<p>I’m asking this for my son’s friend. He is thinking of becoming independent from his parents. (not sure if that is what you would call it) How would a student go about doing this? I assume that he could not live at home or get insurance from his parents. What else would be involved?</p>
<p>Your son’s friend can “become independent” once he does any one of the following:</p>
<p>Turns 24 years old
Completes his first bachelors
Serves in the military
Gets married
Have a child for whom he provides more than half of their support
Become a ward of the court</p>
<p>Otherwise, he is stuck with his parent(s).</p>
<p>He could become an orphan too…another way to become independent.</p>
<p>You can’t just “choose” this option. You have to fulfill one of the criteria posted by Sybbie…or be an orphan.</p>
<p>I really don’t recommend becoming an orphan. I know Charles Dickens has made it seemed “hip” nowadays to have no parents, but it can get a real drag once the cops match your fingerprints to the murder weapon at the scene…</p>
<p>sybbie has 6 of the requirements for the FAFSA, except for one. A graduate or professional student is also considered independent.</p>
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<p>Most grad school or professional school students have earned a bachelors degree. Sybbie had that one!!</p>
<p>Great point! My bad, sybbie. The other one that should have been in the list is if the financial aid coordinator makes a determination that the student should be independent. That’s really tough to get; kids post in this forum every year demanding the secret formula to getting it and they usually go away empty-handed and crestfallen.</p>
<p>Completing a bachelors does not make a student independent -the student must be seeking a masters or professional degree. Students seeking a 2nd bachelors or in a post-bacc teacher cert program are not automatically independent, but they are no longer eligible for Pell and other federal need-based grants.</p>
<p>If the goal is to increase financial aid, another way is to get a dependency waiver, but this involves another set of strict rules, e.g., showing abuse, abandonment by parents, both parents incarcerated, etc…</p>