<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>
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<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>