How Marriage Affects Financial Aid
You may have heard the rumors flying around about marriage and financial aid, that getting married will make you eligible for more financial aid, or that it will prevent you from getting aid you would otherwise receive. Most financial aid advice is geared towards students who are still living with their parents, so what's a married person to do? Or, if you're thinking of getting married anyway, is it time to elope?
What Changes?First of all, marriage does not create a penalty with regard to financial aid. Financial aid is based on your expected family contribution (EFC), which is influenced by many factors, such as household income, how many people in the household are attending college, and how many dependents there are. Aid is based on finances, not on marital status. Married students may receive the same need-based financial aid that an unmarried student would receive.
Although marriage means that your parents are not automatically included as a financial resource, your spouse's income would have to be reported just as your parents' income would. Whether you file your tax returns separately or jointly does not matter for the purposes of financial aid; your spouse's income will need to be reported no matter what. Make sure that your tax returns and your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) both reflect the same financial information.
Many students also wonder how financial aid is calculated if they are planning to marry within the year. Unless you are married on the day you complete your FAFSA, you do not count as a married student.
Will I Get More Aid?The misconception that being married somehow means that you'll receive more financial aid most likely arose because young married couples tend to make significantly less money than their more established parents. If both spouses were full-time students, for example, they would have very little income to report and would have a low EFC. However, an unmarried student may very well be eligible for just as much financial aid if his parents earn little or if he has a sibling who is also attending college.
Financial aid also depends partly on the school that you attend and how that school chooses to allocate its resources. That is why it is generally advised that students should complete the FAFSA well before the deadline (especially when first applying to college, in order to compare aid packages from different schools.)
Married ScholarshipsThere are also some special scholarships available to married students. Spouses of military members may be eligible for funding from the National Military Family Association Joanne Holbrook Patton Military Spouse Scholarship Program. In addition, many religious colleges provide aid for married students, or other resources such as special housing. Specific scholarships for married students are sometimes available through your college itself or via state programs.
Although it might seem that financial aid information is directed mostly towards unmarried students, be reassured that there is just as much funding available for married students as there is for anyone else.
Article ResourcesThe National Military Family Association
http://www.nmfa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Spouse_Scholarship
The U.S. Department of Education
http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2008_2009/ques4.html
http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2008_2009/ques3.html
https://fafsa.ed.gov/fotw0809/help/fahelp51.htm
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