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If my son applies for public assistance and does his own financial
aid, will he be able to apply as independent next year? In addition,
(assuming he's able to) would I be able to claim him on my income tax
returns this year? He is 19 years old. My goal is to get him as much
financial aid as possible. I just want to do it the right way.
— Tanya H.
I am a freshman college student who is worried about the amount of
financial aid I will receive next year. I am claiming myself on taxes
this year and figured I would not need to supply my parents tax
information on FAFSA. My parents are not helping pay for my
college education and are not supporting me as their dependent
any longer. Is this true? Is there a way that I can supply only my
tax information since my parents' tax information is no longer
relevant?
— Kristin T.
Students who are dependent for federal student aid purposes must
supply parent information on the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid (FAFSA). Students who are independent do not have to supply their
parents' information and often qualify for more student financial aid
as a result. But students cannot choose to file as independent. There
is a statutory definition that determines which students are
considered independent. Any student who is not independent under the
statutory definition is considered dependent. Most students who are
under age 24 as of December 31 of the award year will be considered
dependent.
Undergraduate students who are under age 24 as of December 31 of the
award year are considered to be dependent for federal student aid
purposes unless they are married, have dependents other than a spouse,
are an orphan, are a veteran or active duty member of the US Armed
Forces or satisfy other very limited criteria. If a student who is
under age 24 doesn't satisfy one of these criteria, the odds of being
considered independent are very slim.
Dependency status for federal student aid purposes is not the same as
dependency status for federal income tax purposes. Students
cannot qualify as independent merely by claiming themselves
as an exemption on their own federal income tax returns, not even if
they are no longer supported by their parents.
Based on data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
(NPSAS), only 11.3% of undergraduate students under age 24 were
independent in 2007-08. (59.7% of undergraduate students were under
age 24. 40.3% of undergraduate students wee independent because they
were age 24 or over and 6.7% of undergraduate students were
independent because of reasons other than age.) Of undergraduate
students under age 24, 6.6% were independent because they have legal
dependents other than a spouse, 3.8% because they were married, 1.1%
because they are orphans, 0.5% because they were veterans of the US
Armed Forces, 0.3% because they were on active duty with the US Armed
Forces and 0.9% because the college financial aid administrator
granted a dependency override due to unusual circumstances. (Only 0.5%
of all undergraduate students are independent because of a dependency
override.) These figures sum to more than 11.3% because about a sixth
of these students were independent for two or more reasons, mostly
because the students were married and also had legal dependents other
than a spouse.
Colleges will not grant a dependency override because the parents
refuse to contribute to the student's education, because the parents
refuse to file the FAFSA or complete verification, because the parents
do not claim the student as a dependent on their federal income tax
returns or because the student is totally self-sufficient. None of
these reasons, not even in combination, is sufficient justification
for a dependency override. Unusual circumstances that may merit a
dependency override, subject to a case-by-case review by and the
professional judgment of the college financial aid administrator,
include an abusive family environment (e.g., court protection from
abuse orders against the parents), abandonment by the parents, or the
incarceration, hospitalization or institutionalization of both
parents.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Income and Financial Aid Eligibility
- How to Deal if Your Parents Won't Pay
- 7 Resources for Returning Students Paying for College
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