My son will be off to college Fall of 2009?

and I am starting to look around at financial aid information. I have been a single mom for 13 yrs. and have not receive much in child support over the years. Has anyone filled out the forms and left out the father's information? Is his financial information necessary since I know it will be my son and I paying off the loans? My son is a good student and hard worker. He has saved all his summer job money to date. Thanks for your thoughts.

There is help for him to attend college from government and private organization sources. It is based on the FAFSA form which operates on a percentage basis of your income and savings along with his income and savings (his is at a higher rate than yours unfortunately on counting towards his college education). It helps that he has excellent grades because a number of states do help with paying for a college education if the student meets certain grade criteria. I will include some free resources to locate money for college.

First, the college's financial aid office and website has a list of private scholarships offered from outside organizations and companies. Sometimes a college major's website will list scholarships, too.

Second, the public library has a book listing scholarships with some not even listed on the web.

Third, the high school guidance office has a list of local scholarships and state scholarships & grants. This can be done in the senior year.

Fourth, a campus work study job can help with money needed during the school year. The program is funded by the federal government. It will be a job on campus and most times can work to your availability schedule. There should be a box on the FAFSA form for it.

Fifth, fill out the FAFSA form after January 1 of his senior year of high school. I recommend applying no later than mid February. It will qualify her for need based financial aid from the federal government and the school itself. It will come in the form of scholarships, Pell Grant, student loans, and the work study program. It does not matter if he was accepted or not. All it matters is that he list the schools he applied to for consideration.

Sixth, study and practice for the SAT or ACT tests. It can help bring merit scholarships from the college itself. Prepare for the PSAT which could bring in scholarship money with excellent scores. I recommend using test preparation book, software, or a test preparation course.

Seventh, states do offer grant and scholarships for students with excellent grades. Search Google.com and Yahoo.com for these grants and scholarships with your state's name.

Finally, I recommend joining several free membership scholarship search websites. There are scholarships for a variety of things including ethnicity, clubs, hobbies, and even wearing duct tape to the high school prom. Most are updated on a regular basis. Most offer a customized search based on information entered onto a form on the website.

Good luck!

I am sure you probably have a limited income. Go to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

You can get Pell Grants that you do not have to pay back. It is usually an easy $2000. I have done it twice for myself and once for my wife.

Give that a try

My mom and I started filling out financial information like a year before I went to college, I started in 2002. And we never mentioned my father on it. My mom and him had been divorced for like 10 years and he is never around. She didn't hardly get any childsupport either. We went to a local college, usually if you fill out an application with them they will help with the financail aid sheet for free, you don't have to go there if he doesn't want to, I didn't. I got a good amount of money, not a lot, i still needed a $2000 loan a semester, but thats not much. Now mind you, if you recieve more money or if you get married that will affect the amount your son gets. My mom got remarried after my freshman year of college and the amount I got went down my $2000...I am not sure if this helped, but it was a similar experience for me..good luck

a lot of it depends on the state you live in. My mom is a single parent with the same situation as yours(well she has 4 kids and i'm the only one in college) anyways... I didn't really end up having to save any money at all. I looked into state scholarships and ones from the colleges I wanted to attend. So I would see into that too. Usually colleges only want to know tax information about the father. When I applied for my college they asked where I was living and if I was a dependent. Since I am and I'm staying at home they mostly wanted to know how much money I made/got back from taxes and then they asked for that information from my mom. Make sure you look into filling out the FAFSA when he's a senior because a lot of time if you make a certain amount of money a year you are eligible for state grants that you don't have to pay for. So I'd say you don't really need all the details of the father's information unless he's going to make a big contribution towards your son's schooling. If you're an independent like living on your own, I think they just want the information on yourself and your parent/guardian you live with or lived with(if he plans on moving out). I would look into the scholarships and grants first though, because that will save you a lot of money. Good Luck!!!!

Yes you can leave out the father's information.Be careful however because the FASFA can audit you in case your numbers come out questionable. Also I would encourage him to do some community work, this would help in getting scholarships.

Only the custodial parent's information is reported on the FAFSA. So, no, you don't include your ex-husband's information on the FAFSA.

Your son should start talking to the colleges he's interested in now. I recommend talking to an admission's counselor. Ask about the scholarships they offer for incoming freshmen. This way, your son will be sure to meet the minimum eligibility requirements for the scholarships and will be a good candidate.

File your taxes as early as you can the year your son graduates from highschool and file the FAFSA right after you file your taxes. Yes, you can estimate the data on the FAFSA but some schools use this as a reason to select you for verification which can cause unneccessary delays. Be sure to meet the state's FAFSA file deadline.

Reminder: just because your son's father isn't on the FAFSA doesn't mean he can't help with college expenses. If he works for a company that offers college benefits for children, your son may be eligible for those benefits. Check with his employer.

One last thing: Check into taking CLEP exams. When a student takes CLEP exams, he will earn credits as if he took the course at college and the credits are transferrable to most every college. The exam costs $75 per exam and I think it's a much better bang for the buck than dual-enrollment. You can find more information on CLEP exams at the address at the bottom.

Good luck to you and your son. Always better to start asking questions early.