<p>I'm a pharmacy student at Rutgers University and I my FAFSA says that I would be considered an independent because I am in a health professional program. I'm only 20 years old and I still live with my parents. Is there anyway I can change this?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>No way to change your status. Students attending graduate or professional school are considered independent regardless of their age.</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.fafsa.com/understanding-fafsa/fafsa-dependency[/url]”>http://www.fafsa.com/understanding-fafsa/fafsa-dependency</a></p>
<p>Is it one of those combined 6 year programs where you start as an undergrad and at some point in time switch over to professional. My understanding with those is that, for FA purposes, you are considered an undergrad student (and thus dependent) for the first couple of years and then are considered a professional student.</p>
<p>The problem then is not that you are considered independent (which for an undergrad student is usually beneficial as parents income is ignored). It is that you are considered a professional student which makes you ineligible for Federal grant money like the Pell. If you are at the stage of the program, or if it is a fully fledged pharmacy program, then you are considered a professional student and there is nothing you can do to change it.</p>
<p>You’re in the grad portion of your program.</p>
<p>Why would you want to change it anyway???</p>
<p>Mom2…the student might have qualified for need based aid as a dependent undergrad, but not as an independent grad student.</p>
<p>To the OP…no you can’t change this. You are now considered an independent for financial aid purposes. Did this affect the amount of need based aid you received? If not, why does this matter to you.</p>
<p>As soon as you enter the graduate phase, you are considered a graduate student. My daughter, for example, is in a 3+2 program for Physician Assistant, so she was considered a graduate student for her senior year in college. </p>
<p>The upside for health profession grad students is that you do not need a co-signer or credit check for private loans… great news for parents, anyway.</p>
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No, for now on the only financial aid from Federal is the unsubsidized loans.</p>
<p>Mom2…the student might have qualified for need based aid as a dependent undergrad, but not as an independent grad student.</p>
<p>Very true. But I didn’t think the question was about undergrad vs grad status. That seems set. The student is now in the grad phase of the PharmD program. The issue seems to be independent vs dependent status.</p>
<p>The student seems to think that because she lives at home, she can still be dependent on FAFSA.</p>
<p>The student became independent because the status became grad student. What I was wondering was if this student qualified for need based aid as a dependent (when classified as an undergrad) but does not now (that the student is a grad student…independent).</p>
<p>This is interesting because my daughter will be in the OP’s place in two years. So wouldn’t that lower her EFC significantly? Wouldn’t that offset the subsidized loans?</p>
<p>Yes, it would probably lower her EFC asparent income/assets woulo no longer be required. But she would not be eligible for federal grants (they are for undergrad only, not professional or grad level. Not sure what you mean by offsetting the subsidized loans.</p>
<p>Your D’s EFC will be lower, but all subsidized loans for professional and grad student were eliminated 2 years. Only unsub loans are available. (6.8% APR) There are no federal grants for professional or grad school either</p>
<p>Just an FYI: Pharm.D. programs are ‘professional school’, not ‘graduate school’.</p>
<p>54mas92: ‘Independent’ for FAFSA is different from ‘independent’ for income tax purposes. Your parents may well be able to continue claiming you as their dependent for income tax purpose (and claim an education credit).</p>
<p>This is interesting because my daughter will be in the OP’s place in two years. So wouldn’t that lower her EFC significantly? Wouldn’t that offset the subsidized loans?</p>
<p>No. Once she has grad school status, she wouldn’t get sub loans. Grad school status gets unsub loans. Plus, often scholarships and other institutional grants go away depending on how they’re worded. A four year merit scholarship might still be available (need to ask) but if it’s a 6 year program, that would be gone for years 5 and 6.</p>