Hi I'm a mother that lives with the father of my child and is ready to go back to school for a higher education. The problem is I don't work and cannot afford to pay for enrollment fees and the college costs. So... I tried to apply for financial aid, but I'm a dependent. How am I a dependent If I'm a mother and live on my own with my boyfriend. How can i get help with college if they expect me to have parental information which I cannot provide, due to the fact that my parents aren't willing to do so?
What am I suppose to do? How can i get Financial aid? FAFSA even expected me to have parental information by the way... Latrice:
Your financial aid dependency status is determined by federal law. There is a legal definition that determines who is "dependent" and who is "independent", and Questions 48 through 60 on the FAFSA are used to identify which applicant is which.
The real problem that people have in trying to understand their dependency status is the way in which the Department of Education defines "independence". We all know what "independent" means - so we make the perfectly reasonable assumption that we're "independent" if we don't rely on mom and dad.
As you can probably guess from the way I'm explaining this - the Department of Education doesn't use the word "independent" in that way. For financial aid purposes, independent does not mean that you're responsible for yourself - there is a very different meaning to the word.
First of all - remember where "financial aid" comes from. It's not imaginary money - and financial aid doesn't mean that the schools just don't charge you. Financial aid is actual "cash", and all of that money comes from the taxpayers of this country. A student who is receiving financial aid is getting help from the taxpayers to afford the cost of school.
The underlying premise of the financial aid system is that the student AND the student's parents should pay first - THEN the taxpayers help them both out. If the parents won't pay - for WHATEVER reason - the taxpayers don't step up and take over the parents' share. In fact, if the taxpayers did that, very few parents would actually pay.
Think about that - would the system work if we said "Hey, mom and dad, don't worry if you don't want to pay for your kids to go to college, because your fellow taxpayers will take care of that for you."?
The federal laws that administer the financial aid system say that parents should not be responsible for helping their kids with school if:
The applicant is 24 or over
The applicant is married
The applicant PERSONALLY provides more than 50% of the financial support for a child, or some other dependent who lives in the applicant's home
The applicant has already finished college and is going to graduate school
The applicant is an active duty member of - or a veteran of - the US military
The applicant is an orphan or a ward of the court
The applicant has been certified to be homeless
The applicant has been classified as a financially emancipated minor by court order
Those are the ONLY criteria that make an applicant an "independent", which - if you look at it another way - mean that those are the only criteria that let the parents off the hook for paying THEIR share of their kids' college expenses.
Sadly, you are one of MANY students whose parents don't want to have anything to do with paying for their education. You are also one of many students whose parents provide no financial support whatsoever. You don't live with your parents, and you've got your own life - but unfortunately, you don't meet any of the legal definitions of financial aid independence.
I never quite understand why there are parents who refuse to disclose the information that their children need to apply for financial aid. Submitting that information does not - IN ANY WAY - obligate your parents to pay a penny towards your education - all it does it enable you to have your financial need properly evaluated so that you can get HELP. I'm sorry, that's just selfish for parents to refuse their kids the opportunity to apply for financial aid.
Here's the only good news I can offer. Thanks to a new change in financial aid policy, you won't need your parents' info to complete the FAFSA. It's a good news/bad news thing, though, because if you submit the FAFSA without your parents' info, the only form of aid that you will be offered will be a Stafford loan. You will not be considered for any other forms of financial aid.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm afraid that your situation is much more common than you think. The government is simply not willing to let your parents off the hook for their share of your educational costs - and the taxpayers won't pick up the slack for them, either.
Best of luck to you. |
