FAFSA Tutorial

Dependency

The thirteen questions in this step determine whether or not you are required to provide parental information on the application. Students answering no to these questions will continue the form with parental information. Students answering yes to any question are exempt from providing parental information and can skip Step 4 (numbers 58-92).

Occasionally, a student's family circumstances seem to indicate that the student should not be required to provide parental information. Student income, place of residence, and parents' unwillingness to participate are NOT grounds for such a decision. Leaving parental information blank when it is required will enable a student to receive only an unsubsidized Stafford loan and may require contact with the financial aid office. Only the financial aid administrator at the school where you are planning to attend can make such a determination and provide a dependency override or process the FAFSA without parent information. If you believe your application should be treated differently than those of other students, contact the financial aid office at the school to determine what documentation is required.

Answering yes to any of these questions may require you to send official documentation to your college financial aid office.

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Student Birthdate:

Note that if you were born on or after January 1, 1999 you will answer "no".

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Student Marital Status:

This question should indicate marital status the day the application form is completed. If you are legally married or separated you should answer "Yes". If you are single, engaged to be married, divorced, or widowed you should answer "No". You may answer "Yes" if you meet common law requirements in your state of legal residence. If your marital status changes after filing an initial FAFSA, you can correct your FAFSA online and then contact the financial aid office at your college for further instructions.

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Graduate Status:

A master's or doctorate program would also include professional degrees such as medicine, law, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. It does NOT include associate degrees (2 years), bachelor's degrees (4 years) or certificate or diploma programs.

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Children as Legal Dependents:

Support means financial support. The child should live with you and you should be able to prove that you are providing more than half of the support to the child (rent, housing, food, childcare, medical insurance, etc.). You may answer "Yes" if an unborn child will be born prior to June 30, 2023 and you anticipate providing more than half of the support for the child in the upcoming school year.

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Other Legal Dependents:

You may answer "Yes" if you are providing more than half the support for another person in your household (legal guardian of someone, aging parent, grandchild). Typically boyfriends and girlfriends cannot be counted unless you can document that you provide more than half of their support.

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Active Duty Military Service: Service in the Armed Forces

You may answer "Yes" if you are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces or are a National Guard or Reserves enlistee who is on active duty for purposes other than training. You should answer "No" if you are a National Guard or Reserves enlistee who is on active duty for state or training purposes.

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Veteran Status: Service in the Armed Forces

Veterans are those who have been in active service in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard and were released under a condition other than "dishonorable". (Box 24 of the DD214 indicates the "Character of Service"). If anything other than "dishonorable" appears in that box, you should answer "Yes" to this question, as long as you engaged in active duty for at least one day. If "dishonorable" appears in that box, you should answer "No".

There is no minimum amount of time required to have served to be a veteran, but it does have to be active service. This is less stringent than the VA's definition of veteran for receiving certain VA benefits. You should also answer "Yes" to the question about veteran status if you aren't yet a veteran but will be by June 30, 2023.

Students who attended a U.S. military academy or its preparatory school (USMAPS or NAPS, not high school academies) for at least one day and were released under conditions other than "dishonorable" count as veterans for Title IV purposes. Students serving in ROTC or currently attending a U.S. military academy are not veterans.

Members of the National Guard or Reserves are only considered veterans if called up to active federal duty by presidential order for a purpose other than training. It does not matter how long the active duty lasted or if the student returned to reserve status afterward, but, as with the other qualifying veterans, the student must have had a character of service that was not "dishonorable".

Also answer no if you are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and will continue to service through June 30, 2023.

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Orphan, Foster Care or Ward of Court:

Answer "Yes" if at the age of 13, or anytime since, you did not have a living parent (biological or adoptive), were in the custody of the state or court system or were in foster care. Answer "Yes" even if you are not currently in foster care or state custody. Incarceration does not automatically indicate ward of the court status.

Your college financial aid office may request official documentation of foster care or dependent/ward of the court status.

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Emancipation:

Select Yes if you can provide a copy of a court's decision that as of today you are an emancipated minor. Also select Yes if you can provide a copy of a court's decision that you were an emancipated minor immediately before you reached the age of being an adult in your state. The court must be located in your state of legal residence at the time the court's decision was issued.

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Legal Guardianship:

Answer "Yes" if you have a legal guardian other than your parent(s). You must be able to provide supporting documentation of the legal guardianship from within the state of your legal residence. If the court order is no longer in effect or you have changed your state of residency without receiving a new court order answer "No".

Your college financial aid office may request official documentation of legal guardianship.

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Unaccompanied Youth/ Homelessness:

Answer "Yes" if at anytime after July 1, 2022 a high school official or a director of a federally funded emergency shelter or a director of a runaway or homeless youth facility determined that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless. "Homeless" includes living in motels, cars, shelters or temporarily living with someone other than your parent or guardian. "Youth" is anyone under the age of 21 or is still enrolled in high school. You should contact your college financial aid office if you believe you are an unaccompanied youth providing for your own expenses and are at risk of becoming homeless or if you are living with an abusive parent.

Your college financial aid office may request official documentation to support your situation.