Does anyone know how to declare as an independent for college aid?
I’m a 21 year old from Indiana who’s attending school at the University of Michigan. Since I’m out of state my tuition bill is HUGE, and my parents refuse to help me pay. They wouldn’t help if I had stayed in state, either. Anyway, because I’m only 21, I have to show my parents’ income on my FAFSA/to my school, and it’s causing me to get little aid. I’ve had to take out huge loans to help cover the expenses, but I’m becoming scared of taking out any more loans as I don’t know if I’ll be able to pay them off after graduating. Could anyone offer me any suggestions? Oh, and I’ve been working to help pay for school/apartment/food, etc. I haven’t JUST been taking out huge loans. Oh, and my dad refuses to co-sign a loan in case he needs to take one out, and my mom is under his control and won’t co-sign, either.
Thanks!
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Tagged with: apartment • dad • education guide • fafsa • free education • loans • mom • parents • tuition bill • university of michigan
Filed under: College Aid
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That’s a tough one, because in order to be classified as Independent you have to answer the following questions as "Yes":
were you born before 1/1/84
are you a graduate or professional student
are you married
do you have children
do you have legal dependents other than children
are you an orphan or ward of the court
are you Active Duty in the U.S. Armed Forces
are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces
You may appeal your dependency status and try to be classified as an Independent but most colleges/universities only accept appeals for extenuating circumstances (such as if a parent is incarcerated or institutionalized for example). Most will reject an appeal for independent status just because a student doesn’t live with or receive support from his/her parents.
But until you talk with a financial aid officer about your situation, you won’t know for sure how they would be able to classify you on an appeal. Even if they can’t grant an appeal to change from a Dependent to Independent, they may have some options for you.
Good luck!!
Do your parents have good credit? Because one exception to the independent thing is if you apply for a parent PLUS loan and the parent is denied, then you are automatically considered independent. So maybe if one of your parents has bad credit you could talk them into applying for the loan, knowing that they will be denied, and then you can be independant.
my boyfriend recently filled out a fafsa on the web and he says they have revised it. you can actually choose not to include your parents information when filling out a new one. my bf is only 20 and he supports himself and files his own taxes so he was under the criteria to be considered an independent student on the fafsa however he could not claim independency directly thru the school. so my suggestion is to fill out a NEW fafsa and see if your EFC (expected family contribution) is zero. that’s what my boyfriend did…
honestly call fafsa they can give u the best answer and call them 4-5 times just to make sure tht wht they r telling u the right thing….. dont believe wht ppl tell u i m also thinking of considering my self independent
In the eyes of the government, if you are single, under the age of 24 with no children, you are a dependent student. It doesn’t matter if you live on your own and support yourself 100%. You could live in a completely different state than your parents and it would not make a difference.