
How to get a massive discount on college: get married - jefftk
http://www.jefftk.com/p/how-to-get-a-massive-discount-on-college
======
perlgeek
Just imagine all the possible hilarious dialogs if you do that, and then meet
somebody you actually love andwant to marry. "Technically, I need to divorce
first" \-- "technically?" :-)

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deckar01
I submitted my 2015-2016 FASFA yesterday. They estimated that my Expected
Family Contribution (just me now that I'm 25) was $17,900 based on the $57,000
of taxable income I reported last year. The problem is that the income was
from SF and they have no mechanism for adjusting for cost of living. They did
ask me how much cash I had in the bank and how much I had in assets, but it
didn't seem to affect their estimate. I haven't received the official response
yet.

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jgmmo
They are saying compared to being an dependent on your parents taxes, you are
better off being married.

The real alternative is to file as independent. I would want to know if there
is still a discount to getting married compared to filing as independent.

~~~
aidenn0
Filing as an independent doesn't help. I had a friend who was in all ways
independent (was basically disowned by her parents) and she couldn't qualify
for any FAFSA based aid because she was still required to disclose her parents
assets, and her parents refused to sign the forms to do so.

~~~
eitally
This is the biggest problem for many kids. The system assumes parents are
willing to pay a "fair share", when many are absolutely not, for any number of
reasons. Those kids are penalized and it is completely unfair.

~~~
aidenn0
This was worse than that: her parent's weren't particularly rich, but she
wasn't available for _any_ FAFSA aid, since her parents refused to sign the
disclosure forms.

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vacri
Don't forget to choose someone sane, stable, and who has no element of
vindictiveness to them. Marrying someone means you are legally bound to them -
you get to share responsibility for their debts, and they get to make medical
decisions for you.

This marrying trick would probably work for most people, but it has the
potential to fail explosively.

~~~
cbr
> they get to make medical decisions for you

At least in MA you can fill out healthcare proxy forms [1] to shift this back
to your parents.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_proxy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_proxy)

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anon4
Now that same-sex marriage is legal, would that work if two heterosexual
people technically marry each other? At least then you don't run the risk of
the other party deciding they like this marriage thing and having a very
complicated and uncomfortable time trying to disentangle yourself from them.

~~~
jacalata
Sure, same as it works if a gay guy and lesbian woman get married for legal
reasons now.

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developer1
I'm so tired of the financial benefits that a) married couples, and b)
parents, receive. Being married or having children should provide exactly zero
financial benefit from governments beyond what bachelors/bachelorettes
receive. It makes absolutely no sense that simply hitching yourself to another
person or reproducing magically means you get government handouts. Neither of
these situations provide substantial benefit to society deserving of special
treatment. The discrimination against those of us who remain single is just
mind-blowing.

Every adult should have the same government-mandated financial burden and
reimbursement cheques in the mail. Why shacking up or pumping out kids gives
the adults involved an advantage in their financial livelihoods is ridiculous.
:(

~~~
cheald
Married couples have different tax treatments because of community property
rules, and because the unit of taxation is the household, rather than the
earner. It would be rather regressive to tax a two-person household each
earning $25k/yr at the same rate as a single individual making $50k/yr,
despite the fact that household income is the same. The intent of the
different treatment of married-filing-jointly returns is to attempt to balance
the tax paid by married couples so that it's roughly in line with the taxes
that would be paid by individuals filing separately. This may result in tax
benefits or penalties depending on the earnings status of each of the spouses,
but it's hardly an across-the-board. "Tax divorces" are a thing; high-income
couples may find it financially advantageous to divorce (even if they continue
to live together as a _de facto_ married couple).

As far as kids being an "advantage in their financial livelihoods"...well,
yeah, that's just hilarious. Kids are _expensive_. Tax breaks for kids are a
progressive measure intended to make it slightly easier to afford to provide
for one if you're in the lower echelons of the economy. If you think that
anyone is having kids because of the financial advantages they convey, you're
high.

Regarding the article, the "financial benefit" isn't from being married, it's
from not being a dependent of your parents. There's no married person
favoritism at play here; it's simple dependent eligibility status. You can
achieve the same thing by being 24 years old, or by being legally emancipated.

~~~
learnstats2
> It would be rather regressive to tax a two-person household each earning
> $25k/yr at the same rate as a single individual making $50k/yr, despite the
> fact that household income is the same.

Two individual people earning $25k should pay a lower rate of tax than one
individual earning $50k, yes.

But a marriage-based tax break is not the right way to implement this. Tax
them individually, just like everyone else, with a progressive tax.

The married couple already have significant financial advantages over the
single person: the financial security that comes from having two incomes (or
even from having one person managing the household, if that's what you're
imagining) is huge.

~~~
eitally
But historically, two income households have not been common. This is a recent
(past two generations) turn of events. I agree that a marriage-based tax break
may not have been sensible, although now with gay marriage legal nationwide,
as long as the government also recognizes civil unions, it may be ok and solve
the part of the problem you note.

~~~
plorkyeran
Dual-income families have been the norm for 40 years now, out of the 100 years
that the modern income tax has even existed.

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tatterdemalion
I did this; it worked.

~~~
kctess5
Very nice :)

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kctess5
This does not work everywhere - e.g. MIT

Source: I asked the Fin. Aid department

~~~
dlss
As the author states, this hack is for the FAFSA (the free application for
federal student aid)... And given that FAFSA is listed on
[http://mitadmissions.org/afford/deadlines](http://mitadmissions.org/afford/deadlines)
it looks like it would work with MIT.

~~~
superuser2
FAFSA is only binding for Department of Education money, which is
approximately nothing for a middle-class student at a top-tier school. Most of
the reduction off the $60k sticker price comes from university grants, which
universities can apportion as they see fit. Many use a combination of the
FAFSA, the CSS PROFILE (which is more resistant to asset-hiding), and
sometimes proprietary forms.

~~~
cbr
With CSS PROFILE it sounds like it's just that some schools ask for parents
information anyway:

    
    
        When can a student fill out the PROFILE as an
        independent? A student is considered independent,
        for financial aid consideration, if he or she is
        or has at least one of the following: is at least
        24 years old as of Jan. 1 of the academic year,
        is married, is a graduate or professional student,
        has a legal dependent other than a spouse, is a
        veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, or is an orphan
        or ward of the court (or was a ward of the court
        until age 18). If not, the student is considered
        dependent. A parent refusing to provide support
        for his or her child’s education is not sufficient
        for the child to be declared independent.
    
        Financial aid eligibility is, in part, determined
        by a student’s dependency status. Independent
        students are treated differently from students
        who are dependent on their parents. However, some
        schools and programs require parental information
        on the PROFILE even if the student is considered
        independent based on the criteria above.
    

[https://secure-
media.collegeboard.org/CollegePlanning/media/...](https://secure-
media.collegeboard.org/CollegePlanning/media/pdf/profile-webinar-faqs.pdf)

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honksillet
This is relatively common in the military where being married bumps up your
salary and gives your spouse free health care. One young lady I knew had her
husband take out credit cards in her name. Also, IANAL, but prenups hold
different weight in different states, no?

~~~
zaroth
In the military, getting married to get paid more or to get off-base housing
(a "sham" marriage) will get you jailed and dishonorably discharged. The
housing allowance gained through the sham marriage is technically larceny --
it's a stolen benefit. [1] [2]

I would not be surprised if college kids in a sham marriage to gain financial
aid could be charged with larceny of the financial aid.

Another, less felonious option, is to simply wait until you're 24 to start
going to college full-time. Spend a few years going on some ridiculously
interesting adventures, and another few years trying out various jobs, and you
go to college as a mature adult with some actual life experience and a better
idea of how you want to spend your life? I'm surprised it's not much more
common. I guess if the cutoff was 21 and not 24 it would be an obvious choice,
6 years only works if you can actually start working in your industry of
choice before getting the degree.

[1] -
[http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20121024/NEWS/210240319...](http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20121024/NEWS/210240319/Ex-
GI-s-conviction-spotlights-sham-marriages)

[2] - afcca.law.af.mil/content/afcca_opinions/cp/hall-38241_pub.pdf

~~~
htns
The military might have some luck with such regulations, but I doubt civilian
bureaucracy even pretends to care as long as the marriage actually exists on
paper. It's just not enforceable.

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Blackthorn
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this idea isn't going to catch
on. Sorry.

~~~
jfoster
It's quite a small amount of effort for quite a large gain. The ROI seems
near-certain, if the article is correct.

It may not become the norm, but if the loophole works, there's probably
already some people who are doing this.

~~~
0x5f3759df-i
Especially with the supreme court ruling on gay marriage makes the barrier to
this even smaller.

~~~
Tinyyy
Thats exactly what I was thinking after reading this article. If you don't
want to make it awkward to explain to your future wife who this girl that you
married 10 years ago is, just marry a guy instead.

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incompatible
Don't forget same-sex marriage is now a thing too, if you have trouble finding
friendly members of the opposite sex.

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jamilWinkelbaum
Wow, this could get sketchy like those mail-order brides from Asia or Eastern
Europe if people were to abuse this

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mcphage
This would probably work, but at the same time, is also incredibly depressing.

~~~
ibejoeb
I'm not depressed by it, but I think it verges on silly that such a loophole
exists. Marriages of convenience have been happening for a very long time.
There is at least one really weird one that's been in the news for the past
few months...

It's sort of like taxation. Any system of nontrivial complexity can be gamed.

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burritofanatic
This is easier than going to Germany and learning German.

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dom96
Would this work in other countries? For example the UK?

~~~
EvilPopsicleDog
I believe Student Finance ask whether or not you're financially dependent/
living with your parents, so I'd guess not.

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devsquid
what if i am gay ~>:C .... OH WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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xellisx
What if I'am widowed?

~~~
jacalata
Remarry, duh.

