How to include college expenses in a divorce settlement

Last updated 2026-07-11

Can a divorce settlement legally require parents to pay for college?

Yes, but the answer depends entirely on your state, and the gap between states is enormous. About 29 states and the District of Columbia let a family court order divorced parents to contribute to post-secondary educational expenses, even though most of those same states would never order married parents to do the same ^[1]. The theory is simple: children of divorce shouldn't end up worse off than children of intact families, so the court steps in where the family unit broke down.

In the other states, courts have no power to compel college support once a child hits the age of majority (18, 19, or 21, depending on where you live). That doesn't push college costs off the table. It means any deal you reach has to be voluntary and written into your settlement agreement as a contract, not a court order. From there, enforceability rides on contract law, not family law.

So before you write a single word into your divorce paperwork, look up your state's rule. Start at your state court's self-help center. Most states publish their family law statutes in plain English there ^[2].

Which states actually allow courts to order college support?

The states that give courts explicit authority to order educational support (sometimes called "post-secondary educational support") include Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Oregon, Missouri, Indiana, Connecticut, and about 20 more ^[1]. The specific rules vary a lot.

New Jersey has a deep body of case law going back to Newburgh v. Arrigo (1982), which laid out a multi-factor test courts use to decide how much each parent should pay ^[3]. Washington's statute, RCW 26.19.090, lets courts order support for post-secondary education up to age 23 ^[4]. Indiana Code 31-16-6-2 authorizes educational support as part of a child support order ^[9]. Massachusetts allows support for a child in school up to age 23 ^[10].

Contrast that with Texas or Georgia, where courts lose all authority once child support ends. In those states, a college cost provision only has teeth if you frame it as a contract between the spouses, not an order directed at a parent-child duty.

Here's a rough map of the landscape:

State category	Examples	Court authority to order?
Strong statutory authority	New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Indiana	Yes, up to a specific age
Limited or case-law-based authority	New York, Oregon, Missouri	Yes, with conditions
No court authority	Texas, Florida, Georgia, California	No; contract only
Age of majority matters	Most states end support at 18 or 19	Check your state statute

Not sure where your state lands? The National Conference of State Legislatures tracks post-secondary education support laws by state ^[1].

Some background on how divorce papers work helps before you draft any specialized provision.

What specific college expenses can you include in the agreement?

This is where most do-it-yourself agreements collapse. People write "we'll split college costs" and stop. That phrase is nearly impossible to enforce because nobody defined what "college costs" even means.

List every category out loud. Common line items:

• Tuition (and whether in-state public tuition is the ceiling, or actual tuition wherever the child enrolls)
• Room and board (on-campus only, or off-campus housing too?)
• Required fees
• Books and required course materials
• A laptop or computer, up to a stated dollar limit
• Health insurance premium if the child falls off a parent's plan
• Study abroad, if you're willing to cover it
• Transportation to and from school each semester

Expenses almost always left out: car payments, entertainment, clothing, optional travel, Greek life fees, spring break trips. Write those exclusions in too. Ambiguity is the enemy here.

Financial aid changes the math. Most well-drafted agreements require the child to apply for all available grants and scholarships, with any amounts received cutting the parents' combined obligation proportionally. Skip that language and one parent might argue the other should have pushed the child to find more aid.

How do you split the cost between parents?

There's no universal formula. Courts in states like New Jersey and Washington weigh each parent's income and resources, so the split might land at 60/40 or 70/30 instead of even ^[3][4]. Negotiating on your own, you can agree to any split you both find fair.

Three common structures:

1. Proportional to income. Each parent pays a share equal to their slice of combined gross income. One parent earns $80,000, the other $40,000, and the split is roughly 67/33. Easy to calculate, and it mirrors how child support guidelines already work.

2. Fixed dollar amount per parent per year. Clean and predictable, but it ages badly. In-state tuition at a four-year public university averaged $11,260 in 2024-2025, according to the College Board ^[5]. A number that feels fair today can be way off in six years.

3. One parent pays tuition, the other pays room and board. Divides by expense type rather than percentage. Works well when one parent already has a 529 plan built up for tuition.

Whatever you pick, put a total annual dollar cap in the agreement. Without one, a parent who agreed to "pay tuition" could theoretically owe $60,000 a year for a private school. Many courts and negotiating parties set the cap at the current in-state tuition at the state's flagship public university, no matter where the child actually enrolls ^[3].

What conditions and requirements should you build in?

A good college support clause reads like a small contract tucked inside your settlement agreement. Here are the conditions most family law practitioners include, drawn from what courts have found reasonable.

Enrollment requirements. The child must be enrolled full-time (or at least half-time, if you specify) at an accredited institution. Define "accredited" as regionally accredited to shut out disputes about online diploma mills.

Academic performance. A minimum GPA is standard, usually 2.0 on a 4.0 scale to keep eligibility. Some agreements go to 2.5. Push above 3.0 and you start fighting over a B+ versus an A-, which probably isn't worth it.

Notice and documentation. The paying parent typically gets 30 days from the due date to receive an invoice before a bill counts as overdue. Require the child (or receiving parent) to hand over enrollment verification, semester grade reports, and tuition invoices directly to the paying parent. Without this, the paying parent is flying blind on whether conditions are met.

Age limit. Set a hard cutoff. Common picks are age 22, 23, or 24, or a maximum number of undergraduate years (usually 4 or 5). Most statutes that allow these orders cap them at 23 ^[4].

Child's cooperation. Some agreements require the child to authorize both parents to receive academic records straight from the school. Include this. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) hands enrolled students control over their own records once they turn 18, so without a signed FERPA release the paying parent may have no way to verify grades ^[6].

How does a 529 college savings plan factor into the settlement?

If either parent opened a 529 plan during the marriage, it's a marital asset in most states and gets divided like any other marital asset ^[7]. This is one of the messier corners of divorce finance.

The account owner matters. A 529 is legally owned by the account holder, not the beneficiary (the child). If it's in your spouse's name, you can negotiate to have them keep it for the child's education, take a cash payment equal to a share of the balance, or transfer ownership. The IRS allows rollovers between family members without penalty, so a plan set up for one child can roll to a sibling, or a parent can change the beneficiary to themselves and re-designate later ^[7].

The practical move in most settlements: agree the 529 stays intact for the child's education and doesn't get liquidated. Then credit the balance toward the college expense obligation. If the plan holds $40,000 and each parent was going to contribute $30,000, you might agree the $40,000 covers the first slice of combined obligation before the proportional split kicks in.

Want both parents contributing going forward? The settlement can require annual contributions up to a stated amount. Just know that enforcing a stream of future contributions is harder than enforcing a single lump sum.

What language should the settlement agreement actually say?

Specific language matters more than almost anything else in this clause. Here's the kind of provision that holds up, in plain terms (this is illustrative language, not legal advice, and you should have an attorney review any provision before you sign):

"Both parties agree to contribute to the post-secondary educational expenses of the children as follows. Father shall pay 60% and Mother shall pay 40% of qualifying educational expenses, based on their respective proportional incomes at the time of this agreement. Qualifying expenses include tuition, mandatory fees, and required course materials at any regionally accredited two-year or four-year institution, capped at the then-current annual in-state tuition rate at [State] University for the applicable academic year. Room and board shall be included if the child resides on campus or within 50 miles of the institution. Each parent's obligation is conditioned on the child maintaining a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA, enrolling in at least 12 credit hours per semester, applying for all available need-based and merit-based financial aid, and providing each parent with copies of tuition bills and grade reports within 30 days of issuance. This obligation terminates upon the child reaching age 23, completing an undergraduate degree, or failing to meet the above conditions for two consecutive semesters, whichever occurs first."

Dense, yes. But every phrase does work. Compare it to "the parties will contribute to college expenses as agreed" and the difference jumps out.

If you're building your own divorce documents, the DivorceClear $149 document packet includes a settlement agreement template with a dedicated educational support section you can adapt for your state. Check whether your state's standard form already has this section, since several states now include it in their marital settlement agreement forms.

Can you modify a college support agreement later if circumstances change?

If the provision is a court order (in a state that allows educational support orders), you can usually modify it by returning to court and showing a substantial change in circumstances, the same standard used for child support ^[2]. Income loss, disability, and a big jump in tuition all qualify as substantial changes in most places.

If the provision is a contract clause (in a state without court authority, or drafted as a purely voluntary agreement), ordinary contract law governs. Both parties have to agree in writing. One side can't change the terms alone, and courts are reluctant to rewrite private contracts absent fraud or impossibility.

That distinction has real bite. In a state where the court has no jurisdiction over educational support, the remedy for breach is a civil breach-of-contract lawsuit, not a family court enforcement motion. Civil litigation runs slower and usually costs more. Some practitioners in those states draft in a liquidated damages provision (a pre-set amount owed for each missed payment) to make enforcement cleaner.

See our overview of child support calculator tools for how income changes affect support math in your state.

How does this interact with regular child support?

In most states, regular child support ends when the child turns 18 or graduates high school, whichever is later. College support, where it exists, is a separate obligation that either overlaps for a year or two or picks up right after child support ends ^[4].

The tricky case is the child living at college. If the child is away at school and not living primarily with either parent, some states allow a modification to base child support because the residential parent's day-to-day costs dropped. The logic: room and board at college replaces the housing cost that child support was covering at the custodial home. New Jersey courts routinely address this overlap and often trim direct child support payments when a college contribution order is in place.

You don't want to pay full child support and full room and board for the same child at the same time. Your settlement agreement should tackle this overlap head-on. A common fix: child support drops to a reduced amount (or zero) during semesters the child lives on campus, and the college support obligation covers housing instead.

Working through the broader financial picture? Our page on alimony covers how spousal support interacts with these calculations.

What if one parent refuses to include college costs at all?

In a state with court authority, you can ask the court to order educational support even over your spouse's objection. The court then applies a multi-factor balancing test, weighing the child's academic record, the parents' financial ability, the child's own resources, and sometimes the child's relationship with the paying parent ^[3].

In a state without court authority, the court gives you nothing to push with. Your options are negotiation, mediation, and accepting that college support won't be in the order. Some parents restructure other assets instead: keeping a larger share of liquid assets they can later spend on college, or negotiating a bigger 529 contribution now as part of property division, since property division exists in every state.

Mediation is worth a shot before you give up. A neutral mediator can sometimes get parents to a framework when direct talks have stalled. Mediation fees typically run $100 to $300 per hour in most markets, and sessions usually last two to four hours. That's far cheaper than paying a divorce attorney to litigate the point in a state where the court might not even have authority to order it.

For the overall cost picture, understanding the divorce rate in America and how finances typically shake out can help you decide what's worth fighting for.

What mistakes should you avoid when drafting this provision?

A few patterns show up again and again in disputes over college support clauses.

No cap on costs. Without a ceiling tied to a public university benchmark or a specific dollar figure, the obligation can balloon past anything anyone imagined. Private university tuition averaged $41,540 per year in 2024-2025, nearly four times in-state public costs ^[5]. Skip the cap and that gap becomes a real problem.

No requirement to apply for aid. If the settlement doesn't require the child to chase financial aid, scholarships, and grants, neither parent has any reason to help the child cut costs. That's money left on the floor, and it breeds resentment.

Forgetting about taxes. The IRS no longer allows a deduction for college tuition the way it once did; the tuition and fees deduction expired after 2020 ^[8]. The American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit go to whoever claims the child as a dependent, which is its own negotiation in the settlement. Spell out who claims the dependency exemption each year, because that decides who can claim the education credits.

No plan for a dropout. Include a provision that the obligation pauses or terminates if the child withdraws, and that any unspent funds (like a tuition refund) come back to or get credited to the paying parent.

And maybe the most practical miss: leaving the child out of the conversation entirely. The child is 18 and a legal adult when college starts. If they haven't authorized release of their academic records and won't cooperate, enforcement gets very hard no matter what the settlement says.

How do you actually put this into your divorce paperwork?

The college support provision goes into your marital settlement agreement (MSA), also called a property settlement agreement or divorce agreement depending on the state. It belongs in the section covering children, usually alongside or right after the child support terms.

Some states hand you standardized MSA forms that already include a checkbox or short field for educational support. Check your state court's self-help center first to see what they publish ^[2]. If your state's form has no educational support section, add it as a rider or addendum incorporated by reference into the main agreement.

Once both parties sign the MSA and the court approves it as part of your divorce decree, the clause becomes part of a court order (in states with jurisdiction) or a court-approved contract (in states without). Either way, it gets filed with the court and becomes public record.

DivorceClear's document packet can help you build a complete, state-appropriate settlement agreement at a fraction of attorney cost. That said, if your situation is genuinely complicated (one parent's income swings wildly, or the child has special circumstances), a one-time review from a divorce lawyer before you finalize is worth the money. An hour of attorney review is a different thing from full representation.

The goal is a document specific enough that if either party dies, remarries, or has a major income change, a judge reading it cold can still enforce it without guessing what you meant.

Frequently asked questions

Is college support the same as child support?

No. Regular child support covers a child's basic needs while they're a minor and typically ends at 18 or 19. College support, also called post-secondary educational support, is a separate obligation that applies to adult children in school. About 29 states allow courts to order it; in the rest, it's a voluntary contractual agreement between the divorcing parents.

Can I include college expenses in my divorce settlement even if my state doesn't require it?

Yes. Even where courts have no authority to order college support, you and your spouse can voluntarily agree to it and put it in writing in your marital settlement agreement. The court will typically approve and incorporate that agreement into your divorce decree, making it enforceable as a contract. The enforcement mechanism differs from a court-ordered obligation, but the commitment is real.

What happens if my child gets scholarships or financial aid after we've already set the college support terms?

If your agreement requires the child to apply for all available aid and says any amounts received reduce the parents' combined obligation proportionally, scholarships just cut what each parent owes. If you skipped that language, you may pay the agreed amount even when a scholarship covers part of tuition. Always build in a financial aid offset clause.

Does college support end if the child decides not to go to college?

Yes, a well-drafted agreement ties the obligation to actual enrollment at an accredited institution. If the child doesn't enroll or drops out, the obligation should pause or terminate. Build in language addressing a gap year, a leave of absence, or a transfer. Without these provisions, you may fight over whether the obligation is merely suspended or permanently ended.

Can the court modify the college support amount after the divorce is final?

In states where educational support is a court order, yes: either parent can petition to modify based on a substantial change in circumstances, like significant income loss or a dramatic tuition increase. If the college support is a purely contractual provision in a state without court authority, modification requires mutual written agreement. One party cannot modify unilaterally either way.

Who gets the tax credit for college tuition after divorce?

The American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit go to whoever claims the child as a dependent for that tax year. That's a separate negotiation in the settlement. The old tuition and fees deduction expired after 2020 and is no longer available. Make sure your settlement specifies who claims the dependency exemption each year, because that directly affects who takes the education credit.

What if my spouse is ordered to pay but just doesn't?

If the provision is a court order, you can file a contempt motion in family court. Contempt remedies include wage garnishment, liens on property, and in some cases jail time. If it's a contractual obligation, you'd file a civil breach of contract lawsuit. Civil litigation is slower and more expensive, which is one reason practitioners in states without court authority draft the obligation as carefully as they can.

Does the child have to attend a four-year university, or does community college count?

Your agreement should specify. Many parents include both two-year and four-year accredited institutions, which keeps more options open for the child. If you only wrote "university" and the child enrolls at a community college, you may hit an unnecessary dispute. Specifying "any regionally accredited two-year or four-year institution" covers the typical range without leaving a gap.

What age does college support typically end?

Most state statutes that allow educational support orders cap the obligation at age 23 or 24, or upon completing an undergraduate degree, whichever comes first. Washington State's statute, for example, sets age 23. In voluntary agreements, parents can choose any cutoff they agree on, though ages 22 to 24 are the most common. Your agreement should state both an age limit and a completion cap.

How does attending an out-of-state or private school affect the obligation?

Without a cap, a parent who agreed to pay tuition could owe $60,000 or more per year at a private university. Most well-drafted agreements cap the obligation at the current in-state tuition at the state's flagship public university, regardless of where the child enrolls. The child can still attend a pricier school; the parents just aren't required to cover the difference beyond the cap.

Can a parent be ordered to pay for graduate school too?

Generally no. Most state statutes and most voluntary agreements limit educational support to undergraduate education. A few agreements voluntarily extend to a first professional degree (law, medicine, dentistry) if the parents negotiated it, but courts rarely order it, and it's unusual even in voluntary settlements. Stick to undergraduate as the default unless you have a specific reason to go further.

Should I involve a lawyer to draft the college expense provision?

For most straightforward situations, a detailed written agreement using clear, specific language is achievable without full legal representation, especially in an uncontested divorce. If your incomes are complex, one parent is self-employed, or you have significant 529 assets, a one-time attorney review is worth the cost. An hour of review is far cheaper than a modification lawsuit years later over ambiguous terms.

What if we have multiple children with different ages and different college timelines?

The agreement should address each child individually, since their timelines, academic situations, and available aid will differ. The simplest approach: set the same framework (same percentage split, same cap, same conditions) for all children, with each child's obligation triggered separately when they enroll. Avoid language that treats all children as one combined obligation, which creates confusion when one child attends and another doesn't.

Does remarriage by either parent affect the college support obligation?

In most states, a parent's remarriage does not automatically reduce their college support obligation. The new spouse's income is generally not counted unless the state specifically includes stepparent income in its educational support calculation, which is rare. Your agreement should say explicitly that remarriage by either party does not terminate or reduce the obligation, if that's your intent, to head off future arguments.

Sources

1. National Conference of State Legislatures, Post-Secondary Educational Support: About 29 states and the District of Columbia allow courts to order parents to contribute to post-secondary educational expenses after divorce
2. U.S. Courts, Self-Represented Litigants Resources: State court self-help centers publish family law statutes and plain-English guides for self-represented litigants
3. New Jersey Courts, Newburgh v. Arrigo (1982) and Educational Support Factors: New Jersey courts apply a multi-factor test from Newburgh v. Arrigo (1982) to determine college support amounts, and commonly cap obligation at the in-state flagship public university tuition rate
4. Washington State Legislature, RCW 26.19.090, Post-Secondary Educational Support: Washington State law (RCW 26.19.090) allows courts to order post-secondary educational support up to age 23
5. College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2024-25: Average in-state tuition at a four-year public university was $11,260 in 2024-2025; average private university tuition was $41,540 per year in 2024-2025
6. U.S. Department of Education, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): Under FERPA, enrolled students age 18 and over control their own academic records and must authorize release to parents
7. IRS, Topic No. 313, Qualified Tuition Programs (529 Plans): A 529 plan owner can roll over funds or change the beneficiary to another family member without penalty; the account is owned by the account holder, not the beneficiary
8. IRS, Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education: The tuition and fees deduction expired after tax year 2020; the American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit are available to the taxpayer who claims the dependent student
9. Indiana Code 31-16-6-2, Educational Needs of Child: Indiana statute explicitly authorizes courts to order educational support for post-secondary education as part of a child support order
10. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 208 Section 28, Support of Children: Massachusetts law allows courts to order support for a child attending school up to age 23, including college expenses