<p>Me and my fianc</p>
<p>These are things you should dicuss with your FA office and her parents. No, the school is not going to consider YOU as her parent’s dependent and you will both file FAFSA as independent students. If this is a Profile school, that may be a different situation if that’s what your aid is based on. People have posted that some schools will not adjust institutional aid for a status change…ie if you start as a dependent, they will continue to package you as such. But, if her parent’s are paying for her education, are you concerned if this is a “deal” for them? It’s probably something they have planned for and they may prefer their D wait to marry until she’s finished with school…I know I would! Nothing against young love, but young marraige can derail education and career plans and that can place a lot of stress on a marraige.</p>
<p>FAFSA expects married couples to pay for their own school and thus considers them independent, not even asking for parents’ info. However, FAFSA expects quite a chunk of the income a young adult would have. (For ex, someone with under $15K a year income could have an EFC of over $2K!) If your fiance has assets (money, a trust fund, property) in her name, FAFSA will expect those assets to be available to pay for both of your educations.</p>
<p>Your school can do what it wants and ask everyone for income/asset info.</p>
<p>^^Read the above posts carefully. There are two very important points. Discuss the situation with the financial aid office and run some calculators to get an idea of how your situation will change. More importantly make sure you are clear on the parent perspective. Believe me, there are parents who will make the decision not to continue funding college when kids marry before completing their undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>What year are you in? There is a HUGE difference between a couple being married their senior year in college and being a pair of married freshmen. </p>
<p>Your post makes it sound like you haven’t yet attended a year. In that case, it was be . . absolutely a horrible, rotten, ghastly idea to get married to save a few bucks. </p>
<p>Freshmen spend a lot of time and energy learning how to live in the back pocket of another human being. Dorm living and sharing a teeny dorm space bring out characteristics that we didn’t know we had. It is one thing to have an ugly row with a roommate to learn your disgusting habits – it’s another to have that learning curve with a spouse (who also has some skill building to do). </p>
<p>Invest in your relationship. Learn how to live in a dorm room with another human being and let that roommate bear the scars of teaching you civility and space sharing. </p>
<p>Invest in your relationship. Learn the business of getting to class and earning strong grades without burdening your partner with your learning curve. </p>
<p>You will both change a lot in the next few years. Hopefully you grow closer and stronger. But you have a better chance of that if you are experienced in finding your own way. A year or two of higher rent payments is a worthwhile investment if it keeps you from being divorced by age 22.</p>
<p>Good Lord, do NOT get married in order to get a deal on college housing!! If you’re seriously thinking about it, that’s a red flag that you’re not anywhere near ready for marriage anyway.</p>