FAFSA for non-dependent student

Paying for College
1

For various reasons, a friend of my D’s is no longer receiving any assistance from his parents. He will not be a dependent on his parents tax return for 2017. He will be filling out and filing the FAFSA for the first time on his own.

But if the FAFSA is using tax info from 2016, it will appear his parents are still claiming his as a dependent, although he has been on his own for nearly all of 2017. I assume it will use their income, and they will not be paying for school next year. Is there any way around this issue? He didn’t file a tax return himself that year because he made too little.

2

None of the information you provide indicates that your daughter’s friend will be independent under the FAFSA definition of that status.

3

I just Googled it myself. That’s unfortunate. I was hoping he would be eligible for a Pell grant.

Just in case anyone is interested, the link is https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/dependency#dependent-or-independent