you spend with each is absolutely equal (even a week more or less is going to count), it is the parent that provides you the most financial support (food, clothes, phone bill, insurance, even money for college apps, etc.) Whoever claims you for taxes has no bearing in this case.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your help!
Do you think I’ll qualify for any aid for private schools? My parents aren’t too optimistic seeing that my sister was denied FA. I’m just wondering if I should spend time to do it or not if they’re not gonna give me anything. I’m not trying to be rude, I’m sorry if it comes off that way.</p>
<p>You should complete the FAFSA as it will only use one of your parents(and that parent’s spouse’s) finacial info. That will qualify you for the Stafford loan, PLUS (parent loan for your parents) and other federal aid, like possible work study and depending on need other programs. </p>
<p>Many private school will require CSS PROFILE and most of those schools want non custiodial parent information as well as custodial. You will probably come up with a high expected contribution because of your high parental income, BUT, it is cut by about 40% which might result in some financial aid eligibility. I know families in your income bracket with a $90K college cost expected but between two full time students that comes to $54K which means about $6K in need for those $60K plus schools. It can mean an outright grant in some schools, and maybe even more in those schools that give merit within need where you can qualfy for some scholarships just by being in the need pool. So, yes, I would go throught the trouble. </p>
<p>Be aware that the following year the amount will plummet as the FAFSA EFC will not be cut in half, nor the PROFILE expected contribution be reduced as your sibling will llikely have graduated by then. And it is a bit of a long shot. Depends really on the colleges on your list. But, yes it is possible to get some money and benefit in doing this, but be aware what the expected costs are for you alone so your family does not get blind sided next year.</p>