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Filling Out the FAFSA With Divorced Parents
By
Gabriel Jimenez-Ekman
Gabriel Jimenez-Ekman is the Director of Content at Scholarships360. He has written over 300 articles on college admissions, financial aid, and scholarships, in addition to spearheading research projects for Scholarships360's Top Colleges resource. Gabriel graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in sociology.
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Caitlyn Cole is a college access professional with a decade of experience in non-profit program and project management for college readiness and access organizations.
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Maria Geiger is Director of Scholarship Services at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Students with divorced parents will probably have a few questions as they fill out the FAFSA. You’ll have to figure out whose income you need to report and whose you can leave off. Divorced parents can help to increase a student’s financial aid package significantly. We’ll show you exactly what you need to report, and how you may end up receiving more aid.
Related: When is this year’s FAFSA deadline?
Determine your custodial parent(s)
If your parents are divorced and do not live together, you’ll only report one of their incomes on the FAFSA. This can be beneficial to your financial aid package. The less income you report, the lower your SAI, or Student Aid Index, will be. A lower SAI leads to a higher aid package.
Students with divorced parents are required to report the income of their custodial parent on the FAFSA. They define the custodial parent as the parent you lived with for the longest time over the past 12 months. If you lived with both parents equally, you should report the income of the parent that contributed the most financially.
See also: FAFSA 101 Guide
Maximizing your financial aid
If your parents have a large discrepancy in income, your custodial parent can make a huge difference in your SAI. You may want to strategize who you live with before you fill out the FAFSA to maximize your aid. If you live with the parent with a lower income for the majority of the year, you may receive more aid.
FAFSA will determine your eligibility for federal aid programs like the Pell Grant or Federal SEOG; however, remember that the FAFSA is not the only determinant of financial aid. Many schools utilize the CSS Profile to determine institutional aid. The CSS Profile takes into account both parents’ finances regardless of who you lived with longer in the past year.
See also: CSS Profile vs. FAFSA: What you need to know
Don’t include more than you have to
Remember – the less income that you report, the more favorable your FAFSA results will be. So, if you don’t have to report the income of your second parent, make sure that you don’t. You should never commit fraud or abstain from reporting income that is required. But if you find out that a source of income doesn’t need to be reported, don’t report it. Oversharing your information could lead to a reduced aid package.
Jack Wang | Wealth Advisor, Innovative Advisory Group
Expert Perspective
Related: How to fill out the FAFSA if parents did not file income tax
How divorced parents impact FAFSA results
If your parents are divorced, the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months is considered the main “contributor.” Even if both parents provided an equal amount of financial support, whichever parent has the most assets and income is the one whose information is required on FAFSA.
Also see: What if my parents refuse to pay for college?
Frequently asked questions about filing out the FAFSA with divorced parents
Should I report my stepparent’s income?
What if my parents are divorced, but still live together?
What if I don’t live with my parents?