FASFA Help!!!! :/

Paying for College
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<p>I'm currently a student whose 18 and completing her 2nd semester in community college in Florida. Before entering i went through hell and back because my parents were illegal and I was US citizen. Eventually we came to the conclusion to give full custody to my older sister(my adoptive mother now) who moved to another state a year later with her husband. When i'm filling taxes I put her information but her and her husband are earning 100,000+ both together. The problem is that they don't or will pay for my tuition or my living at all, its my immigrant parents that earn about 25,000+ combined but are leaving back to their country.</p>

<p>Currently i'm on a full ride at my community college because i'm part of the honors college there but now looking into transferring I fear if i don't get enough scholarships i wont be able to pay for 4 year institution. Even though i deserve pell grants but can't receive them due to the drastic measure i went through in order to receive in-state.</p>

<p>So point is I work full time, attend school full time, live in a room at my aunts apartment "lease" and i pay my own bills.</p>

<p>I'm wondering if there's away in Fasfa that i can claim independence?
I was looking into Emancipation but i have no clue if i will be able in the state of Florida since i'm 18.</p>

<p>Thank you for your time and help :)</p>

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<p>Run, do not walk, to the Transfer Advisor’s office at your CC, and sit yourself down there until you have had a meeting with that person. Find out which colleges and universities are likely to offer you enough merit-based aid for you to afford. Find out which places will be affordable if you attend part-time and work full-time. The Transfer Advisor’s whole job at your CC is to help students sort out the transfer process.</p>

<p>You also need to find out if you will still be considered in-state where you are living, or if you will lose that status based on where your legal parent lives. If you can only be considered in-state where your sister is, then discuss with her the possibility of moving in with her and commuting to an affordable place in that state. The three of you (you, your sister, and her husband) might be able to make that work for the two years or so it will take you to finish your degree.</p>

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<p>First of all, that your parents are not citizens, are here illegally would not affect YOUR eligibility for financial aid since YOU are legally here as a citizen. If you were formally adopted through court by your sister, she is indeed now your mother through adoption as any adopted child would be by the parent who adopted him/her. So, yes, she is your custodial parent for financial aid purposes and if she is married, both her and her husband’s income and assets are what are used to calculate financial aid. That is the situation you literally signed up for when and if your sister adopted you. You cannot have it both ways, in that she is your mother for all legal things you want/need but not to be the parent for FAFSA purposes. There are a lot of students who are in the exact same situation as you in that their parents, whether through birth, adoption or anything else that make them legal parets will not pay for college when the numbers indicate they should be able to do so. That’s just too bad. </p>

<p>I know I sound a bit harsh, but that is the fact of the matter. IF, you are truly,legally adopted by your sister.</p>

<p>If not, then, you need to sit down and fill out FAFSA using your natural parents’ info, legally here or not. That doesn’t come into the picture. Lots of kids with non citizen parents, illegally here. You still get to fill out FAFSA and are enttled to PELL, and other resources from that. </p>

<p>No, you are highly unlikely to be able to be considered independent, unless you meet one of the items on the checklist for independence. You are not 24, married, have no legal dependents for tax purposes, not a veteran of the Armed Forces, nor were you removed from your parents by court order. Voluntary give up doesn’t count. If you were in the Foster care system officially or homeless, or in dire danger of thus being, that might fly, but those things will likely be checked out and official documentation/evidence of sorts is needed.</p>

<p>You DO NOT DESERVE Pell grants if you went through a legal adoption route with your sister being your parent. Nor do you serve them if your natural parents’ income is such that you don’t qualify for them IF you did NOT go through a legal adoption. You no more deserve to be considered independent for financial aid than most students who are on their own after age 18, because their parents won’t pay for college or for them. As I said in my first paragraph, something went wrong when you could not get financial aid or fill out FAFSA when you are a US citizen. Doesn’t matter about your parents. Something isn’t right here. Plenty of US citizens who have illegal non citizen parents. That does not exclude you from FAFSA, aid, etc. You got some bad advice at that time.</p>

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<p>@cptofthehouse We knew the affects of making my sister my adopted parent. We did it because in order for me to get in state tuition I had to proof my parents residency and as both my parents are illegal i had no way of doing it.
we would have filled Fasfa under my parents because they did enter the country legally at a point and even have their own SSN and do taxes every year so that wasn’t the problem it was just proving residency in the state of Florida for college app made us do this drastic decision.
It was one of the reasons why I decided to stay at my local CC instead of enrolling into Florida state(cost and lack of help). </p>

<p>I just wanted to see if I could possibly do something but you answered my question :slight_smile:
Ill just take out loans and pay for them the rest of my life… Living the american dream at 18.</p>

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<p>You would have had NO difficulty proving YOUR instate residency. Your high school transcript would have indicated that you were a student there for at least a year. </p>

<p>I"m sure it would have been a procedure for you to prove your instate status, and it would also have been an immigration issue for your parents. </p>

<p>The issue is NOT proving your residency…the issue is that it would have exposed your parents undocumented status.And i do understand that you did not want to do that.</p>

<p>How long have you lived in Florida? Some states do have special programs for kids of undocumented parents. Does Florida?</p>

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<p>@thumper1 Well when applying to FIU,FSU and UF I had to fill an affidavit, that was an issue what Driver License, voter registration or residency card would I put if my parents were immigrants? and at the time i was a dependent in tax information, i had no income to support myself. I thought maybe my high school transcripts would help but thats not the case because if it was American Dream kids who are illegal would get in state as well.</p>

<p>I’ve been living in Florida all my 18 years and sadly Florida isn’t the nicest state to us so called “anchor babies”.
trusted me I cried and even have grown hate to my own country because of the situation I’ve been placed. My parents didn’t come to this country in hopes of having a baby that would one day give them citizenship, they were legal at a point until that expired… I seemed to have been standing along the american dream kids unless my own sister adopted me and helped me get in-state of my own state in my own country.</p>

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<p>Natyo15 -</p>

<p>Will you still be in-state for FL now that your legal parents have moved out of state? Are you somehow grandfathered for that? You need to find that out. If not, you are going to have to make a decision about the best way to finish your education. Your options might turn out to be waiting until you are 24 and qualify for in-state fees in FL, paying out-of-state tuition and fees now in FL, or moving to where your legal parents live.</p>

<p>None of those options look very good, I know. Your situation is a tough one. </p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

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<p>You are eligible for financial aid from the federal government. Had you done research on the matter or if your guidance counselor or the school’ financial aid officers discussed this with you, it would have been clear that it doesn’t matter if your parents were illegals. That you are a citizen here is what matters. Whether you would have gotten Bright Futures is a whole other thing. I didn’t see much problem at all going to South Dade Community college. Not much in the way of questions at all. </p>

<p>My parents lived in Dade county for some years and one brother went to college from there, another spent 3 out of 4 high school years there. They went to the public school there, and I think there were as many illegal immigrant families as there were those who were documented. My father worked hand in hand with the community colleges, and there were MANY undocumented kids. They all got state tuition, much to the resentment of legal residents. My dad would shake his head at how some of those most indignant were those who had just become legal or weren’t far from immigrant status themeselves. My close friend still has family there. I’ll ask if things have changed much in terms of getting state rates.</p>

<p>The question now is whether you are eligible for state tuition, now that your mother, and yes, if you went through the legal steps of adoption, she is legally your parent, is out of state. In many states, you are no longer entitled to state residency. </p>

<p>When you go through the adoption process, though you get some benefits of being the daughter of your adoptive mother, you also get the drawbacks. You are now shackled to her and her husband’s financial situation for financial aid. It’s not an unfair thing. Those are the rules for everyone, and there are a lot of kids whose parents won’t or can’t pay what the formulas say they should. A lot of kids lose state residency status when parents move out of state and have to pay OOS rates.</p>

<p>But, please, the unfairness is because you did not go through the processes as you should have. You could have gotten state residency rates, federal aid even with illegals as parents. If you didn’t want to take the risk, they didn’t want to take the risk of being identified and it was easier to get adopted by your sister, you have to take the consequences of that decision. But the laws are very generous to those in your situation, and the process insulates those who are here illegally. IMO, it makes no sense they are so generous, but they are. We have one arm of government ignoring what another arm is actively doing, which is madness. But, yes, those who are US citizens like you, with parents here illegally get most of the benefits of college. Now if YOU were not legally here, that’s a whole other issue.</p>

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<p><<<<
We did it because in order for me to get in state tuition I had to proof my parents residency and as both my parents are illegal i had no way of doing it.
<<<</p>

<p>that is nonsense. your high school transcript would have shown that…as well as any utility bills or similar that your parents paid.</p>

<p><<
and even have grown hate to my own country because of the situation I’ve been placed.
<<<</p>

<p>Oh please…then don’t ask it for aid then.</p>

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<p>Do you qualify for bright futures?</p>

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<p>@cptofthehouse Well like you said I got bad advice, my cap counselor in high school was pretty much useless and had no clue of what to do in my situation we both talked to dean of admissions at FSU but that left us in the same place. Time was running out of my clock, i wish i had notice my junior year in High school the struggles I would have to overcome I would have been able to do more research in my situation. </p>

<p>but regardless I was adopted by my sister and nothing can be changed now. I was just wondering If there was a way I could become Fasfa “independent” but I’ll just suffer the consequences now.</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids If i would have had help back then I wouldn’t have gone through paying a lawyer and getting adopted. Yes I do qualify for Bright futures.</p>

<p>My sister hasn’t completed a year yet in the new state she lives and also still has bills under her name in Florida, so to my understanding I’m still okay. </p>

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<p>So how much do you need? You qualify for Bright Futures (what amount), and you will get a $7500 Direct Loan if it is your 3rd year in college. </p>

<p>The FL public universities do NOT meet full need for ALL students anyway. You might not have gotten any more than Bright Futures and that Direct Loan anyway.</p>

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<p>@thumper1 I’m doing early research so I don’t mess up again. I’m in my CC honors program so I still have 1 more year until I’m deciding where to transfer too. Most likely by the time I’m transferring I might not be able to claim residency in Florida and possibly have to attend a school in New York. But I have the 75% Bright future I believe. I have no financial help so my classes are paid by the Honors college and I get money for books from them. So as of now I’m okay, my parents(biological) don’t pay a penny.</p>

<p>I’ll probably just aim for Private institutions that offers plenty of scholarships since Public universities seem to be a “middle class” worst nightmare. </p>

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<p>As I posted before, the ONLY ways you can become FAFSA independent are listed in the FAFSA requirements. You are your sister’s daughter now, and just as the any student who has parents who move out of state and does not qualify for financial need, you are bound by those rules. As Thumper points out the Florida public universities (and that goes for nearly every single public university) do not guarantee to meet full need anyways, so even with a zero EFC there is no guarantee that you would get more money. Not that it matters anymore, but did your natural parents financials come up with a zero EFC? If so that would mean PELL grant money and subsidized loans, but no guarantee of anything else and as the EFC increases, you get less from PELL. But you can’t cherry pick among the advantages of being your sister’s daughter, your natural parents’ daughter and independent Doesn’t work that way. There are disadvantages of each choice. You made your choice, so just as any other student, WiTHOUT your backstory, you have the issue of parents who have moved out of states, parent who are not going to pay your way, and you don’t appear to qualify as independent As I said before, your situation is not at all unusual. There are many such posts from kids stuck just as you are for a number of reasons.</p>

<p>Unless you can get merit money, borrow what you can from the student direct loans ($7500),work part time to make it work, unless you fit the definition of independent, as given by FAFSA, and continue to be eligible for instate tuition, you may have to take a hiatus from school and find a job, maybe taking courses as you can afford them on a part time basis and eke out your degree that way. Believe it or not that is how most Americans get their college education. </p>

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<p>privates are going to use your sister’s income and compute a family contribution that they won’t pay.</p>

<p>Privates do NOT offer plenty of scholarships for transfers. A 50k school may give you 15k…how will you pay the rest? </p>

<p>A FL public will be your affordable option</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids @cptofthehouse @thumper1 I like to thank you all for taking time to help me and hopefully someone else can benefit from this :)</p>

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<p>You need to deal with the facts as they are today. You have to use your sister’s info unless there is some way to negate the adoption. </p>

<p>Your sister’s income will give you an EFC of about 25k per year. Since no one will pay that, going to a private won’t work.</p>

<p>Do you have a family friend who lives by a Florida public that would let you live there while going to school? </p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids Yes I do, its FIU but it is not one of my top choices at all (its ranked 9 compared to all other florida schools in my intended major) Eventually though i’ll have to suck it up and just like when i decided to attend CC instead of FSU, I will do what is the most convenient economically and if thats FIU then what can I do…</p>

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<p>What is your major and career goal? </p>

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<p>There is a real disconnect for those students whose parents have the resources according to financial aid formulas and who won’t or can’t for whatever reason pay those amounts. Even Harvard, as school that brags long and loud that " no student will have to turn down Harvard for financial reasons" will not provide the funds for students whose parents have the resources by their formulas to pay. So as it stands right now, you are in that group of students. So even schools that guarantee to meet full need, generous schools will use your mother and step father’s finances. Adoption would be a total sham if your situation were given exception. </p>

<p>You’ve had a free or close to free ride so far with your CC honors program, Bright Futures, and if you took the loans, the student Direct Loans. When it comes time to transfer, there may be questions as to whether your state residence and BF money hold, since your parents are no longer state residents. That may depend on school policies. </p>

<p>Transfers tend to get the left overs in most cases in terms of financial aid and merit scholarships. Not saying there isn’t anything out there, but there is way less than as a incoming freshman. </p>

<p>New York state tends to have low tuitions for their state schools and many of them available all over the state. Transfering to a SUNY school and living with your mother and stepfather may be your best option. </p>

<p>Mom2collegekids, since the OP’s mother and stepfather are now in NY, OP may not qualify for FL state residency and in state rates at Florida schools. </p>

<p>You were unfortunate to have been going through the college process when there was a spot light on US citizen children of illegals in Florida. Though kids in your situation have been getting in state rates for years, the heat was turned on in the last several years and it was brought to head by a major lawsuit that was decided in favor of those in your situation. It is now specific law that US citizens with parents here illegally can get in state tuition rates and other privileges. It is expected in the next year or so that even kids who are here illegally with illegal parents can get the same, already a law in NY state with some stipulations. But you were caught up in a maelstorm when policies were being challenged. </p>

<p>If the adoption can be nullified, you would then be able to get instate rates in Florida despite parents who are here illegally, and also get financial aid based on your natural parents’ finances. That might be the best way to go for you. Given that you did not go to FSU anyways, the whole adoption idea was not a very smart one. You could have just easily gone where you did without playing games like you did.</p>