filing-the-fafsa-2015-2016-edition

Filing the FAFSA 61
subpoena seeking access to the FAFSA, it will generally notify the custodial parent so that the custodial
parent can seek to have the subpoena quashed.
Children of divorced parents are less likely to enroll in and graduate from college. Based on data from
the 2000 follow-up to the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88), 56.4% of 8th grade
students in 1988 whose parents were divorced enrolled in college by 1994, compared with 68.6% of 8th
grade students whose parents were married. By 2000, only 28.0% of the students with divorced parents
had obtained a Bachelor’s or more advanced degree, compared with 45.1% of the students whose parents
were married. Even if the students enroll in college, students with divorced parents are less likely to
graduate. Based on data from the 2009 follow-up to the 2003-2004 Beginning Postsecondary Students
longitudinal study (BPS:04/09), of students who enrolled in college for the first time in 2003-2004, 31.8%
of students whose parents were divorced obtained a Bachelor’s degree by 2009, compared with 45.1% of
students whose parents were married.
Stepparents
If a widowed parent or the custodial parent is remarried 19 as of the date the FAFSA is submitted, the
student should answer the parental information questions about that parent and the person to whom
the parent is married (the student’s stepparent). This can have a big impact on eligibility for need-based
student financial aid.
A stepparent is treated like a biological or adoptive parent if the stepparent is married, as of the FAFSA
submission date, to the custodial parent (the parent’s whose information must be reported on the
FAFSA). The stepparent’s financial information must be reported on the FAFSA, without exception.
Prenuptial agreements have no impact on this requirement, which is a matter of federal law. 20 The
stepparent’s income in 2014 must be reported even if the stepparent and custodial parent did not get
married until 2015 (but prior to the date the FAFSA is submitted).
The stepparent’s income and assets must be reported even if the stepparent refuses to help the student
pay for college. There are no exceptions. Providing income and asset information on the FAFSA does not
obligate the parents to borrow or cosign a student’s loans or to pay for the student’s college education.
Parents are not responsible for repaying their child’s federal student loans (e.g., Federal Stafford Loan
and Federal Perkins Loan) even if the child is a minor. Federal student loans have not been subject to the
defense of infancy since 1986. (The defense of infancy argues that a minor child lacks the capacity to enter
into legally enforceable contracts. Federal law currently exempts federal student loans from the defense of
infancy.) The child’s federal student loans are also not reported on the parent’s credit history. (The Federal
Parent PLUS Loan, however, is reported on the parent’s credit history, as are any private student loans
borrowed or cosigned by the parent.) But, if the parents do not complete the FAFSA, the student will not
be able to get any need-based federal student aid.
If the custodial parent dies, the stepparent is no longer responsible for completing the FAFSA unless the
stepparent has legally adopted the student, even if the student continues to live with the stepparent.
Instead, the noncustodial parent becomes responsible for completing the FAFSA. If the student has not
had any support or meaningful contact from the noncustodial parent for an extended period of time,
the student can seek a dependency override from the college’s financial aid administrator. In any event,