Traditionally, student financial aid programs point to the student’s family as the primary source of support for the student’s college education. If you are a student who is considered dependent on your parents according to the federal student aid definition, your eligibility for financial aid is determined by using parental financial information in addition to your own. Dependent students are required by federal regulations to provide parental information along with a parent’s signature on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to be considered for need-based financial aid. Occasionally students who meet the dependent student definition have unusual circumstances that suggest they be considered independent from their parents. In these types of unusual cases, financial aid officials may consider granting a dependency override on a case-by-case basis.
Please note that none of the conditions listed below, either alone or in combination with another, qualify as unusual circumstances or merit a dependency override:
- Parents refuse to contribute to the student’s education;
- Parents are unwilling to provide information on the FAFSA or for FAFSA verification;
- Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes;
- Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.
Unusual circumstances do include :
- Parental abandonment or estrangement (including documented parental abuse or neglect);
- Incarceration of the student or of a parent;
- Human trafficking, as described in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000;
- Student legally granted refugee or asylum status in the U.S.
After reviewing this information, if you feel that your circumstances warrant a dependency override, please follow these steps:
STEP 1
Provide a written statement below that includes the specific unusual family circumstances that cause you to make this request. Be sure to include the whereabouts of your parents (if they are not deceased) along with the last time you received any type of support from them (i.e., housing, food, cash, or expenses paid on your behalf). Also list the names and relationships of persons who have been supporting you financially, or how you are supporting yourself, if that is the case.
