Unless agreed to by the parties during a divorce proceeding, a family law judge allocates college expenses for children whose parents are divorced or divorcing. College expenses will include such things like tuition, room and board, supplies, books, and travel to-and-from the educational facility. Generally speaking, a divorce settlement agreement will “reserve” the issue of college expenses and this will not be addressed until a time when a child is close in age to attending college or other post-high school education.

In determining how college expenses will be paid, the court refers to Section 750 ILCS 5/513 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. This Section sets out the following factors that the court will consider in determining allocation for payment of educational expenses: (1) the financial resources of both parents, (2) the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved, (3) the financial resources of the child, and (4) the child’s academic performance. The application of these factors is not mathematical, automatic, or strictly sequential, and the trial court has discretion to allocate these expenses based on all pertinent factors.

Unlike child support which is established by a stated percentage of a parent’s income, payment for college expenses is discretionary by the judge. In determining college expenses, in addition to the factors set forth above, a judge may also consider the income of a second spouse and the expenses of a second family as well as the payment or receipt of maintenance in making its determination. In addition to requiring the parents to help out with college expenses, the child has an obligation and is expected to apply for financial aid and take other steps to help keep costs down such as obtaining scholarships and the like. Additionally, Illinois courts have continuously ruled that the child's relationship to the parent is not relevant in determining to what extent the parent should contribute to educational expenses. Although the support belongs to the child in a technical sense, the issue of whether the child can enforce the right to obtain educational expenses against his or her parents is unsettled and Illinois courts continue to hand down rulings on both sides of the argument.