<p>Hello all,
Several weeks ago, I was beaten and force to leave my home. I saw my college guidance counselor, who saw and documented the bruising. I have three notarized letters from classmates verifying the situation, as well as a high school counselor who is well aware. I have photographs of the incident that led to my leaving. Problem is, I have no money to pay for school. 3.8 GPA, various grants, junior year. I would need a dependency override for next year since I cannot acquire my families tax info without returning home, and that is not a safe option. I still have scarring from the incident in June. </p>
<p>My question is, is this reasonable grounds for an override to make me an independent student? And if it is, what does that entail? Will I lose my grants/TAP/Pell? Will I only be eligible for loans?</p>
<p>Thanks. Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I am not sure whether or not there is a way to be automatically independent, but you should absolutely contact colleges that you are applying to/are accepted to. </p>
<p>My fiance was in a similar situation and had to leave home at 16 because of abuse. His college granted him an override, no problem. </p>
<p>I am thankful that you have a GC who is helping you out. You do have a safe place to stay, correct?</p>
<p>It is not automatic so you will need to work with the FA department for an override. Go and talk to them at the earliest opportunity to find out what you need to do so you can start getting the paperwork and documentation started now.</p>
<p>I was more wondering what my options/chances are. I’m 20 years old and will be 21 by the time I do my application for next year. Is this likely to be granted? And if it is, what am I entitled to? Does anyone know?</p>
<p>Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were a junior in high school. </p>
<p>You need to go talk to the FA office right away. If they grant you the override, you will only use your income, savings, etc. Your EFC might be higher than before, depending on how much you make vs how much your parents make. IIRC, there is much less income protection for students than parents. If you have a low EFC then you would still be eligible for Pell Grants. You also still have access to Stafford loans although I am not sure of the limit. Your FA office would be more helpful with state and college specific money like TAP and grants. </p>
<p>Best of luck, and I hope everything works out!</p>
<p>I hope you’re okay and have others who can lend support and comfort. It sounds as if you already filed your FAFSA and TAP app for 2010/2011, is that right? If so, you should be okay for fall and spring semester but will have to request a dependency override so you can file next year’s apps. Make an appointment to sit down with a FA officer sometime this fall and find out what they will need to make that happen. I believe you will file your FAFSA without any parent info and the school will then make the change from dependent to independent for you (as this is normally determined by your answer to certain qualifying questions). </p>
<p>Loan limits are higher for independent students…around $4K per year more. The other programs are still dependent on your AGI/EFC. Good luck and don’t look back!</p>
<p>It is at the discretion of your FA officer but if you have valid documentation showing your situation you should have a good chance of getting an override. I would think it is probably better to get documentation from sources such as the HS counselor that knows your situation, clergy, police reports etc rather than your peers. </p>
<p>If you get an override then your FA will be based on your EFC, as before, but the EFC will be calculated using just your own income and asset data. You will be eligible for all federal aid, Pell etc, that your EFC makes you eligible for. I would think you would still be eligible for the TAP (assuming you meet other criteria) but that is a state specific grant so you would need to check with them.</p>
<p>My EFC is almost nothing; I am super poor. I can get documentation from a college counselor and from a high school counselor, but that’s it. I figured some notorized forms from peers would help verify things. </p>
<p>I’m good for 2010/2011, I’m referring to next years financial aid. </p>
<p>It sounds like as long as I can get the documentation to them, I should get the override and get to finish college. </p>
<p>Any fin. Aid officers here who could tell me what my chances actually are?</p>
<p>Jenry, I’m sorry for your situation. You were right to document it – did you also make a police report? I realize that you could have mixed feelings about making a report that could lead to a family member being jailed – but that may be the sort of documentation the financial aid people will want, and it also may be necessary in the future if you need to obtain some sort of restraining order.</p>
<p>I hope you will continue to document. Make a note of the date and who you contact as you search for information. If “Gloria” in Financial Aid is warm and helpful on Tuesday, Sept 9, then you want to make sure you ask for Gloria when you call back for more information on Sept 25. </p>
<p>The policies for a gazillion colleges are not nearly so important as the policy for your particular college (although if your college’s is a poor one, then you can bring in other policies and encourage change). </p>
<p>One hurdle you may run into is whether or not charges were filed and adjudicated. Go to the FAFSA site and read, carefully, on what their language is on being declared independent. As horrible as the experiences have been, it might not meet their criteria. </p>
<p>On the FAFSA web site, there is a Dependency set of questions. For instance, it asks if a student:
At any time on or after July 1, 2009, did your high school or school district homeless liaison determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless </p>
<p>or </p>
<p>Are you, or were you in legal guardianship as determined by a court in your state of legal residence at the time you received the determination </p>
<p>There’s also a question about being documented as homeless. </p>
<p>Anyway, if you cannot answer YES to one or more of these questions, then you may not be able to be declared independent. </p>
<p>Check out the FAFSA Dependency Worksheet carefully. Those questions are the key to your status.</p>
<p>The Higher Education Act authorizes FAO’s to make dependency overrides on a case by case basis for students with unusual circumstances. Abuse certainly qualifies as one of those circumstances. As long as there is adequate documentation, it seems very likely that a school would grant that.</p>
<p>Try to get any letters/documents from professionals on their own letterhead.</p>
<p>I am a financial aid officer. I can’t tell you that you will be granted a dependency override, since it is at the discretion of the aid office at your school. There is no “for sure” with a dependency override.</p>
<p>Now that that is out of the way … given the info you provided here, I would say that you have a good chance of being granted a dependency override. Personally, I would find the documentation from the counselor at your college to be the most helpful documentation. The other documentation you have gathered is very helpful, as well. You will have to file the dependency override appeal NEXT YEAR. At least where I work, dependency overrides must be reapplied for each & every year … we don’t ask you to get all the info all over again every year, but we do actually require that you submit signed documentation each year that the situation has not changed for the better.</p>
<p>I would advise you to keep your documentation. File your FAFSA without parent info next January. As soon as your school’s 2011-12 dependency override forms come out, fill out the paperwork and submit documentation with it. My advice is to ask the people who filled it out now to add a note next spring when you submit your request … have them include a note with what they wrote now that indicates that to the best of their knowledge, your situation is still the same as it was at the time they wrote the original document. Be sure all statements include real signatures & a date.</p>
<p>Because every school is different, do visit your school’s aid office in the near future to see if they agree with what I have posted here.</p>
<p>The whole point of a special circumstances adjustment is to allow the financial aid officers to over ride FAFSA when there is a special circumstance. Cases of abuse are specifically listed as a potential reason where an FA officer can override the dependency status. Although it is not an easy process a FA officer an go into FAFSA and override the dependency if they determine that there is legitimate cause. </p>
<p>edit: wrote this before dinner but clicked to submit it after I ate and just saw that kelsmom had posted. Hers is the advice to follow as she is a FA officer.</p>
<p>I know my aid for this year won’t be affected, but could I do the dependency override this year so that I know that I could just get it renewed next year? Or does it NEED to be done next year for next year?</p>
<p>You will need to ask your school’s financial aid office. Where I work, you would have to do it next year, not this year. You would need to re-do it each year.</p>
<p>I’m impressed that you had the presence of mind to document this. That kind of resourcefulness will take you very far in life. Congrats on getting the override. Good luck, and I hope you stay safe.</p>