PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENT POLICY
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DEPENDENCY OVERRIDE APPEAL
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Dependency Override
Financial Aid professionals have the authority, through Section 480(d) (7) of the Higher Education Act, to change a student’s status from Dependent to Independent in cases involving unusual circumstances. If approved, the student is not required to report parental information, including income, on their FAFSA. We can process a Dependency override for any of the following reasons:
Dependency Override Review
- An unsuitable household (e.g., child removed from the household and placed in foster care, tutorship, etc.)
- Human trafficking
- Legally granted refugee or asylum status
- Parental abandonment or estrangement
- Student or parental incarceration.
- Parents whereabouts unknown or parents cannot be located.
The following circumstances do not merit a Dependency Override:
- Parents refuse to contribute to the student’s education.
- Parents are unwilling to provide information on the application or verification.
- Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes.
- Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.
UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES APPEAL
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Dependent student without parental support
Most unmarried undergraduates under the age of 24 are considered dependent for federal financial aid purposes and therefore must provide parental information on the FAFSA. If your parents have ended all financial support or refuse to provide their information on your FAFSA, then you may submit this petition to receive only an Unsubsidized loan.
To submit this petition, you may not receive any financial support whatsoever from a parent, including living at home with a parent, using a vehicle owned by a parent, having a parent co-sign any loan, or receiving health or car insurance through a parent.
Dependent students without parent information on the FAFSA are ineligible for grants, work program funds or subsidized direct loans.
- Parents stopped providing financial support to the student.
- Parents will not provide financial support in the future (including cash and non-cash support, such as room and board), AND
- Parents refuse to complete the parental section of the student’s FAFSA.
Unaccompanied Homeless Youth
Often unmarried students who are under the age of 24 are required to provide parental data on the FAFSA. They are referred to as dependent students. However, a dependent student who meets the definition of an unaccompanied and is homeless or is self-supporting and at risk of being homeless may be deemed an independent student (for federal student aid purposes only) by the Office of Financial Aid through the Unaccompanied Homeless review process. A student who is verified as being unaccompanied and homeless is exempt from providing parental data on their FAFSA.
For more information about how this status affects your financial aid eligibility click here:
