<p>I am planning on moving out before the start of the Spring semester. I have 10 clases to go and am planning on only taking 2 classes in the Spring. I need a change and a break. I found a new job that pays a decent wage and I have around $9,000 in savings. I have factored in all of my expenses and figured I wouldn't have to touch my savings and will have around $300 of disposable income (after rent, food, and gas) each month.</p>
<p>Would I be able to file for financial aid for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010? I am not too familiar with the financial aid system since I didn't qualify because my parents made too much money for me to qualify.</p>
<p>You’re a dependent if you don’t qualify for one of these situations:</p>
<p>In order to file your financial aid application as an independent student, you must meet one or more of the following criteria:</p>
<pre><code>* Age 24 by January 1 of the aid year
Veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces
Currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training
Graduate or graduate/professional student
Married prior to filing and signing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
Orphan or ward of the court
Have legal dependents other than a spouse
</code></pre>
<p>See the FAFSA instructions for additional information on these criteria. If you do not meet one of the above conditions, you must file as a dependent student and include your parents’ information.</p>
<p>You may have to chance to argue your status with the school itself. This is from the MSU financial aid site:</p>
<p>The only exception to the dependency rules at Michigan State is in very rare instances where it can be proven that there is a total breakdown in the relationship between student and parent(s). If you believe that this describes your situation, contact a financial aid advisor for advice on how to document your circumstances.</p>
<p>I work in financial aid. My motto is: Don’t try to figure it out; you’ll go crazy if you do!</p>
<p>The rules are what they are. They don’t always seem to make sense, but they are the rules just the same. Financial aid officers are able to make case by case exceptions to the rules, but there has to be a strong, well documented reason for doing so.</p>
<p>The thing to remember is that the underlying assumption of federal financial aid programs is that the family has the primary responsibility for paying for a student’s education. Government aid is available to assist those who CANNOT afford to pay … not those who are not willing to pay. It seems harsh, but there is only so much money to go around, and the neediest should be helped first.</p>
<p>Dependency for tax purposes is different than dependency for financial aid purposes. For tax purposes, they can claim you on their taxes if they pay for over 50% of your living expenses. So you could be in a situation where you are considered a dependent for FA purposes but your parents would not be able to take you off on their taxes.</p>
<p>The dependency definitions represent government policy decisions. For tax purposes they simply want the tax rate to have some bearing on the actual living situation – so if your parents are supporting you, they get a tax deduction; if not, you get an exemption.</p>
<p>For financial aid, the policy is: the government doesn’t want to be spending its money to pay for the education of children with rich parents. They have decided that they want parents to bear the burden of paying for their kids college through age 23. </p>
<p>The government also has decided that, as a matter of policy, that they would prefer that young people between the ages of 18-23 who do not have parents supporting them join the military. To that end, they offer generous benefits to help veterans pay for college, as well as changing the rules for dependency determination. </p>
<p>It’s not fair… but if you were running a government with an all volunteer army and 2 wars on, you might make the same decision. </p>
<hr>
<p>If your parents are not supporting you, then you might consider taking a year off to earn the money to pay for your final year of college. My son took 3 years off & paid for his final 2 years of college on his own. The world didn’t come to an end because he was 25 when he graduated – actually, I think it’s an advantage to him that he has maturity + a strong work history & resume, especially at a time when jobs are tight.</p>
<p>Dependency for financial aid…and dependency for tax purposes are TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. Your parents can claim you on their taxes if they are providing you with more than 1/2 of your financial support. Dependency for financial aid is predicated on the items already listed in previous posts.</p>
<p>If you are under the age of 24, your parents’ income and assets will still be reported on the financial aid forms. You can check with your particular college to see if there are any exceptions to this rule (other than marriage, being a veteran, having a dependent who YOU support, etc). Likely the answer will be no…but ask to find out.</p>
<p>E.g. DS is independent for finaid (he has his bachelors degree) but we contribute to his support so he is our dependent on our taxes.</p>
<p>We have a friend whose son worked for a year prior to college. When he applied, he was a dependent for financial aid purposes (he was only 20 years old), but because he was self supporting during that gap year, his parents did NOT declare him on their taxes…they were not providing more than 1/2 of his financial support.</p>