This situation has been extremely complicated to me and most of it has to do with the fact i needed to learn more about my fafsa loans / life / real world etc

First question has to do with my parents and which parent takes out a student loan for me (tax purposes). For the past two years my mother has taken out the student loans and financially i was always having to come up with extra money even with a job to pay for things. My EFC was around 9700 with her which is far less than the 5022 efc my dad been successfully applied for through fafsa 2013- 2014. They are both separated and my dad is remarried. Why in the world would i not go with the parent with the lower EFC? She is saying that by doing that it hurts her financially and she will have to come up with more money that year. She is a teacher and has an income over 80k+. She also has a lot of bills. She doesnt want her budget affected.

Second question, does it make sense for my mother to say she will not help me the remaining semester for signing with my dad? I have a feeling its because she wants the tax deductions and does not want my dad anywhere near saving money. (messy divorce)


I am not sure if i got my point if any point across but i would love some input.

Let me see if I can clarify this a little.

For FAFSA purposes, you can't simply choose which parent submits the FASFA. The information provided should be from the parent that you live with, or in the case where that is equal, the parent that provides the majority of your financial support. If this is your dad, you will also be required to enter your stepmother's information as well, which may raise your EFC. See this Federal Student Aid publication for more on this: http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/ ... parent.pdf

In terms of taxes, it's a similar deal. Only one parent may claim you as a qualifying child, and this should be whomever you live with. See this similar post for more on claiming a qualifying child on taxes.

For Parent PLUS Loans, the borrower can be either parent, it does not have to be the parent that provided their information on the FAFSA. Both parents can take out these loans, providing the combined amount does not exceed your cost of attendance.

As for who should take these loans out, this is something your family will need to solve.