|
You'll need to know whose financial information to
report on your federal student aid application—yours
or yours and your parents' information.
|
When
you apply for federal student aid, your answers
to the questions in Step 3 of the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) (or in Step
2 of the online FAFSA on the Web) determine
whether you're considered dependent or independent.
|
Dependent students must report their parents'
income and assets as well as their own on the FAFSA.
Our programs are based on the concept that a dependent
student's parents have the primary responsibility for
their child's education.
Independent students report only their own income
and assets (and those of a spouse, if married). Note
that not living with your parents or not being claimed
by them on the tax form does not necessarily qualify
you as independent.
Although you're not applying for federal student
aid in the 2005-2006 academic year, let's assume
you are. You would be considered an independendent
student ONLY IF at least one of the following
criteria applied to you:
You were born before January 1, 1982.
You are or will be enrolled in a master's
or doctorate program (beyond a bachelor's degree)
at the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year.
You're married as of the day you apply (or,
you're separated but not divorced).
You have children who receive more than half
their support from you.
You have dependents (other than your children
or spouse) who live with you and who receive
more than half their support from you, at the
time you apply and through June 30, 2006.
Both your parents are deceased, or you are
(or were until age 18) a ward or dependent of
the court.
You're a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces.
(A "veteran" includes students who
attended a U.S. service academy and who were
released under a condition other than dishonorable.
For more detail on who is considered a veteran,
see the explanatory notes on the FAFSA.)
If none of these criteria applied to you
for 2005-2006, you would be considered dependent.
|
If I'm considered a dependent student
at the time I apply, but my parents are divorced or
separated, whose information would I report on the FAFSA?
You report information about the parent you lived with
for the greater amount of time during the 12 months
preceding the date of application. If you didn't live
with either parent, or if you lived with each parent
an equal number of days, you would use information about
the parent who provided the greater amount of financial
support during the 12 months preceding the date of application.
If you didn't receive any parental financial support
during that time, you must report information about
the parent who most recently provided
the greater amount of parental support.
If the parent you receive financial support from was
a single parent who is now married, or the parent was
divorced or widowed but has remarried, your stepparent's
financial information is required on the FAFSA. This
does not mean your stepparent is obligated to give financial
assistance to you, but his or her income and assets
represent significant information about the family's
resources. Including this information on the FAFSA helps
us form an accurate picture of your family's total financial
strength.
When it's time to apply, I'll be
considered a dependent student, but I have no contact
with my parents. What do I do about reporting their
income?
In unusual cases, an aid administrator can determine
that a student who doesn't meet the independent student
criteria above should nevertheless be treated as an
independent student. The financial aid administrator
can change your dependency status from dependent to
independent based on adequate documentation of your
special circumstances. You must provide this documentation.
But, the aid administrator won't automatically change
your status. That decision is based on the aid administrator's
judgment and is final — you can't
appeal that decision to us.
|
