College Expenses

The obligation of a divorced parent to pay for the child’s college expenses or trade school will depend on the state in which the parents live and any agreement between the parents regarding such expenses.

Courts in some states will require parents to pay for a child’s college expenses, assuming the parents can afford it and the child is a good enough student to benefit from college. Courts in these states reason that the child’s parents probably would have helped pay for the child’s education had the marriage remained intact and that the child’s education should not suffer because of the divorce.

In other states, however, a parent’s obligation to pay support ceases when the child reaches the age of majority (or graduates high school), and thus the parents are not obliged to pay for the child’s college education. Courts in these states note that married parents are not required to pay for their child’s college expenses, and, therefore, divorced parents are not required to do so either.

Regardless of the state’s law regarding compulsory payment of college expenses, the mother and father can agree as part of their divorce settlement to pay for these costs. Courts usually will enforce those agreements.

Children generally are expected to help pay for their college education and related expenses by working at summer jobs and using some of their own savings. The parents’ obligation to pay, if there is such an obligation, will depend on the amount of income and assets of the parents. A parent with low income usually will not be expected to pay for the child’s college education.