Need advice-sis thinking of eloping to get financial aid!!

[allison443]

When filling out paperwork and trying to get financial aid, they require the financial information of the PARENTS. It doesn't ask anywhere if the parents are actually going to pay, it is assumed they will. So the student doesn't get any nice grants or (non-merit) scholarships because her parents make "too much" money... but they aren't paying for anything so why should their finances even be looked at?

I don't know if I agree with getting married to circumvent it, but I don't agree with that system as it is. Others have made some good points about going to talk to Financial Aid at the school to see if they can work something out.

The problem is if parents could just "refuse" to pay, thus making the student eligible for grants/scholarships, wouldn't pretty much everyone refuse to pay? I would! (spoken as a parent paying full freight for my kids at college!)
The system isn't perfect or even fair at times. It is what it is.

 

[tasha99]

All full time students are eligible for the Stafford loan, regardless of financial need. You do have to file the fafsa, though. Also the maximum amount is $5500 for the first year, increasing after that, I believe.

I checked and you're right. I get a subsidized loan though, and that has a need base to it. When I got my undergraduate degree, I had a Perkins loan as well that was need based.

 

[ajk912]

Thanks. She is perfectly fine with loans, that is how she has been going to college so far- with the loans she can get. Unfortunately, she's going into her junior year so she needs to declare her major now. She wants environmental studies, and she says that there is only one state school that has that a major. So she thinks she needs to go private. Unfortunately, she can't get enough loans to go to private college, because of the FAFSA issues. So she is trying to get around my parents income so she can qualify on her own.

As for the medical insurance, she is thinking about getting a policy on her own, or seeing about the state low income insurance.

She does work, about 2-3 shifts a week, just enough to contribute towards the $400 rent, utilities, and her cell phone. Mostly, she focuses on school. Till now that's worked. Same with her boyfriend, same deal, though I think he is taking a semester off school at the moment. They don't make much at all, so if she is able to get my parents off her FAFSA she would be in great shape. They make well under the poverty level.

I AM discouraging her, but my angle is true for me..I don't give a crap about getting married earlier to help get loans/aid. That doesn't bother me. What DOES bother me is I think IN GENERAL, 21 is really young to get married. It's really hard making life work getting married that young. But of course, when I start talking/hinting like that..she tunes me out, Charlie Brown teacher mode. She may need to just make her own life choices, and I hope it works out!

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[msmayor]

Her getting married NOW won't do jack-squat for aid this fall. FAFSA filings for the 2009-2010 school year are based on 2008 taxes, and since she wasn't married in 2008 nothing will change.

 

[blissventure]

The problem is if parents could just "refuse" to pay, thus making the student eligible for grants/scholarships, wouldn't pretty much everyone refuse to pay? I would! (spoken as a parent paying full freight for my kids at college!)
The system isn't perfect or even fair at times. It is what it is.

Exactly!

 

[ajk912]

Exactly!

I wouldn't be suprised if it's a growing dilemma that, especially in this economy, parents are unable/unwilling to pay for college. Just speaking in generalities just because you have a nice income on paper that doesn't mean you are financially able to pay what they SAY you should be able to pay. Especially when (I heard anyway) they only take into consideration 2 kids in college. What about those of us who have more than that? Or we have other debt? Saving for retirement? Mortgages to pay off? The days of "just about having the house paid off" by the time the kids get into college are LONG gone for most people. I think the whole system needs a complete overhaul. Hopefully by the time my kids are in college it will be different.

 

[bumbershoot]

She's looking at switching schools. She needs to go forward in this, apply, get offers. And THEN talk to THOSE financial aid offices.

My info is very outdated, but here goes...I only applied to one college. After I applied, my mom's husband filed for divorce, then while they were waiting the 6 months for it to be final, my mom got to know her childhood sweetheart again, and he proposed.

So the info in the aid application included my old stepdad's info, which was 2/3 of our income, but he was GONE. Never saw him again after he left. The official news was very sad, but my mom contacted my college's FA dept, and they bent quite a bit.

As soon as the divorce was final, my mom remarried, and the new stepdad made quite a bit more than old stepdad. So, of course, next year's application included his income. But since he'd just become my stepdad once I was 18, it wasn't right that he should be expected to provide for me, and again the FA office overrode the official info, only focusing on my mom's income.

But none of this could have been imagined before I applied and was accepted!

 

[Piecey]

another BIG consideration could be medical insurance. if she's covered under her parents and gets married she likely becomes ineligible (and the coverage some colleges provide covers next to nothing).

Excellent point, but....

Check with the college-- I got married in May and I was without health insurance for June, July and then in August I could buy a student plan through my college for a measly $780. Worth every cent, it paid for the first 7 months of my pregnancy!

Her getting married NOW won't do jack-squat for aid this fall. FAFSA filings for the 2009-2010 school year are based on 2008 taxes, and since she wasn't married in 2008 nothing will change.

Exactly. I married my DH in May 2008 and this fall is the first year I'll benefit from being married. Last year I was still on my parents (same situation as your sisters, though I didn't marry my DH for the financial aid)
DH had no income when we got married (Veteran, used the GI Bill) so the extra money he got from Pell and such paid my tuition. We were lucky but it's not instantaneous.
She has time to think it out because I believe that if she married ANYTIME in 2009, she'll show independent for the 2010-2011 school year, not just if she does it by June 30th.

 

[horseshowmom]

Her getting married NOW won't do jack-squat for aid this fall. FAFSA filings for the 2009-2010 school year are based on 2008 taxes, and since she wasn't married in 2008 nothing will change.

Unless it's changed, there is a process to address changes in circumstances (job loss, etc.). I'm not saying that I agree with getting married to get financial aid, but her circumstances would certainly have changed.

Also, I would encourage her to take the program she's interested in at the public college as opposed to the private one. Personally, I wouldn't pay extra in her situation if I could avoid it (and my husband and I actually graduated from private colleges with our B.S. degree).

 

[mrsklamc]

Her getting married NOW won't do jack-squat for aid this fall. FAFSA filings for the 2009-2010 school year are based on 2008 taxes, and since she wasn't married in 2008 nothing will change.

It asks if you are married as of the day you filled out your application; If she got married now and then filled out the fafsa, it would then ask for her income information, and her husband's for 2008, even though they were not married.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

My parents were not paying for my college and I was working 3 jobs. I did have some financial aid. Dear then-fiance was stuck paying out of state tuition (transferred to be with me), working 2 jobs and getting no financial aid. There was NO way the university would consider me independent of my parents, nor any way they would consider him a state resident or independent (even with drivers' lisence, voter registration, nothing.)

We'd already been engaged a year and a half, had been saving for the wedding. We realized we'd save money BY getting married. The school verified that would make both of us independant, it would make him a state resident and we wouldn't have to pay for 2 apartments.
We planned a wedding for about $500. We both got much better financial aid without our parents and the school actually gave us a refund on his out of state surcharge for the previous year, too.

We've been married 17 years.

IF she was otherwise serious about marrying this man, and can verify with the school that it will help her finances doing it sooner than later, I guess I don't see what the problem is.

 

[Piecey]

It asks if you are married as of the day you filled out your application; If she got married now and then filled out the fafsa, it would then ask for her income information, and her husband's for 2008, even though they were not married.

Yet my schools financial aid department came back and said while this is true, it's a loop in the online system and my $0 EFC was wrong. They went back and plugged into my parents information. They showed me WHY it needed to be done that way (as my husband actually worked in the financial aid office at the time and we're very good friends with the head of financial aid) but I forget what it was....

She wasn't married in 2008, so she can't be considered independent for a school year that is based off of 2008....

 

[LisaR]

The problem is if parents could just "refuse" to pay, thus making the student eligible for grants/scholarships, wouldn't pretty much everyone refuse to pay? I would! (spoken as a parent paying full freight for my kids at college!)
The system isn't perfect or even fair at times. It is what it is.

No, because most of the money these kids are getting needs to be paid back with interest. If I can afford to pay for my kid to go to college but I refuse so she can get a loan, I would be hurting myself if my intention was to help her all along. I certainly don't want to get stuck with the interest on top of the tuition.

 

[allison443]

No, because most of the money these kids are getting needs to be paid back with interest. If I can afford to pay for my kid to go to college but I refuse so she can get a loan, I would be hurting myself if my intention was to help her all along. I certainly don't want to get stuck with the interest on top of the tuition.

I agree with you-I think a lot of people don't realize financial aid often includes a loan component. My response was to a prior poster who talked about being eligible for grants and scholarships (free money!) and why should parents' income affect the student's eligibility.

 

[mrsklamc]

Yet my schools financial aid department came back and said while this is true, it's a loop in the online system and my $0 EFC was wrong. They went back and plugged into my parents information. They showed me WHY it needed to be done that way (as my husband actually worked in the financial aid office at the time and we're very good friends with the head of financial aid) but I forget what it was....

She wasn't married in 2008, so she can't be considered independent for a school year that is based off of 2008....

I'm sorry, but you are incorrect. Dependency status is not decided based on the tax year, it is decided as of the day you complete the fafsa.

 

[Piecey]

I'm sorry, but you are incorrect. Dependency status is not decided based on the tax year, it is decided as of the day you complete the fafsa.

Okay.


*************

OP, have your sister call the FAFSA customer service line to verify anything.
I called them the year I got married because I thought the same as the poster I quoted. After all, the online system gives you that answer when you check the box!
I was told I was wrong and my financial aid office was correct, my marriage in 2008 didn't count until the 2009-2010 school year.

 

[barkley]

So my sister is in college, and is having a hard time paying the bills. My parents do not help out with school at all. Unfortunately for my sister, my parents make a good wage but because they are unwilling to help out financially, it REALLY hurts my sis because she is at the age still that the FAFSA forms require my parents financial info. And their numbers make her pretty much unable to get aid, but she is still screwed, so she gets no help at all. I think this is HORRIBLY unfair, but I don't make the rules.

So she is considering eloping with her long-term boyfriend to see if she can get loans/grants or help with college. She is under the impression that FAFSA info is due June 30 for the next year, so she is thinking she has 11 days to get married.

I am not in the position to help her financially. We struggle enough ourselves. My parents will not budge, they are of the mindset that they have helped enough already. Is getting married for financial aid, does that WORK? They were planning on getting married eventually, but would just push it up till..uh..now. I want to discourage her but I have nothing to stand on. But that's probably just the big sis in me, who thinks she is too young to get married till she is 40. Anyone BTDT? Any stories I can tell her at all? Thanks!!

just reread your post and want to suggest your ds REALY check with financial aide person in the state she lives in. she may be very mistaken about the cut off date (you said she's "under the impression" re. the cut-off date) depending on what state she's attending in. on the fafsa site it talks to the june date but it also talks to individual states and their cut-off dates for consideration as well as what private colleges require. dh attends college and his cut off was back in february for his university, now the students he attends with are at the point where they are having to provide the hard copy income verifications before july 1 to solidify what they've been offered otherwise anything they've been offered is tossed back into "the pot" to offer to students who have already filed, would have been income eligible but did'nt make our state's university cut-off date.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

I can't say I blame your sister. Shame on your parents for having plenty of money and being unwilling to help her out. The fact is, she's right, and it will definitely help with her school costs.

I got married at 18 because DH(DB) was joining the Army. Anyone who has dealt with that knows that the military takes care of wives, but doesn't care one bit about girlfriends.

Anyway, we got married July 12, 1996, and I was able to fill out a FAFSA as married for the 1996/1997 school year. So, I'm not sure why people are saying it doesn't count? I had also left my university and gone to community college when I got married, so perhaps every school/state is different. My parents did still pay my tuition for the first semester I was married, but I know for the Spring (January 1997) semester I was eligible for Financial Aid.

If it were my sister, I wouldn't want her getting married in haste. But you say this is a long term boyfriend that she plans on marrying anyway.

 

[blissventure]

I wouldn't be suprised if it's a growing dilemma that, especially in this economy, parents are unable/unwilling to pay for college. Just speaking in generalities just because you have a nice income on paper that doesn't mean you are financially able to pay what they SAY you should be able to pay. Especially when (I heard anyway) they only take into consideration 2 kids in college. What about those of us who have more than that? Or we have other debt? Saving for retirement? Mortgages to pay off? The days of "just about having the house paid off" by the time the kids get into college are LONG gone for most people. I think the whole system needs a complete overhaul. Hopefully by the time my kids are in college it will be different.

I understand what you're saying, but having fairly recently been through all this, I don't have much sympathy for "refusniks". (I'm referring to the parents who certainly have the means to help their own kids, but just don't "want" to.) Our kids went to less expensive state schools, worked hard to graduate in 3 years, (they both did a summer after their junior year) and had scholarships as well as loans. We did our part. We took out PLUS loans, and paid them off rapidly. It meat a lot of sacrifice for us, but I think it was well worth it.
If a families EFC is high, then the school choice really comes into play. There is a huge difference in cost. It's worth looking them over carefully.
In addition, we eliminated from the school consideration list any school that didn't accept their AP credit from the start.

So, there are ways to cut cost, but it really helps to start keeping some of this in mind early in high school. For us, AP's allowed both of our kids to start as sophomores. Eliminating one year of college (per kid) was a huge savings!

 

[golfgal]

I can't say I blame your sister. Shame on your parents for having plenty of money and being unwilling to help her out. The fact is, she's right, and it will definitely help with her school costs.

I got married at 18 because DH(DB) was joining the Army. Anyone who has dealt with that knows that the military takes care of wives, but doesn't care one bit about girlfriends.

Anyway, we got married July 12, 1996, and I was able to fill out a FAFSA as married for the 1996/1997 school year. So, I'm not sure why people are saying it doesn't count? I had also left my university and gone to community college when I got married, so perhaps every school/state is different. My parents did still pay my tuition for the first semester I was married, but I know for the Spring (January 1997) semester I was eligible for Financial Aid.

If it were my sister, I wouldn't want her getting married in haste. But you say this is a long term boyfriend that she plans on marrying anyway.

I understand what you're saying, but having fairly recently been through all this, I don't have much sympathy for "refusniks". (I'm referring to the parents who certainly have the means to help their own kids, but just don't "want" to.) Our kids went to less expensive state schools, worked hard to graduate in 3 years, (they both did a summer after their junior year) and had scholarships as well as loans. We did our part. We took out PLUS loans, and paid them off rapidly. It meat a lot of sacrifice for us, but I think it was well worth it.
If a families EFC is high, then the school choice really comes into play. There is a huge difference in cost. It's worth looking them over carefully.
In addition, we eliminated from the school consideration list any school that didn't accept their AP credit from the start.

So, there are ways to cut cost, but it really helps to start keeping some of this in mind early in high school. For us, AP's allowed both of our kids to start as sophomores. Eliminating one year of college (per kid) was a huge savings!

There is another side to the story of parents not paying for their kids' college education-called teaching kids to be responsible. Maybe some parents want their child to have a vested interest in doing well in college and not taking the 6 year Art History track at school like a lot of people I saw at school. Our kids will be responsible for pay for as much of their schooling as possible with minimal help from us. They will have to do that through scholarships, grants, loans, etc. If they have exhausted all other avenues with good effort, we will then help but not before.