Unlike child support, the parents' contribution to college expenses is not dictated by a formula or guideline spelled out in the law – it is left to the discretion of the judge.The court must consider many factors – including the income and assets of both parents and the financial resources available to the child, as well as the child's academic performance (good grades tend to get more money, poor grades tend to get less) and the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the parents not divorced.The court may even consider the income of a second spouse and the expenses of a second family as well as the payment or receipt of maintenance (alimony) in making its determination.There is no requirement that judges are restricted to a financial limit equal to the expenses of a state university education. There also is no specific restriction on the type of school that the child may attend. The law covers a "college education or professional or other training,"and that has been held to include trade schools. Some courses of training, however, won't qualify in all circumstances: DeVry Institute of Technology qualified in one case as "an education at the college or university level," but the "Automotive and Diesel College" did not qualify as part of the "college and professional education expenses of the children."The duration of the education is limited, but only in the most broad sense.
-------------------- Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. Isaac Asimov