my dad is the primary earner and gets somewhere bw $75 and $80k per year and we have a family of 4 but with him living 4 hours away the increased salary feels the same as it did before bc of the living cost to support both sides. ik the fafsa asks about marital status of parents but they aren’t legally separated or divorced so would my financial “need based” aid from colleges be minimal and barely any help? the cut off to be considered low-income is $60k ish and we are over that but we aren’t exactly high income either and there is no way they can afford my college tuition or even a fraction of the total cost bc things have been a little rough. basically, i need financial aid but im not sure if i will get any, and/or if it will reflect our living situation.
(might get a little bit from merit scholarships bc im a good student 35 act and 4.5 ish weighted gpa but the schools i rlly want to go to dont offer much if any merit aid)
Do your parents consider themselves separated (maritally) or is your father just working in a different place? They don’t have to be legally divorced or separated to qualify for filing FAFSA separately. If they are separated, and you live with your mother, she would file the parent’s part of FAFSA with her income, including spousal support and child support). Even if they still file taxes jointly, you can file with a single parent but you have to sort out all the income separately.
If your parents are still married and just have two households because of a job, then FAFSA is filed as married. With a family income of $80k, you likely will not qualify for federal aid like a Pell grant, but you might still qualify for need based aid from schools.
Tennessee but I’m really looking to get out of the state and the south in general so the hope and promise scholarships won’t be useful to me unfortunately @Trixy34
I would open your heart to schools with merit scholarships–lots of good ones out there.You seem to have great stats and schools where you would be towards the top of the top 25% might make you an offer that would work. Merit scholarships generally lock in for four years if you keep your grades up. Financial aid varies year by year, depending on parents’ financial status.
@txstella i got a 1460 index score 218 which i think is just below the index for TN which i believe is 219 this year? NMF is probably out of the cards for me. I’m planning to study nursing/get my bsn to become a nurse anesthetist one day (masters will cost an arm and a leg though so I’d like to have as little undergrad debt as possible while also getting the best education) I will definitely do that, thanks for the reply.
@twoinanddone Thank you for the reply! I understand we do not qualify for the Pell Grant but the marital status part is where it gets complicated. My mom has tried to get my dad to sign papers in the past, which never ended well, as he still clings to his traditional views of what a perfect asian family should look like and do. He is the only one in the family who would probably consider them to be married but living apart due to work, when we have clearly been living separate lives from him for the past 6 years. Any advice? Didn’t mean to get too much into the mess apologies if it is overshare.
Yes, for FAFSA purposes, she could fill out the parent’s section as separated. Even if they file a joint tax return, she’d only use her income and assets, and it gets a little tricky but it can be done. File early! as you’ll be asked for additional documentation. With just her income, you might qualify for Pell grants and other federal aid.
You should get lots of merit aid if you choose wisely, but don’t dismiss UT-K or other schools where you can use Hope or other Tenn programs. My daughter stayed in Florida in part because of the resident grants and Bright Futures.
If you really want to get out of the south, go west and north. You’d get a lot of money at Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota. Look into one of the Kansas schools. However, I don’t think any of them will be better for you than UT-k.
@dc0104 See https://www.tn.gov/collegepays/money-for-college/loan-forgiveness-programs/graduate-nursing-loan-forgiveness-program.html
If you go into nursing education in Tennessee for 4 years, the state of Tennessee will forgive your graduate loan if you attend a TN school to do your masters work. See the link above for the stipulations. Btw - lots of states have programs like that, where a nursing graduate program has a forgiveness option available so long as you work it off in that state for a set period of time.
OP - first off, congrats on being a great student with an impressive GPA and test scores. This clearly means you are smart enough to be able to figure a lot of things out. And as a junior - you still have several months before you have to apply.
Sorry to hear that your family situation is - shall we say - complicated? You mention that your Dad earns $75K - 80K but it is not clear how much your mom earns - if any - or is she relying on child support? If she is earning 60K then you are right not to expect a lot of need based aid - but it is still very possible.
If you are fortunate to be accepted at the 100% full-needs met schools - and your scores and GPA would say that you’re competitive for - then it wouldn’t surprise me if they took into consideration your family’s two-household situation, and you might still qualify for FA. These schools require the CSS profile - but the good news is that your father communicates with you and presumably would be willing to help provide information to complete these forms.
Just because the needs met schools give a full ride to families under $60K, they still provide a LOT of aid to many families earning under $120K. And all of these schools are more than happy to help answer questions, and they have undoubtedly seen situations like yours before. They will answer questions before you apply.
It is possible that you might get enough aid so that, with a modest amount of student loans and/or work study, you will be able to attend a great school.
I am confident that you will figure it out - best of luck to you!
@3puppies thank you so much! my mom works part time as a language tutor and only earns a few thousand per year so my dad is the one paying for most of our expenses but he won’t be able to support much of my undergrad or graduate tuition much less my younger sister’s in a few years so finances are pretty much always on my mind. it’s very hard to decide whether to look into and apply for schools with the best education versus the best financial aid/cheapest tuition but this website has been SUPER helpful and i really appreciate you and everyone else’s replies
