Independent or Dependent?

Every year without fail, I get a lot of questions regarding dependency status on the FAFSA. So many questions in fact, that I decided it would make a good topic for a post! Below you will find a list of considerations for dependency status. If none of the below applies, you are considered a dependent student and must report your parent's information on your FAFSA in order to be eligible for financial aid. Please note that being a dependent on the FAFSA has a different definition than being considered a dependent for tax purposes, so it is important to understand the distinction.

Finally, there are some allowances for unique situations with regard to dependency status. If you feel like you have a unique situation, please contact your financial aid office. Overriding a dependency status is not common and typically requires a lot of documentation. Some examples of reasons for a dependency override would include a history of abuse or neglect, a deceased mother with no knowledge of the father, or missing parents. Sadly, paying your own way doesn't count as independence in the eyes of the Department of Education. All decisions are at the discretion of your financial aid office, so please check with them!

You were born before January 1, 1989

You are or will be enrolled in a masters or Doctoral degree program at the beginning of the school year

You are married on the day you file your FAFSA

You are a parent

You have dependents other than your spouse who live with you and who receive more than half their support from you at the time you apply

Both your parents are deceased (or were until age 18) a ward of dependent of the court

You are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training

You're a Veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces

You were a foster child after the age of 13

You are an emancipated child as determined by a court judge

You are homeless or at risk of homelessness as determined by the director of a HUD approved homeless shelter, transitional program, or high school liaison

Filing out the FAFSA

Hi Readers! To get things started, I wanted to tell you a little bit about what you will need to do to prepare to complete your FAFSA (Federal Application for Federal Student Aid). The new 2012-13 FAFSA is now available and can be found here: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. Before completing the FAFSA, you will need to complete the following steps:

a) “Register for a PIN.” This PIN will act as your electronic signature for your online financial aid applications. The PIN website is: www.pin.ed.gov. Please request that the PIN be emailed to you.

b) Complete the FAFSA for the 2012-13 award year. You will need to have your PIN and corresponding federal taxes for 2011 to complete the FAFSA on the web.

c) If you are a dependent student, your parent must also register for a PIN and fill out their portion of the FAFSA.

With the 2012-13 FAFSA, you will have the option of importing your tax information directly from the IRS. Please note that if you would like to use this option, you will need to wait at least two weeks in you filed electronically or eight weeks if you filed traditionally. Choosing this option will make it easier to ensure that you're not missing anything that could impact your eligibility. Next time, I will be back to discuss the dependency status questions.

Welcome to: Help From A Financial Aid Guru

Hello everyone and welcome to my new blog: Help From A Financial Aid Guru! As someone with years of experience as an Associate Director of Financial Aid, I am in a good position to be able to provide assistance!

Here I plan on discussing relevant information in order to assist students and their parents to navigate the federal financial aid world. I will also post any questions I receive from readers along with answers. While I will do my best to help in as many situations possible, please keep in mind that financial aid is highly variable and depends on a number of different factors. As such, I may not be able to answer questions relating to the specific award package you received from your institution. If you're ever unsure as to whether or not I will be able to answer your question, please go ahead and ask anyway! I will do my absolute best to help get the information you need in order to help you find ways to fund your education.