Number in College and Household
- The number in college includes the student and other members of the household who are enrolled at least half time in a degree seeking program. PARENTS who are enrolled CAN NOT be included in this number.
- The number in household includes the student, parents, siblings and others living in the household for whom your parents provide at least half of their support.
- Foster children are not considered members of the household for FAFSA purposes.
Divorce and Remarried Situations
- If your parents are divorced, only include the parent you live with, your step-parent and any other siblings or others living in the household for whom your parent/step-parent provide at least half of their support.
- If your parents are divorced or separated, only include income information from your parent/step-parent with whom you lived with most in the past 12 months. (You must include step-parent information if your parent is remarried).
- If you do not live with either parent, then report the household information for the parent who provided you with the most financial support in the past 12 months. If you have not received any parental support in the past 12 months, report the financial information for the parent that has most recently provided you with support.
Dependency Status
- You can only be an independent student if you meet one of these criteria:
- Were you born before January 1, 1996?
- As of today, are you married? (Also answer “Yes” if you are separated but not divorced.)
- At the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, will you be working on a master’s or doctorate program (such as an MA, MBA, MD, JD, PhD, EdD, graduate certificate, etc.)?
- Are you currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training?
- Are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces?
- Do you now have or will you have children who will receive more than half of their support from you between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020?
- Do you have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who receive more than half of their support from you, now and through June 30, 2020?
- At any time since you turned age 13, were both your parents deceased, were you in foster care or were you a dependent or ward of the court?
- As determined by a court in your state of legal residence, are you or were you an emancipated minor?
- Does someone other than your parent or stepparent have legal guardianship of you, as determined by a court in your state of legal residence?
- At any time on or after July 1, 2018, did your high school or school district homeless liaison determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?
- At any time on or after July 1, 2018, did the director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?
- At any time on or after July 1, 2018, did the director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?
- If you get married during the school year (or after you've filed the FAFSA), you may be
able to adjust your marital status/dependency status. Please contact Financial Aid to
discuss this. - You can appeal for a dependency override, but it is not common for a student to meet the
required criteria to have an override granted. Please carefully read the Appeal for
Dependency Override form, and discuss this option with your financial aid counselor if
you feel you meet the criteria. The form can be found here.
Common Errors
- Use your full legal name as listed on your social security card, and make sure that your name, date of birth, and social security number are accurate for both you and your parents prior to submitting the FAFSA. Do not leave any of these fields blank.
- Make sure that you and your parent sign the FAFSA using your electronic pins before submitting.
- If you are a male you must be registered for selective service. If you are not, you must register online here before you can receive federal aid.
- If your parent received a housing allowance from the military or clergy, you must include this information on your FAFSA. This does not include rent subsidies for low-income housing, the value of on-base military housing, or the value of basic military allowance for housing.
- If your parent files their taxes 'married filing separately', you must still include income information for both parents (either both biological parents, or from biological parent/step-parent, if your parent is remarried).
- Tax-deferred pension and untaxed pension payments are common errors. You can find tax-deferred pension payment information on your W-2 in Box 12. Only include untaxed pension
- Any income, including retirement plan cash outs, inheritance or social security payments must be reported as income on the FAFSA. Please contact financial aid before making the decision to use any portion of a retirement plan to pay for a student's college costs.
- If you have not received a bachelor's degree previously, make sure that you mark question 28 (Will you have your first bachelor's degree before July 1, 2019?) with 'NO'. If you have received a bachelor's degree, you will be ineligible for financial aid.
- Parents, make sure that you complete the FAFSA WITH your student and not FOR your student. They need to understand this process, too!
- The official government website to file the FAFSA is https://fafsa.ed.gov/ . Never pay anyone to file your FAFSA. If the site you are on asks you for money, it is the wrong site and you should not complete the transaction.
