My daughter took off over a year ago and after no communication suddenly demanded that I sign her FAFSA, When I didn’t comply quickly enough she suddenly said, “Never mind, Ill be fine.” I logged in using her student information and learned that she had submitted her application. When I logged in again today the message showed that she is applying for Special Circumstances." Is this legal?
Agh! No! Almost certainly not!
The FAFSA site gives three ways students might be eligible for special circumstances:
-The student cannot provide parental information
-The student is homeless
-The student is only seeking an unsubsidized loan
I’m going to assume this isn’t a case of #2. If #3 is the case, your D won’t get the full federal loan amount, so unless her college tuition is extremely low I don’t believe that’s the avenue she’s pursuing. #1 seems the most likely explanation.
She’d need the permission of her college’s financial aid office. That requires documentation showing that she can’t provide parental information - showing, for instance, that she’s an orphan/ward of the court. Either zombies have started posting on CC, or your daughter can’t possibly be an orphan and have this documentation. I’d bet on the latter.
More here: https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/fotwfaq52.htm
Since she’d presumably need to list her parents on a college application, without that documentation it’ll be near-impossible to be eligible for special circumstances. The aid office will say “You list your parents right here. Why can’t they help you?” If she doesn’t list you and your partner on the application, that’s application fraud and financial aid fraud - which could result in expulsion and a lawsuit forcing her to return any financial aid money she receives. This threat doesn’t go away - it happened to one student several years after he enrolled at Harvard, when the school discovered he’d faked transcripts to get in.
Maybe she’s looking to circumvent the parental paperwork involved in a financial aid application, which seems plausible if she’s been AWOL for a year. That might also involve an effort to be declared an Independent Student. However, that isn’t going to happen, unless your daughter can answer “Yes” to one of the questions listed here:
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/dependency
If I’m interpreting this correctly*, she’s about to see her aid application turn out poorly (at best), land in hot water for application/financial aid fraud (possibly), or become guilty of falsifying documents (a felony crime in many states). If you have any way of getting in touch with your D, you need to do just that, right now.
*I am not now, nor have I ever been, a lawyer. Take all this with a healthy dose of salt. Maybe a legal professional (I know there are a few here) will comment. I hope so.
Is it legal for the mom to sign into her DD’s FAFSA using her DD’s info? Probably not.
Looks like the DD is using the first or third circumstance.
I think the mom should butt out. The DD isn’t using the mom’s info and the mom shouldn’t be logging in using the DD’s info.
I would be more concerned about why my child hadn’t spoken to me for a year.
If you’ve had no contact with your child for over a year, you have a bigger problem than FAFSA.
Maybe try reconciling and listening first?
When she called you and “demanded” that you sign her FAFSA was probably a good starting point to mend whatever is broken in your relationship. When you didn’t do it fast enough she moved to what she thought was her only option. I agree and think you need to have a conversation. Filling out the FAFSA is not obligating you to anything other than enabling your D to qualify for whatever federal assistance is available to her…the aid and any debt is hers not yours.
How did your daughter get YOUR FAFSA ID information?
And the protocol for signing into the FAFSA has changed. Are you saying you knew all of HER new information as well?
Special circumstances considerations are done by the colleges…not FAFSA. What are you talking about?
Sounds like the D is requesting to be considered independent. There are various reasons she may have for this (not saying they will be accepted … just that she has filed in this manner).
SchoolMama, I know nothing about you, your D, or your relationship. I won’t make any assumptions. I will only tell you what probably happened, from the financial aid administrator’s point of view:
- Your D most likely completed a FAFSA without including parent info
- Her FAFSA was not processed, because she didn’t include parent info
- The school’s financial aid office told her she needed to get parent info in order to get aid
- Your D asked you to provide parent info
- You did not provide that info in the time frame your D wanted/needed it to be provided
- Your D decided to request a dependency override or to be considered at risk of homelessness
- It is now out of your hands for the time being.
You will not be included in any of the discussions between your D and the aid office about her special circumstances request. If the request is granted by the aid office, there is nothing fraudulent going on - if they feel it is warranted, then it is on the up-and-up.
If your D’s request is denied, she may very well come back to ask you to provide your information. Regardless of what has transpired between the two of you, please complete it if asked to do so.
When you looked at your daughters FAFSA…did you see YOUR parent income and asset information…or only hers?
kelsmom viewed it as I did. Your daughter has submitted an application with special circumstanced. Nothing illegal about submitting the application. Doesn’t mean it will be granted.
I thought the special circumstances section of the FAFSA was intended to explain any unusual circumstances that might indicate more need than the other parts of the FAFSA might show. For instance, if a parent had a stroke, or lost a job etc. If a student or parent writes in that section, they can still both sign the FAFSA.
If a child wants to be emancipated from parents, that is a different issue. Here is an article on independent status for those under 24, on the FAFSA (over 24 is already considered independent).
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2016-05-02/declare-yourself-independent-for-college-financial-aid
There is no section on the FAFSA to explain "special circumstances @compmom. There is a section like that on the profile.
Oh that’s right…it’s been awhile…thanks!
When a student does not qualify to be independent based on the FAFSA criteria, but the FAFSA is completed without parent information, the student’s FAFSA is considered to be a “special circumstances” FAFSA. I don’t know what it looks like when a student signs in to their FAFSA … but the financial aid side has a message indicating that the student cites special circumstances. The aid administrator must determine if it will be processed as such (overrides on the aid administrator side are required in order for an EFC to be computed) or if the student must provide parent information (in this case, the FAFSA will have no EFC and will be unofficial unless and until the info is provided).