Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid 2008-09

FAFSA

- New Applicants

- Dependency Status

Completing the FAFSA (Continued)

Dependency status
You’ll need to determine whose information to report on the FAFSA—if you’re an independent student; yours (and, if married, your spouse’s), if you’re a dependent student; yours and your parents'.

When you apply for federal student aid, your answers to questions on the FAFSA determine whether you are considered a dependent or independent student.

Dependent students must report their parents’ income and assets on the FAFSA as well as their own. Federal student aid programs are based on the concept that a dependent student’s parents have the primary responsibility for paying for their child’s education.

Dependency Status

For the 2008–09 Academic Year, you’re an independent student IF at least one of the following applies to you:

You were born before Jan. 1, 1985.
You are or will be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree program (beyond a bachelor’s degree) at the beginning of the 2008–09 Academic Year.
You’re married on the day you apply (even if you are separated but not divorced).
You have children who receive more than half their support from you.
You have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who receive more than half their support from you at the time you apply and through June 30, 2009.
Both your parents are deceased, or you are (or were until age 18) a ward or dependent of the court.
You are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training.
You’re a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. (A “veteran” includes students who attended a U.S. service academy and were released under a condition other than dishonorable. For more details on who is considered a veteran, see the explanatory notes on the FAFSA.)

If none of these criteria apply to you, you’re a dependent student.

I am considered a dependent student; however, I have no contact with my parents. What do I do about reporting my parents’ income?
In unusual cases:

A financial aid administrator can determine that a student who doesn’t meet the above criteria should be treated as an independent student.
The financial aid administrator can change your dependency status from dependent to independent based on adequate documentation of your special circumstances.
You must provide this documentation to the financial aid office at your school.
The financial aid administrator cannot automatically change your status simply because you request it.
The decision is based on the financial aid administrator’s judgment of the facts of your situation and is final.
You cannot appeal that decision to us.

Independent students report their own income and assets (and those of a spouse, if married).

Not living with parents or not being claimed by them on tax forms does not determine dependency status for federal student aid.

If I am a dependent student, whose information do I report if my parents are divorced or separated?

You report information about the parent you lived with for the greater amount of time during the 12 months preceding the date you file your FAFSA application.
If you didn’t live with either parent, or if you lived with each parent an equal amount of time, then use information about the parent who provided the greater amount of financial support during the 12 months prior to the date you file your FAFSA application.
If you didn’t receive any parental financial support during that time, you must report information about the parent who most recently provided the greater amount of parental support.

Do I report stepparent’s information?
Your stepparent’s financial information is required on the FAFSA:

If the parent you received financial support from was a single parent who is now married, or
If the parent you received financial support from was divorced or widowed but has remarried.

This does not mean your stepparent is obligated to give financial assistance to you, but his or her income and assets represent significant information about the family’s financial resources. Including this information on the FAFSA helps us form an accurate picture of your family’s total financial strength.

Do I need to fill out a FAFSA every year I apply for aid?
Yes. You must reapply for federal student aid every year. If you change schools, your aid doesn’t automatically transfer with you. Remember to check with your new school to find out what you need to do to continue receiving financial aid. For those who applied in 2007–08, there will be fewer questions to answer for 2008–09 because your FAFSA for the new year contains much of the information given in the 2007–08 application. Only the information that has changed in the 2007–08 FAFSA will have to be updated and a few new questions answered. You can complete your FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov between Jan. 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009. Remember that states and schools may have earlier deadlines for nonfederal aid, so it’s important to check your state or school deadlines. State contact information is provided at the end of this guide.

To complete your FAFSA for subsequent years:

In January 2008, you’ll receive notice (by e-mail or regular mail) reminding you to apply for the 2008–09 award year. The 2008–09 award year is July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.
You will need your PIN to access your 2008–09 FAFSA on the Web populated with your data. If you prefer to complete a paper application, you will have to provide all your information all over again.
Review the information on your FAFSA and change or add information as needed, sign and submit it.
You’ll then receive your Student Aid Report (SAR) containing your application results.
Review your SAR to make sure all your information is correct.
Check with your financial aid office, or contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) if you have questions about the FAFSA process for subsequent years.

What if I need help filling out my FAFSA?

Help text is available and accessible for every question on the FAFSA if you apply online using FAFSA on the Web at www.fafsa.ed.gov. You can also get free live help online at this Web site.
Free help is also available online at www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov/completefafsa.
Contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) for assistance with any questions you have on either the paper or electronic FAFSA.
Contact your high school guidance counselor or your college financial aid office.

Remember, you can get all the help you need for FREE from one of these sources. NEVER pay anyone for assistance in completing the online or paper FAFSA.

How do the schools I’m interested in attending get my FAFSA information?
You can list up to four schools on a paper FAFSA and up to ten schools on FAFSA on the Web. Those schools will automatically receive your FAFSA results electronically.

What if I want to add or change schools later?
Using your PIN, you can go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and select “Add or Delete a School Code” to make changes online or you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). If you call, you’ll need your Data Release Number (DRN), which is located on your SAR.

Save all records and materials used to complete your FAFSA. Make a copy of your paper FAFSA or print a copy of your FAFSA on the Web. You might need them later to prove the information you reported was accurate.

The process of documenting the information you provided on the FAFSA is called verification. If your application is selected for verification and you do not provide the documents requested by your school, you will not receive federal student aid and you might not receive aid from other nonfederal sources.

U.S. Department of Education | Federal Student Aid