Can I appeal financial aid with this?

Paying for College
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Can I appeal financial aid with this?

A couple of years ago, a family member of mine’s parents were unfit to take care of him. My parents got legal custody of them until they turned 18. They turned 18 in 2022 and now are a freshman in college. My family never claimed them on our taxes so that their mom can. However, my family supported them for > 6 years. Could I appeal to financial aid and mention this, or does it not matter because we never claimed then on our taxes? Technically, their college was paid for by child support that by parents contributed to them. My parents never took from the child support money.

Would this have any grounds in an appeal?

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The person is an adult and is not currently being supported by your parents. I’m lost on why this a basis of appeal. You can try, but I see no success in this

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Was this family member in legal guardianship, and living with your family?

If so, I would think that this person would have been independent for financial aid purposes. Did they apply for financial aid?

@kelsmom am I reading this OP incorrectly?

Are you wanting to appeal YOUR financial aid? If so…based on what? That your parents supported a family member in the past?

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I’m not understanding what you hope to accomplish. Are you hoping to count this person in your household and in your number in college? Are you currently in college, or are you an incoming freshman fall 2023? What is your family’s EFC currently?

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If this other person is independent for financial aid purposes, I’m not sure you can count them ever on a FAFSA as a family member.

@kelsmom

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Yes, you can, as long as the family is providing at least 51% of that student’s support. That is the key. If someone else paid support to the family, which they used for that student, then that is not counted as support from the family in question.

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But it appears that this happened a while ago…and doesn’t continue now. Plus…it was money the bio parents were providing. It’s a bit confusing.

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Yes. They are now a freshman in college. However, the money they use for college is provided for by the child support money my parents saved for them.

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So please clarify…your parents are not currently using their money to support this other student?

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Not anything besides tuition.

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Then the student cannot be considered in your household size or number in college. In other words, there is nothing to appeal. Your parents are not currently supporting the student.

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Why not? They’re contributing money towards their education.

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They must support the student at least 51%. Just paying tuition is unlikely to amount to 51% support.

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Okay. Yes, I would say my parents contribute >50% to them. Do you mind providing a link to the source, I just want to read more about it

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So your parents used that person’s child support funds to pay for the college?

Are you hoping to gain a certain amount in financial aid?

The colleges tend to budget for the years, according to the information that was previously received.
The school is unaffordable if you’re banking on gaining a large amount of money from financial aid.
If you need an extremely large increase in financial aid, that probably wont happen.

Your family is going to need a huge paper trail to prove that their income provided over 51% help.

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This is the FSA Handbook, which contains the relevant information: Filling Out the FAFSA | 2023-2024 Federal Student Aid Handbook.

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I have no idea but would talk directly with financial aid. There is no harm in trying. You can pose this issue as a question. Either email or call and make sure you don’t talk to a student answering the phone. Maybe schedule a meeting.

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