Many
students attending college for the first time are a little frustrated
when they have to put their parents' financial information on
the FAFSA.
Some students have little interaction with their parents, or
have parents who no longer claim them on their taxes. Regardless,
most students attending college for the first time are required
to put their parents' financial information on the FAFSA.
There
are seven questions in step three of the FAFSA application,
the section that covers dependency. If you answer "no"
to all the questions, your parents' information must go on the
form. If you can answer yes to any of the questions in that
section, you do not have to put your parent's information on
the form. Keep in mind that some health-profession schools and
law schools require you to put your parents' information on
the form no matter your dependency status is.
These
are the questions that pertain to the 2004-2005 application.
The
seven questions are as follows:
Were you born before January 1st, 1981?
In 2004-2005, will you, the student, be working on a master’s
or doctorate program?
As of today, are you, the student, married?
Do you, the student, have children who receive more than half
of their support from you?
Do you, the student, have dependents other than your children/spouse?
Are you, the student, an orphan, or are you or were you (until
age 18) a ward/dependent of the court?
Are you, the student, a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces?
If
you answer "no" to all of these questions and still
believe you should not have to report your parents' information,
you must talk to your school about special
circumstances.
If
your school chooses to exempt you from reporting your parents'
information, it is at their sole discretion. If it does not provide
such an exemption, the school's decision cannot be appealed to
anyone, including the Department of Education.
