<p>Again, Annoyingdad is correct. You may have been independent for tax purposes, but unless you were age 24, married, had a dependent of your own, were a veteran of the armed forces, or were removed from your parents by court order before you were 18, you are not considered Independent for college financial aid purposes. Otherwise a lot of parents would just gift their kids money and those kids could be considered independent for aid purpose in about a year. The parents are the college’s cash cows. 18-24 year olds rarely have enough money to pay for college or have the credit history for loans to pay for college. The colleges target the parents for the same reasons robbers target banks; that’s where the money is. </p>
<p>Your mother’s tax records were required because that is how financial aid is structured. For those who do not meet independence requirements, the parent with whom you spent the most time with is the one considered the custodial parent. IF you have two parents and spent the same or no time with either, you were supposed to submit the info of the one with the most resources so that you qualify for less aid. </p>
<p>There are kids who are stuck in no where land because not only would there parents not pay for anything, they would not turn over their financial records or tax info. There is no law saying you HAVE to do this. There is the assumption that a parent will, and if the parent chooses not to do so, the kid’s options dwindle further.</p>