Dependency Override
Students who are over the age of 24, have dependents of their own, are an orphan or ward of the court or are veterans or active duty military service members are considered independent for the purpose of determining their financial aid eligibility. All other students are considered dependent and must include parental information on their FAFSA application.
When students have unusual circumstances, financial aid administrators may be able to use professional judgment to make the student independent for financial aid purposes, and remove parental information from the EFC calculation on the FAFSA.
Examples of unusual circumstances are:
- Cases of parental abuse, neglect, abandonment, or incarceration (with appropriate written third-party documentation)
- Parents cannot be located
- Death of the custodial parent and no other biological or adoptive parent can be reached by ordinary means
- Student is legally granted refugee or asylum status
- Student has been a ward of the court at any time after the age of 13
- Student is a victim of human trafficking
Students with unusual circumstances should discuss this process with their financial aid counselor. Among other information, a student will need to provide documentation from an independent third party such as teachers, counselors, doctors, social workers, clergy, police, etc.
Financial aid administrators cannot use this process to change the student's marital status on the FAFSA.
Students whose parents refuse to provide information on the FAFSA may be eligible to receive dependent level unsubsidized loans, even when unusual circumstances do not apply. Contact your Financial Aid Counselor to discuss your options.
Possible documentation required:
- Signed and dated statement from parents they refuse to complete the FASFA AND state they will not provide financial support (include the date the support stopped).
- Third-party documentation (such as from teacher, counselor, or court) of family situation
- Parents do not claim the student on tax return
- Student lives apart from parent
- Student works and is financially self sufficient
Email your Financial Aid Counselor to determine if a PJ may help you. In the subject include “Dependency Override request” and provide detailed explanation of your circumstances. Your assigned counselor will reply and request the necessary documents for the review. An aid administrator’s decision regarding use of PJ is final and cannot be appealed to other individuals of the institution or the U.S. Department of Education.