In Illinois, a divorce court can order one or both parents to help pay for their child’s college education, even after the child turns 18. The authority comes from Section 513 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/513), and it is one of the more consequential financial obligations that can outlast a divorce. Illinois college expenses for divorced parents are capped by default at what the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign charges in-state, generally cover costs incurred before the child turns 23, and end when the child earns a bachelor’s degree or triggers one of the statute’s other cutoffs.
Who Can Ask a Court to Order College Contributions
Either parent can file a Section 513 petition. The child usually cannot. The statute is explicit that the child is not a third-party beneficiary of the parents’ settlement agreement or divorce judgment, so a student who wants help paying tuition cannot walk into court and demand it directly from either parent. The one exception is narrow: if the parent who would have filed dies or becomes legally incapacitated, the child may file the petition themselves.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
File Before the Bills Start
Timing is the single most important practical point in a Section 513 case. The statute makes the obligation retroactive only to the date the petition is filed. Expenses paid before that date are gone. The Illinois Supreme Court confirmed this in In re Marriage of Petersen, treating a Section 513 petition as a modification of support under Section 510 so that recovery reaches only installments accruing after notice of filing.2Illinois Courts. Petersen v. Petersen, 2011 IL 110984
The mother in Petersen waited and then tried to collect for tuition already paid. She lost that portion. If you expect to seek contribution from your former spouse, file when the child begins applying, not after the first semester’s invoices come due.
What Counts as a College Expense
Section 513 reaches further than tuition, but the two largest categories are capped. Absent good cause to exceed it, the maximum contribution for tuition and fees is what the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign charges in-state that year. Housing is capped the same way, matched to the cost of a double-occupancy dorm room with a standard meal plan at U of I. Parents should look up the current U of I rates for the academic year in question, because those numbers are the statutory ceiling.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
Beyond tuition and housing, a court can order parents to cover medical and dental expenses including health insurance premiums, reasonable living expenses for a student on campus or commuting from home, and books and required supplies.
The statute also lets a court order parents to fund up to five college applications, two standardized entrance exams, and one test-prep course. This can be ordered before any formal expense award is in place, which catches many parents off guard.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
How Courts Divide the Cost Between Parents
Section 513 gives judges four factors to weigh when deciding who pays what:1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
- Each parent’s financial resources, including income, assets, debts, and future earning capacity. Retirement savings count, so a 401(k) is not a shield. Courts can also impute income to a parent who is voluntarily underemployed.
- The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage continued. If the family had always planned and saved for a four-year school, that expectation becomes the benchmark.
- The child’s own financial resources. Scholarships, savings, trust income, and part-time work reduce what the parents owe.
- The child’s academic performance. Consistently poor grades can reduce or end support, because the statute ties termination to maintaining a “C” average.
A new spouse’s or partner’s income can enter the picture insofar as it shapes a parent’s overall financial situation, but courts tend to treat it cautiously rather than as a direct funding source.
When the Obligation Ends
By default, covered expenses must be incurred before the student’s 23rd birthday. On a showing of good cause, a court can extend the cutoff to 25, but no further.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
The obligation also terminates automatically when any of these happens first:
- The child’s cumulative GPA falls below a “C,” unless illness or other good cause explains the drop.
- The child earns a baccalaureate degree.
- The child marries.
Several life events people assume would end the obligation do not. Enlisting in the military, being incarcerated, or becoming pregnant does not by itself terminate the court’s authority. A parent who stops paying based on one of those events may still owe when the child returns to school.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
Section 513 does not reach graduate or professional school. Once the child holds a bachelor’s degree, the court’s authority ends. Parents can voluntarily agree in a settlement to fund a graduate program, but no court can order it under this section.
FAFSA, Transcripts, and Access to Records
Once a court is involved, cooperation with the financial aid process is not optional. A court can order both parents and the child to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and submit it before the federal deadline, regardless of whether anyone expects to qualify for need-based aid.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
Which parent completes the FAFSA contributor section matters, because it affects the Student Aid Index and the aid package. Under current federal rules, the parent who provided more than half of the child’s financial support over the prior 12 months is the FAFSA contributor. If support was equal, it falls to the parent with greater income or assets.3Federal Student Aid. Special Cases A lower-income filing parent can mean substantially more aid, which lowers what both parents owe under Section 513.
Section 513 also requires the child to sign a consent allowing both parents to see academic transcripts, grade reports, and enrollment records. The consent is limited to academic records; personal and disciplinary files are not included. If the child refuses, the court can modify or terminate the expense order. Unless there is a safety concern, each parent is also entitled to know which school the child attends.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
Changing or Challenging an Order
Either parent can ask the court to modify or terminate a Section 513 order when circumstances change. Job loss, disability, a significant income drop, or the child’s failure to maintain academic eligibility are all common grounds. The court reapplies the same four statutory factors.
Parents defending against a Section 513 claim, or seeking to reduce one, typically raise:
- Undue hardship, supported by detailed financial disclosures. Vague claims of financial difficulty rarely persuade.
- The child’s own resources, including meaningful scholarships, savings, or trust income that should shift more of the cost to the student.
- Terms of a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement addressing college expenses, which carry weight, especially when both parties were represented by counsel.
To reduce the risk of money going astray, a court can order payments made directly to the school or into a trust set up for the purpose rather than routed through the other parent.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5-513 – Educational Expenses for a Non-Minor Child
Taxes and Who Claims the Credit
The American Opportunity Tax Credit is worth up to $2,500 per student per year, with up to $1,000 refundable. Eligibility phases out above $80,000 in modified adjusted gross income for a single filer ($160,000 for married filing jointly).4Internal Revenue Service. American Opportunity Tax Credit
For divorced parents, the trap is that the credit follows the dependent, not the check. When a non-custodial parent pays tuition directly to the school under a court order, the IRS treats the payment as if the student made it. Whichever parent claims the child as a dependent then claims that tuition toward the credit.5Internal Revenue Service. Publication 970 (2025), Tax Benefits for Education If your divorce decree is silent on who claims the child during college years, you may end up funding your ex-spouse’s tax break.
One useful piece of tax planning: tuition paid directly to an educational institution qualifies for the federal gift tax exclusion regardless of amount, so a parent writing large checks to the school does not use up the $19,000 annual gift tax exclusion. Room and board, books, and other non-tuition costs are not covered by this exclusion.6Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes
Settling Without a Trial
Not every Section 513 dispute belongs in a courtroom. Illinois courts routinely encourage mediation for college expense disagreements, and a negotiated agreement can address specifics a judge might not reach, such as school choice, summer expenses, and study-abroad costs. If mediation stalls, arbitration is a faster and more private alternative to a full hearing, and the decision binds both sides. When the parents agree on the goal and only disagree on the split, either path is usually cheaper and less damaging than litigation.