Fafsa Submitted Without Parent Information Instruction Sheet printable pdf download

Academic Year

2016-2017

FAFSA Submitted Without Parent Information

Instruction Sheet

The law governing the Federal Student Aid programs is based on the premise that your family is the

first source of your support as a student. The law provides several criteria that decide if you are

considered independent of your parents for aid eligibility. If you are considered a dependent of your

parents, information on the income and assets of your parents must be included on the FAFSA.

Please review the following circumstances to determine which one applies to your family situation:

A) Is there a case of abuse, abandonment and/ or neglect in your relationship with your biological

mother or father? If so, you may be eligible to pursue a dependency override. If the dependency

override is approved, your dependent status will be overridden. Once your FAFSA is processed and

finalized, you will be considered for any other Federal financial aid (i.e. Pell Grant, Work-study,

Student Loans). Please contact the Office of Financial Ad for further information on the dependency

override process.

B) Do your parents refuse to complete the FAFSA? The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008

amended the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit college financial aid administrators to offer

dependent students an unsubsidized Stafford loan only without requiring the parents to file a

FAFSA, provided that the financial aid administrator verifies that the parents have ended financial

support and refuse to file the FAFSA. This means:

 Your parents do not provide you with any means of financial support, in any form or fashion

(i.e. medical/auto insurance, claiming student on taxes, paying any expenses on the student’s

behalf and/or other cash and non-cash support).

 You are not eligible for any other federal or institutional aid such as grants (including Pell

Grant), work-study or need-based student loans, such as the subsidized Stafford loan.

 Your parents must complete and sign the attached form and return it to the Office of

Financial Aid.

C) If your family situation does not meet either of the requirements listed above, you will be required

to provide parental information on your FAFSA. If you need to access your FAFSA to make changes,

you may do so by logging on to the FAFSA website at

and click on “make changes to

a processed FAFSA.”

If you have questions or need further assistance, contact the Office of Financial Aid at 800-367-3565 x

303 or mthompson@hcu.edu.

Fafsa Submitted Without Parent Information Instruction Sheet