If you are unable to contact or obtain parental information due to specific circumstances, the FAFSA will present a list of 'Unusual Circumstances'. If any of these situations apply to you, you can proceed with completing your FAFSA without parental information. This indicates that you have qualified for a dependency override and will be considered an independent undergraduate student.
Unusual Circumstance for Dependency Override
If your parent is refusing to provide information, that alone will not qualify you for a dependency override. However, there are certain situations that will qualify you for a dependency override:
- an abusive home or family environment
- parent abandonment or estranged from parents and not been adopted
- incarceration of both parents
- parents cannot be located
- parents are hospitalized for an extended period of time
- parents are not able to raise a child due to reasons of physical or mental incapacity
- unsuitable household
- a married student’s spouse dies
- a married student divorces their spouse
If you indicate an Unusual Circumstance, once you submit our FAFSA you will be given a “provisional independent student” status—while you will see your estimated SAI (student aid index), you are not done yet. You will be asked by your financial aid office to provide documentation of your unusual circumstance. While there are very specific reasons listed here, if you are unsure if you qualify, it’s best to make an appointment as soon as possible to discuss.
Once a determination of your dependency override is made, it cannot be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education. This decision is in the hands of your school.
If you are rejected for a dependency override, you may still qualify for a FAFSA professional judgement review. This is another way to complete the FAFSA process without providing parent information.
What is FAFSA Professional Judgement Review?
Your parent is refusing to help you financially is not enough to be considered an independent student. This situation is not the same as the Unusual Circumstance (discussed above), but you will be given an option on the electronic application to indicate that you will not provide parent information. You will need to acknowledge that you will only be eligible to receive Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan funds from the federal student aid program. There could be other types of institutional aid your school may be willing to offer you. However, this will be at the discretion of your school, even your eligibility for unsubsidized loan funds.