If I provide documentation for proof of my individual employment, income, rent bills for 1+ years, car, car insurance, drivers license, registration to vote, and taxes all in my name and in the state of my school, could my school declare me independent or at least grant me instate tuition even if my parents live in another state and I can’t get official proof of “estrangement”?
What state?
You won’t be able to get federal financial aid under age 24 (in most cases). Whether you can be independent for tuition purposes depends on the state, the purpose you are in the state, etc. Utah and Missouri make it easy, others a little harder.
Are you under 18?
You would have had to be come estranged before you turned 18, in most cases.
Wait.
Your parents live in another state, because you are attending an out of state university.
You posted ^^^that a couple days ago.
Yes, I’m wondering if it would be possible to get residency in the state of my school in the future if I move there long term since I wont be able to have my parents fill out the fafsa. And no, I wont have proof of estrangement because we wont be “officially” estranged- Didn’t move out underage, ill still know where they live and know how to contact them and whatnot.
I was told that even if I know my parents financial information i can’t use it unless they sign the fafsa… So fafsa wont be an option for me 
Filing FAFSA isn’t going to help in YOUR case. You need more than a 5500 loan.
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Please bear with me this is long! I made a mistake by giving up a large scholarship at one school to go to a much more expensive state school that my parents said they would help me pay for. My dad is in the military and has GI Bill benefits that he always told me he would transfer to me when I go to college so I wouldn't have to worry about affording it. Fast forward to the week after I give up this scholarship and enroll at the expensive school, he tells me that he actually wants to save the benefits for my younger sister. Eventually he agrees to split it and give me 2 years, but I know that when the two years is up, there is no way I or my parents will be able to afford this school, no matter how much we try to save or how many more scholarships I apply for.
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So I told them that I would need to transfer after the first year to a cheaper school. I figured it would be better than transferring after the second year and then my sister could have the other 3 years of the benefits instead of 2. Well they freaked the f*** out. They think that cheaper means worse school and they have these standards that are way too high for what we (or rather I) can afford. They will not pay at all for me to go to school (they can’t really afford it, but they make too much for me to get need based aid other than loans, which they also won’t cosign for), but they expect me to somehow make it work. After my scholarships are applied at this school I still owe $30,000, so that’s not going to work. They’re really delusional (my mom is actually clinically psychotic with bipolar disorder and schizophrenic tendencies) and my dad still just goes along with whatever she says (like blaming me for not getting into an Ivy league school for them or not being able to pull 30g out of my ***), so they’ve been giving me a lot of trouble over this and acting like I’m causing them a hardship when I’m the one who has to figure this out and pay in the end. It’s gotten so bad that they keep kicking me out, telling me to come back, telling me that I can’t drive their car to work to try and get me fired so I can’t afford my room and board at school, stealing my money, trying to make me pay rent, or their car insurance, or their car payments and threatening to pull the GI benefits so I can’t go to school this year. If I transfer out of this school, there is no way I can come back and live with them on breaks or anything- they’re not going to let me and I won’t want to anyway.
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You need to withdraw from this school NOW. Do not start there. You will be screwed after you transfer since no one will give you the money you need. You can’t even afford this school now.
What was the school that gave you the large merit? Contact that school and find out if you can get that offer next year.
Your parents aren’t being rational, do not make decisions based on their naive and silly ramblings.
Looks like Ohio State is your OOS public. It is not likely that you will be able to gain instate residency there with your plan.
You know where your parents reside, right? You can contact them, right?
ETA…on your other thread, you indicate your dad is willing to give you half of his GI benefit. This would not put you in a position for a dependency override.
As the advice on the other thread states…your best bet is to take the year off, and work. Don’t take classes. Apply for next year to a college where you will receive significant merit aid…and go from there.
It is unlikely that you will be able to gain instate or independent status at MOST public universities not in their state. But you need to check the requirements in the state in which you are planning to attend college.
- In most cases, the state of residency is the state in which the parents reside for students who are undergrads
- For most students, independence for financial aid purposes isn't until the year the student turns 24.
- If you have to demonstrate financial independence via paying all your own bills, it is possible you will earn too much to qualify for anything but a Direct Loan.
- Most colleges do not allow a student to establish residency while they are attending college.
Gotta ask…what is wrong with the instate schools in YOUR state?
Or the other option…go to a community college for two years and commute from home…if this is a possibility. Your tuition costs probably can be paid with the Direct Loan and earnings from a job. Use the GI bill earnings for your last two years at a four year university.
And you knew this when you posted this at the end of March.
It’s time for some hard decisions now that you know the “I’ll just get residency status for my OOS school” idea…, and the “tonnnssss of outside scholarships” plan were never going to happen.
Call up the school who gave you the huge merit. What are your stats? When does your sister start college?
Also, what is their issue with not filling out the FAFSA - or has that been resolved?
FAFSA is not going to solve this. The student did file FAFSA already, evidenced by the $5500 loan and the known EFC.
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My family's OOS and income is like 60,000, our efc was almost half that, and all I got last night was a $5,500 loan.
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I think the student thinks he/she would get MORE from FAFSA if filed independent. But can’t file independent. And it still wouldn’t be enough.
Parents must have savings or a housing subsidy or something to cause EFC to be nearly half of $60k. Dad is in the military, so there may be housing subsidies or something else.
This student needs to withdraw NOW. The parents CANNOT dictate ANYTHING since they are not paying. They can’t insist on “this” school or “that” school when they are not paying.
You can’t borrow your way thru this.
Where did you get that larger merit award?? You need to find out if you can apply again and get that for next fall.
DO NOT start at OSU and then transfer. You will be totally screwed money wise if you do that.
Is your father close to retirement from the military? Schools now give instate tuition to vets and their families within 3 years of retirement (some states give more generous benefits, so check). I think your father needs to split his benefits between you and your sister at some time before you start using them. Everyone I know has done this in advance. Maybe they can be changed if not needed by one child, but you should check.
You need to work with your father on these issues, and with the officer on base.
FWIW, Ohio State will work with the student to establish in-state residency after one year for some graduate/professional programs. Very unlikely that they would do that for undergraduate though.
Just get married, won’t that solve your issue of being your parent’s dependent?
It looks like you will be a freshman this fall.
Cancel your enrollment there.
Call the place with the big scholarship that would have been affordable, and find out if it is still available for you. If it is available and the place is affordable, then go there this fall. A parent posted last week about doing just exactly that thing, so yes sometimes it is possible.
If the scholarship isn’t available, or if the place isn’t affordable even with the scholarship, then you need to take a gap year while you find someplace that is affordable for you.
It sounds like your mom is delusional but your dad might be able to understand the huge mistake it would be for you to start somewhere unaffordable. Go somewhere with him where the two of you can speak calmly, and sort through your options.