Child Support and College Tuition

Child Support and College Tuition

By M. Scott Gordon

In Illinois, child support laws require that both parents support their children. In general, noncustodial parents in a  divorce or parentage case have an obligation to support their children until they turn 18 or complete high school (where a child is still in high school after turning 18, the parents still will be obligated to pay support up until the point that the child turns 19 years old or graduates from high school). In other cases, such as those where a child cannot support himself or herself, or in situations where a child is disabled, the support obligation can continue beyond the child’s eighteenth birthday.

But what about children who turn 18 and go off to college? Is there any kind of child support obligation in Illinois? Illinois law states that both parents must help with college expenses. Yet a recent article in Slate suggests that child support for college students is quite a controversial matter.

Rising College Costs, Rising Child Support Costs?

A recent case in New Jersey reverberated in states across the country. A college student, Caitlyn Ricci, used the legal system to get thousands of dollars from her divorced parents for college costs.  The issue in that case was that a child sued both divorced parents; in Illinois (currently) only one "ex" can sue the other "ex" on behalf of a child for college expenses.  But it sometimes comes as a shock to parents that they can be forced to pay for college.

When judges in Illinois and throughout the U.S. rule that noncustodial parents must contribute to their children’s college expenses, are they changing the nature of child support? Is it actually becoming an obligation that doesn’t, in fact, end at the age of majority? And how much money can parents be responsible for once their children go off to attend various universities and liberal arts colleges?

In-State Versus Out-of-State Tuition

Are parents obligated to pay for any college? Or do these costs only extend to the lowest-cost option?

In-state tuition expenses for public universities are much less than the out-of-state expenses for private (or even public) colleges and universities. Do divorced parents have an obligation to help pay for either option? Or must children choose the lower-cost school if they want to have financial assistance from a parent? In general, courts tend to look at each situation on a case-by-case basis, although many Judge's will limit a parent's obligation to the cost of, say, the University of Illinois.

We’ll need to wait and see how cases like these continue to proceed in Illinois. In the meantime, if you have questions about child support, contact an experienced Chicago family law attorney at M. Scott Gordon & Associates today to learn more about how we can assist you.