Getting Married

[Stressica]

Hello everyone!

 

I was accepted to a master's program at a public university in the United States. I'm a resident of the state. The program is unfunded and fee-based. The cost for residents, non-residents, and international students is the same.

 

I was offered loans through FAFSA. What was offered to me can cover the costs of the program, but just barely.

 

As the title of this post implies, I'm getting married this year. My fiance is working, I'm not. I called my school numerous times to ask about how getting married will impact my financial aid. They said it would impact aid for 2015-2016, but not 2014-2015. I accepted the offer this week and am also accepting the aid. BUT, one of the terms in accepting aid:

 

"I understand that this award is based on information I have provided about my financial status. I agree to report to the Office of Student Financial Aid any changes in my financial situation, including, but not limited to: changes in marital status, Washington State residency status, any additional income, scholarships or other funds I may receive after accepting this aid. This includes all departmental scholarships or stipends, RA or TA positions, room or board allowances or subsidies, or any other source of support. I understand that these changes or corrections may result in a reduction of awards and/or require repayment of aid already received."

 

I interpret this as YES, getting married will impact my aid for 2014-2015, and I won't know how much until I get married and report it, which will be right before school starts.

 

Has anyone ever been in this situation or known anyone in this situation? I'd love to hear your thoughts. "Don't get married" is not a solution -- we've been waiting for 10 years!

 

Thank you!

[Eigen]

Most financial aid is based off income. When you get married, the income from your spouse becomes shared. Accordingly, you can get less financial aid. 

 

How much less depends on the program and how much your spouse makes, none of us can tell you that.

[Stressica]

Thanks Eigen. I do understand. I was surprised but overly accepting when they told me it wouldn't affect 2014-2015. The most frustrating part is that I made a decision to attend based on what I thought was locked in aid, and now I have no idea what my aid will actually be. If our combined income will impact aid to the point that I can't attend, it would be nice to know that now, just as other students do. I don't think I can submit a correction until after the marriage, however.

 

I suppose most people are smart enough to avoid putting admissions, financial aid, and marriage into the same year. Combined with healthcare reform I really know how to pick a great marriage year.

 

As somewhat of an aside, I do wonder if the program's "fee-based" existence is part of the reason this is so tricky. The award calculated a tuition estimate that is half the actual cost of tuition for the program.

[buffalowizard]

It's entirely possible (if not probable) that they won't actually do anything with the information that your marital status has changed until it comes time to figure out aid for 2015-16. From the passage you've quoted, it sounds like they're casting a wide net just to make sure they don't miss any relevant information. It is possible that there are some instances in which a change in marital status would impact someone's aid for the same year (I'm not an expert, but maybe if you were marrying someone who's delinquent on student loan repayments?) but that in your case it would not impact your aid.

[rising_star]

It wouldn't affect 2014-2015 because those calculations are done based on your income data from 2013.

[nugget]

rising_star: Good point that it should be based on 2013 calculations. But they could ask for the income in 2013 of both people.

 

Instead of all this speculation, if there an online loan calculator that you could use to come up with your own estimate or could the loan office speak to your situation more generally and tell you what typically happens to people in this situation?