Special & Unusual Circumstances

The application requires students and parents to provide income from two year's prior not taking into consideration circumstances that could impact the ability to pay.

If your financial situation has drastically changed since the tax year required on the FAFSA application, there may be an option to reevaluate your financial aid eligibility.

Circumstances that may be considered for a reevaluation include:

• Loss of employment
• Loss or reduction of income
• Separation or divorce
• Death of a parent or spouse
• High non-reimbursed medical expenses
• Change in household size  

If you wish to have your eligibility reviewed, please complete the Professional Judgment Intake Form and specific the correct aid year on the form. If you'd like to discuss this process, please schedule an appointment with one of our Financial Aid Advisors.

If you are a dependent student, you must report parent information, as well as your own information, on the FAFSA. You can use this dependency guide to determine your status.

If you are experiencing unusual circumstances where you cannot provide your parent information on the FAFSA, such as: abuse, neglect, or abandonment you can request a Dependency Override to review your situation.

Please note that not living with your parents or not being claimed by them on tax forms does not make you an independent student for purposes of applying for federal student aid.

We must receive your FAFSA first before we can review your request for a Dependency Override. You can follow the instructions provided by Federal Student Aid on filling out your FAFSA without parent information.

If you'd like to discuss this process, please schedule an appointment with one of our Financial Aid Advisors.

If you are experiencing homelessness and are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian, you may qualify for aid as an Unaccompanied Homeless Youth.

According to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), the definition of independent student includes youths who are

• Unaccompanied and homeless
• Unaccompanied, self-supporting and at-risk of homelessness

Definitions:

Unaccompanied - you are not living in the physical custody of your parent or guardian.

Homeless - lacking fixed, regular and adequate housing,  including living in shelters, motels, cars, or temporarily living with  other people because you had nowhere else to go. Also, if you are living  in any of these situations and fleeing an abusive parent, you may be  considered homeless even if your parent would otherwise provide a place  to live.  This is broader than just living “on the street.” It includes but is not limited to: 

• youth sharing housing with other people temporarily because they had nowhere else to go; 
• youth living in emergency or transitional shelters, for example, trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after disasters; 
• youth living in motels, campgrounds, cars, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, substandard housing, or any public or private place not designed for humans to live in; 
• youth living in the school dormitory if they would otherwise be homeless; and 
• youth who are migrants and who qualify as experiencing homeless because they are living in circumstances described above. 

If you have reported on your FAFSA as being an unaccompanied youth who is homeless, self-supporting or at risk of being homeless then you would need to complete the form below.