Dependency Status
When you apply for federal student aid, your answers to certain questions will determine whether you’re considered dependent on your parents or independent. If you’re considered dependent, your parents’ income and assets as well as your own must be reported on the FAFSA. If you’re independent, you’ll report only your own income and assets (and those of your spouse, if you’re married). Not living with your parents does not necessarily classify you as independent.
Students are classified as dependent or independent because federal student aid programs are based on the principle that students (and their parents or spouse, if applicable) are considered the primary source of support for postsecondary education.
For the 2007–08 Academic Year, you’re an independent student IF at least one of the following applies to you:
- You were born before Jan. 1, 1984.
- You are or will be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree program (beyond a bachelor’s degree) at the beginning of the 2007-08 Academic Year.
- You’re married on the day you apply (even if you are separated but not divorced).
- You have children who receive more than half their support from you.
- You have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who receive more than half their support from you at the time you apply and through June 30, 2008.
- Both your parents are deceased, or you are (or were until age 18) a ward or dependent of the court.
- You are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training.
- You're a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. (A "veteran" includes students who attended a U.S. service academy and were released under a condition other than dishonorable. For more detail on who is considered a veteran, see the explanatory notes on the FAFSA.)
In unusual cases, an aid administrator can determine that a student who doesn’t meet the above criteria should still be treated as an independent student. The financial aid administrator can change your dependency status if he or she thinks circumstances warrant it based on the documentation you provide. But remember, the aid administrator won’t automatically do this. The decision is based on the aid administrator’s judgment and is final—it can’t be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education.
