In divorce actions, where a college education is a consideration, a lawful separation agreement and these are enforceable in court as contracts.

Some jurisdictions consider emancipation is 23 "if [a] child is enrolled in an education program."

Not all jurisdictions hold divorced parents liable for college expenses beyond the age of support without legislative sanction.

The question of college majority for most purposes to eighteen, and about the same time, no-fault divorce caused an increase in divorce rates.

An increasing number of states now hold that parents are responsible for the educational children beyond the age of emancipation. Care should be taken in marital separation agreements to define children still at home. Moreover, college for many young people is now often punctuated by breaks and is no longer a start-to-finish project completed in four years at one place.

In deciding dependent may not draw out his education indefinitely).

In general, in deciding education support issues, courts "make the decision that would have been made if [the parents] were living together as an intact nuclear family."

Sometimes the question of public versus private schools can be difficult. A child attending a private school must demonstrate some advantage to that school rather than a public institution in his or her state of residence.

See Majority; Minority; Emancipation.