“If you haven’t submitted your FAFSA yet, it may be because you’ve run into a common roadblock. The FAFSA asks for the financial information of the student’s parents. Moms and dads may not want to give these details out, and students may not file their FAFSAs as a result. However, your parents’ reluctance – as well as your inaction – may simply be due to some misconceptions about how the financial aid process works.” …
http://news.yahoo.com/5-myths-parent-information-fafsa-140000813.html
Except the last one takes something out of context: “According to the U.S. Department of Education, these circumstances can include students who are … self-supporting and between the ages of 21 and 24, among other situations.” The actual wording is: “You are older than 21 but not yet 24, are unaccompanied, and are either homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless.” BIG DIFFERENCE!!! The way the article states it, by leaving out important words, it sounds as if any self-supporting student between the ages of 21 and 24 can get a dependency override … when what ED says is that if they are self-supporting AND at risk of being homeless, they may qualify.
Here is the language provided in verification training:
The Higher Education Act allows a financial aid administrator (FAA) to make dependency overrides on a case-by-case basis for students with unusual circumstances. If the FAA determines that an override is appropriate, she must write a statement detailing the determination and must include the statement and supporting documentation in the student’s file. However, none of the conditions listed below, singly or in combination, quality as unusual circumstances meriting a dependency override: