I’ll make my question straightforward. If a student moves out of the family home immediately after high school graduation, gets a job, and pays rent, what is her status for financial aid if she applies to college the following year?
In the vast majority of cases, undergraduate students are dependent for financial aid purposes regardless of where they reside.
Simply moving out and supporting yourself doesn’t really impact this.
The criteria on the FAFSA are very clear…and simply having your own home and job isn’t one of those criteria to be considered independent.
Things like…being a ward of they state, being in guardianship before age 18, being a veteran of the armed forces, being over the age of 24, being married, having a dependent child who you fully support.
The scenerio you presented in the first post doesn’t meet the test for independent for financial aid purposes.
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This question goes into the “if it were that simple, everyone would do it” category.
Assuming such a student is under 24, she will still be considered a dependent for FA purposes, in most cases.
If she moves to another state for a year, she may be considered in-state for tuition purposes, but will (in almost all cases) still be considered a dependent for institutional aid purposes.
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Very limited number of states that do this. Maybe check UTAH and Wyoming and Montana…for their residency requirements.
But being instate for tuition purposes does NOT necessarily mean the student will be independent for financial aid purposes. Two different things.
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Hence the equalizer "may.’ 
Absolutely no regulatory authority to make this student independent, based on the information provided.
By the way, it used to be possible to demonstrate independence before 24. When I worked in financial aid when dinosaurs roamed the earth, parents would actually amend prior tax returns to remove the student as dependent. The hope was to get a Pell grant and possibly institutional aid. I can’t remember when it changed, but it changed because one of the underlying principles of federal aid is that first and foremost, the family has the responsibility to pay for their child’s education to the extent possible … and some more well off families were gaming the system.
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Thanks for your information. Much appreciated.
Suppose the child became emancipated as a minor?
Yes that is a criteria. But it takes time to become emancipated and this must be done before age 18…and requires a LOT of documentation provided to the courts.
I have to ask…are you asking about your own kid? Do you really want to cut ALL ties with your own child…which is what emancipation is all about?
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Not my own kid but a very specific case.
Thanks for asking the question. I run into this question occassionally with young people I know, actually. Kids, for example, who get kicked out of the house on their 18th birthday due to religious differences. Or kids who have been living independently even before age 18, but never went through the official emancipation process.
If the student is still 17, the fastest route to independence would be to have the parents give up legal guardianship, is that an option? There is likely not enough time for emancipation as thumper says (assuming they are close to 18 years old).
Here are the criteria: Federal Student Aid
Even if the student is independent, it is still difficult for them to finance college on their own…unless they have the academics to get into a meet full need school.
If that’s not an option, an independent student’s budget will be limited to their Pell grant ($6,895 max right now) plus $9,500 first year fed direct student loan.
The student can also earn money from full time work in the summer and part time work during the school year, but as we know their likely earnings are a drop in the bucket compared to costs at some college.
Reminder to posters that “asking for a friend” is not allowed on CC.
Reopening thread as OP has clarified that this is a family member.
There was a scam (and I say scam deliberately because the parents did it to defraud the govt of money) in the Chicago area a few years back. Families were advised by FA experts to give up custody of their kids to others to qualify for FA, and the family would continue on as normal. Kid still lived at home, still attended the same hs, but only legal custody was changed.
I believe Illinois put a stop to this.
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I made an assumption about the original question, and I apologize. If this family member has extenuating circumstances that were not shared in the post, it is possible that there could be a dependency override. If that’s the case, the student “could” possibly be considered independent. The devil is in the details. I remember a young woman years ago who was told that she wouldn’t qualify for a dependency override. We had a lot of discussion both on and off the thread, and she did eventually get a dependency override that led to aid in an amount that made college possible. So I apologize … it’s not impossible, but it depends on the circumstances.
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Yep that counselor is local to me.
I am not suggesting OP’s student do anything untoward. But, if their situation is one where the parents are not supportive (as suggestive of the post), it can make sense…this is the most common way students I have worked with attain independent status. And to be clear…they all these students were living in extremely unstable homes, often with very limited incomes.
And again, for many independent students their independence still doesn’t allow them to attend many colleges for affordability reasons, if at all.
So my question remains. Emancipation means cutting ALL ties with your kid. Are you prepared to do that with your child? And provide a court The significant reasons why this should happen?
I’m sorry, but this is a very poor way to hope to get more financial aid, in my opinion.
ET…emancipation should only be considered if it is something that will create a better overall environment for the young person.
OP- if the child is already in HS you need to move fast (or encourage the kid to get help immediately). Family Courts in my area are backed up (lots of lingering child custody cases, divorces that are taking forever, everyone is blaming covid) and to get on a judge’s docket to even consider emancipation you need a LOT of evidence and help from various professionals-- a social worker, legal counsel (and the clinics are backed up as well), a psychologist to testify, etc.
So assuming this is a kid in crisis, and emancipation is the best option- encourage the kid to get moving. There will be quite a paper trail and that takes time.
For FAFSA purposes, the independent-of-parents test is described at Federal Student Aid .
Colleges may choose to use different tests for their own financial aid.