How is financial aid divided between 2 children?
When you file the FAFSA, what is determined is what the family can contribute toward the cost of college. There is a question on the form asking how many will be in college. If there are two in college, the expected parental contribution will essentially be divided by two. Schools then use this adjusted expected family contribution to determine the student’s eligibility for aid. If it is determined that you can contribute $5000 toward the cost of education and you have two in college, your contribution will be adjusted to approximately $2500 for each child. This adjusted expected contribution is then subtracted from the cost of education at each child’s school to determine each child’s financial need for aid.
