How Do I Become Independent on the FAFSA If I Am Under Age 24?

How Do I Become Independent on the FAFSA If I Am Under Age 24?

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 14.7% of undergraduate students under age 24 were

independent in 2011-12. Of undergraduate

students under age 24, 8.3% 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.)

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.

Source: Fastweb

from Student Loan Debt Relief Now http://ift.tt/2s4eAvV
via Student Loan Debt Relief Now