fbpx

The Wall Street Journal: College financial-aid loophole: Wealthy parents transfer guardianship of their teens to get aid

The Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2019: College financial-aid loophole: Wealthy parents transfer guardianship of their teens to get aid

Amid an intense national furor over the fairness of college admissions, the Education Department is looking into a tactic that has been used in some suburbs here, in which wealthy parents transfer legal guardianship of their college-bound children to relatives or friends so the teens can claim financial aid, say people familiar with the matter.

The strategy caught the department’s attention amid a spate of guardianship transfers here. It means that only the children’s earnings were considered in their financial-aid applications, not the family income or savings. That has led to awards of scholarships and access to federal financial aid designed for the poor, these people said.

Several universities in Illinois say they are looking into the practice, which is legal.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Scroll to Top