<p>My son will be considered Independent for FAFSA purposes in Fall 2011 because he will be entering his first year of pharm. school. He is not 24 and has not yet completed an undergrad degree. For those reasons, his school still considers him dependent. As I am required to report my income info on the FAFSA, will that decrease his chances of getting more institutional financial aid.</p>
<p>How can your son be independent for FAFSA purposes when he does not meet any of the criteria (undergrad degree, >=24, married, has a child, married, etc)? What does pharmacy school have to do with it?</p>
<p>If he does not meet the above criteria he is dependent for FAFSA purposes and all of your financial info will need to be supplied and will be factored into any aid given.</p>
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No, this is not correct. When a student is in a professional program they are considered independent for FAFSA purposes. With programs such as the 6 year pharmacy programs this usually happens part way through the program (it varies by school exactly when the switch happens). At that point the student is no longer considered a dependent for FAFSA but is an independent. Unfortunately any federal grant aid such as the Pell is not available any more as that is for undergrad only, not professional programs.</p>
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It is possible it will. But if the school requires your information you won’t be considered for aid if you don’t provide it. This is not unusual for professional programs. Many medical and law schools also require parent information even though the students generally have a bachelors and are independent for FAFSA purposes.</p>
<p>I stand corrected. Thanks!</p>
<p>thank you so much, swimcatsmom. i appreciate the info you provided.</p>
<p>Did the SCHOOL tell him to indicate that he is grad/professional on his FAFSA??? I spent weeks straightening out incorrectly filed FAFSA’s with P1 students this year. Make sure the school actually wants the FAFSA filled out with any graduate level info. Our P1’s must have a certain number of credits before they can indicate grad/professional anywhere on the FAFSA. Until that point … even though they are considered BY THE SCHOOL to be in the professional phase of their program … they must indicate first bachelor, junior standing, and degree type NOT grad/professional for dependency status.</p>
<p>Believe me, asking NOW can prevent some huge headaches.</p>