Students of Divorced Parents

Paying for College
1

<p>I really felt that after such a long application process and having had applied to 10 schools (getting into 7), and being relieved of being accepted into such top ivy league + equivalent schools, one of the last things i would have to worry about is financial aid. however, although my father has an extraordinarily low amount of income, i was surprised to learn that my mother's income "compensated" for his lack thereof, and Yale and Swarthmore, etc. thinks that my family could contribute to the tune of 47k per year. I haven't heard from Harvard yet, and was hoping to hear from other families in this quandry.</p>

<p>I just wanted to say that already it seems that students of divorced/broken homes are at a personal and financial disadvantage than their counterparts. After having talked with my financial aid officers from yale and swarthmore, it seems ridiculous to put these two separate household situations into one pot and expect divorced parents to be in a similar situation as parents who still lived together. At least this was the feeling I got from them. And I think it's not fair, given that divorced parents now have to pay for TWO households, instead of one, and try to still function in light of the fact that married couples get to pool their resources (nothing against couples who are still marrried). </p>

<p>:sigh:, that said, I just hope that in the future financial aid officers would just consider the problems we already go through having had to deal with separate households. I received an offer from stanford to the tune of 27k a year, which sounds EXCEPTIONALLY reasonable, especially since the other schools have offered so little. I have yet to hear from Harvard, but I wonder if Harvard and Stanford calculate your divorced parents' ability to pay separately, and then add it together (to come up with that amount), as opposed to other places where they would add up their resources as if they lived in one house.</p>

<p>It just doesn't seem like an accurate indicator of ability to pay, and I'm just wondering if divorced households are getting shafted again-- middle income households already are oftentimes!</p>

2

<p>Yes, and if your parents remarried some schools do expect all 4 parents to pick up the tab.</p>

3

<p>actually i was thinking about the differences in potential calculations, not whether or not they should contribute, but yea, i agree, all your parents, and step parents, should contribute</p>

4

<p>Financial aid should always be a consideration, except for the most wealthy families.</p>

<p>Congrats on getting into Stanford, and some other top notch schools!</p>

5

<p>thank you sincerely.</p>

6

<p>Troublesomejason, I totally understand how you feel and what you're going through. My parents are also divorced and it makes things more and more complicated. Especially while trying to file FAFSA and such. Sigh, my situation is similar because - one parent has a higher income than the other --> "...however, although my father has an extraordinarily low amount of income, i was surprised to learn that my mother's income "compensated" for his lack thereof" </p>

<p>I think there was a mistake when they sent me the results for my Cal Grant. It says I dont qualify for Part B but I'm really sure that I should. So....I think I'll give them a call soon.</p>

<p>":sigh:, that said, I just hope that in the future financial aid officers would just consider the problems we already go through having had to deal with separate households."</p>

<p><em>nods</em> I'm here with you</p>

7

<p>lol thanks. i knew i wasn't the only one. i still think it would be more fair if they calculated our parents' ability to pay as SEPARATE households instead of as one.</p>

<p>but on a separate note about the cal grants too-- i was denied because my GPA was too low! although my gpa isn't, iono, some overworked CA bureaucrat filing our papers wrong much?</p>