Student Status
Students are classified as dependent or independent based upon information submitted on the FAFSA. According to the Federal Department of Education, most undergraduate students are considered dependent. Parents have the primary responsibility of providing for post-secondary education costs. Graduate students are automatically considered independent by the federal government for financial aid purposes, even if they are still being claimed on their parents' taxes.
When you submit the FAFSA, your answers to multiple questions on the application will determine your dependency status. If you are considered independent you report only your own income and assets and the income of your spouse. If you are considered a dependent student, you must report your parents' income and assets along with your own. A parent must also sign the FAFSA.
The federal criteria for independent status is not based on the student physically residing with the parents or on the parents providing financial support. The philosophy behind the criteria is that parents should be the first resource to pay for their child's college education–before all other taxpayers. However, financial aid administrators are allowed to review student situations individually, and with sufficient cause, we may determine that a student should be considered independent for financial aid purposes. Reasons for overriding the federally established criteria have to be irreconcilable. Emancipating yourself will not affect your financial aid status. Not being claimed as a dependent on your parents' income return does not change your financial aid status; nor does the lack of financial assistance from your parents.
If you think you have unusual circumstances for which you should be considered independent, even though none of the above applies to you, please contact OSFA to speak with a financial aid administrator. You will be asked to document your unusual circumstances.
