Divorce between parents is common before a child reaches college age. How do divorce and separation affect a child’s eligibility for financial aid? The impact of a divorce or separation on financial aid eligibility is dictated primarily by which financial aid applications must be submitted to the student’s university. There are two major financial aid applications used by colleges. The first is the more widely used application called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the second is referred to as the CSS Profile (Profile), which is used by a small number of private colleges.
FAFSA
FASFA has made some significant changes to their policies beginning in the 2024-2025 term. For starters, they have done away with the requirement that with divorced parents, the custodial parent’s income is the one to be disclosed on the FASFA form. Instead, they have introduced a new term to help guide whose income to include. The term “Contributor” includes “anyone (you, your spouse, your biological or adoptive parent, or your parent’s spouse) who is required to provide information on the FAFSA form, sign the FAFSA form, and provide consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS into the form.”
If you and the other parent are divorced, separated, or never married, and don’t live together, the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months is the contributor and must provide their information on the child’s FAFSA form. If both parents provided an equal amount of financial support or if they don’t support the child financially, the parent with the greater income and assets is the contributor and must provide their information on the form.
Profile
Profile is used by approximately 200 colleges and universities. Most colleges that use Profile will consider contributions from both the custodial and the noncustodial parent, however, Profile will ask the student on the application which parent provides the majority of their financial support. If both parents support the student evenly, the parent with the higher income or assets should be chosen. Each parent will have separate forms so that they cannot see each other’s financial information. If both parents select that they provide more than half of the student’s support, the application may be delayed. Once these contributions are added together, this will be considered the family’s contribution, though the college will offset that by a certain amount to account for the cost of maintaining two households.
If a student does not have contact with their noncustodial parent, they have to fill out a CSS Profile Waiver Request. Each college will review the waiver and determine if they will waive the requirement.
If the student is completing both the Profile and the FAFSA, the parent selected for the Profile should be the same one selected on the FAFSA. Profile also recently started requiring that all parents, including stepparents and domestic partners, be listed in the section when prompted to list parents. Then it will ask which parent’s information will be supplied by the student.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important for divorced or separated parents to determine which colleges require which aid forms to ensure that reporting differences will not negatively affect their child’s chances of qualifying for financial aid.
When facing a separation or divorce, parents should be sure to consult with an experienced family lawyer about using a separation agreement to plan for their children attending college. The family law attorneys of Livesay & Myers, P.C. have extensive experience with drafting these agreements in ways that may help the parties ease the burden of paying for college. From offices in Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Ashburn and Manassas, we represent clients throughout Northern Virginia. Contact us to schedule a consultation today.
https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info;
https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/frequently-asked-questions/parents