Of course we're all curious to see how the trial is playing out for the famous College Admissions Scandal involving Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman but that isn't the last of college investigations... Illinois parents are taking a hold of beating around the bush when it comes to getting their kiddos into college and this time with legally giving someone else custody so their teen can file independent on their financial aid to accumulate more in scholarships.
Yahoo tells us more on the story:
Dozens of wealthy families in Illinois have reportedly been using a controversial tactic to help their children pay for college: They give up legal guardianship so the teenagers can claim dramatically lower incomes and earn need-based financial aid, according to reports from two news organizations published Monday.
ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal each detailed the efforts in separate articles after uncovering dozens of applications filed by Chicago-area parents to financially divorce themselves from their kids over the past year and a half.
As part of the strategy, wealthy parents allegedly file paperwork to transfer legal custody of their kids to other relatives, friends or even co-workers. When the transfers are complete — often during their junior or senior years of high school — students are then able to declare themselves financially independent on college applications. In one instance detailed by the Journal, a student whose parents owned a $1.2 million home only had to declare $4,200 in income from a summer job.
It's a smart way to do it but in the end, it may not be the best way to get into college. Let's face it, there's no other way to pay for it without facing a large amount of student loans OR paying for it yourself. That's if you don't qualify for scholarships.