I will be 18 when i apply for college and i want to be an RN, and my parents will not support me and i dont live with them because of past physical abuse. Can i still apply for fafsa under homeless even though the abuse report was years ago? And if i do apply for homelesss how will fafsa help?
Are you homeless? Where do you live?
Do you live in a shelter, or with relatives, or what?
im curently living with an aunt.
Since you have a home…you aren’t homeless.
Are you in a legal guardianship situation? Or not? In other words…is your aunt your legal guardian?
At any time since you were 13 were you a ‘ward of the state’? Did the state have legal custody of you even if you lived with an aunt? Do you have medicaid as your insurance coverage (often an indication that your legal custody is with the state)?
I would start researching Dependency Override here, especially with documented abuse and not living with them any longer. It is rare and very hard to get, but we did it with my foster son. He files his FAFSA with only his own income (and it gets kicked back and he has to talk every year to the financial folks at his college). This is only for legitimately document situations, you can’t pull fast ones, but it makes you eligible for Pell Grant money and usually whatever grant your state offers for lower incomes.
I agree that you should speak with the college regarding a dependency override.
You say you will be 18 when you apply for college.
What year in HS are you NOW? How long have you lived with this aunt? Is this a legal court appointed guardianship or an informal arrangement?
You are not homeless. Did your aunt legally adopt you? If so she would be responsible for the parent contribution.
Who is my parent? https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/resources
Are you independent? https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fafsa-dependency.pdf
Oops - got the parent info link wrong
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/resources/fafsa-parent-text
Even if you were adopted by your aunt - if you were 13 or older you would be independent for the FAFSA. If you were over 16 you might even qualify for Education and Training Voucher (ETV) assistance.
https://www.nacac.org/resource/college-expenses-adopted-child-foster-care/
Some states like KY would automatically waive your tuition. See link above.
This is only true if she was a ward of the state at some time. A direct adoption from one parent to another without the state taking custody (legal custody, not necessarily physical) doesn’t make a child independent.
ETV is specifically for students who were in foster care as of age 16, which does not sound like Op’s Case