Parents Do Not Share the Same Household

Students applying for Boston University financial aid must provide applicant and income information from both biological/adoptive parents even if they are divorced, separated, and/or do not share the same household.

• Complete the FAFSAThe Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used to determine eligibility for state and federal grants, scholarships, and loans. The FAFSA can be completed on the Federal Student Aid website. and the CSS Profile™ with the income, asset, and other information of the parent (and stepparent, if applicable) that provides the majority of your financial support. If you receive an equal amount of financial support from each parent, provide information from the parent with the higher income and assets. It does not matter which parent the student lives with, or which parent claims the student as an exemption for tax purposes.
• Parents who live in the same household, regardless of legal status, or who reside separately for employment purposes only, are not considered “separated” in this context, and information for both parents must be reported on your CSS Profile™ and FAFSAThe Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used to determine eligibility for state and federal grants, scholarships, and loans. The FAFSA can be completed on the Federal Student Aid website..
• The income, asset, and other information of the other “noncustodialIf your biological or adoptive parents are divorced, separated, and/or do not share the same household, your noncustodial parent is the parent who provides less support for you than your custodial parent. parent” (and their spouse, if applicable) is entered on their CSS Profile™ using a separate log-in. This “noncustodialIf your biological or adoptive parents are divorced, separated, and/or do not share the same household, your noncustodial parent is the parent who provides less support for you than your custodial parent. parent” information will be appended to the student’s CSS Profile™ later. Their “noncustodialIf your biological or adoptive parents are divorced, separated, and/or do not share the same household, your noncustodial parent is the parent who provides less support for you than your custodial parent. parent” information is not required or reported on the FAFSAThe Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used to determine eligibility for state and federal grants, scholarships, and loans. The FAFSA can be completed on the Federal Student Aid website..
• Submit a CSS Profile Waiver Request for the NoncustodialIf your biological or adoptive parents are divorced, separated, and/or do not share the same household, your noncustodial parent is the parent who provides less support for you than your custodial parent. Parent form if getting a CSS Profile™ from the other (noncustodialIf your biological or adoptive parents are divorced, separated, and/or do not share the same household, your noncustodial parent is the parent who provides less support for you than your custodial parent.) parent will be impossible.
• Parents will not be able to view each other’s CSS Profile™ information because they will have created separate log-in accounts. Boston University will not disclose, electronically or otherwise, the income and asset information of a divorced/separated parent to the other parent.
• When a divorced or separated parent contacts us on a student’s behalf, we ask for clarification regarding their status as either the custodial or noncustodialIf your biological or adoptive parents are divorced, separated, and/or do not share the same household, your noncustodial parent is the parent who provides less support for you than your custodial parent. parent so we can ensure the confidentiality of each party’s personal information.

Questions?

The College Board provides more information for students with parents who do not share the same household.