homelessness, admission, financial aid

Paying for College
1

<p>As suggested:</p>

<p>I'm currently a college freshman at a commuters' school. </p>

<p>My parents and I have had quite a long history, so I feel that it's in my best interest to not return home. My parents have been declaiming the "18 and out" mantra for a few years now. I'm still 17 and turn 18 before the end of 2010, so before I left home, I gathered all the necessary documents (SSC, Passport, etc.) so that I'd never need my parents ever again. </p>

<p>The college is about 15 miles away from home, so transportation costs back and forth for an entire semester might drain my limited budget comprising summer earnings so quickly that I won't have money to buy food.</p>

<p>Currently, I only have enough money to buy food for the school year assuming I live on a few dollars a day. Since I left, my mother has expressed that she wants me to return for safety reasons, but hums a completely different tune when I am home. </p>

<p>It was a struggle to obtain their tax forms for FAFSA 2010, but luckily, a combination of federal and state aid provides enough money to cover the public school's tuition with some refunds left over. I'm also eligible for work study, but I'll only be able to earn a maximum of $1500 over the next year so I can't afford a dorm either way.</p>

<p>It's been a few weeks since school started; I've been sleeping in the building during the day and reading books out at night. I havn't experienced compunction or self-pity yet, but then again, it's only been a few weeks. </p>

<p>I'm looking to transfer into a college that offers dorms, is need blind, and guarantees full need; the only schools that fit all three, however, are also extremely difficult to gain admission to. I'm might discuss my familial tension and vagrancy in my transfer essays, but how much they'll help me in admission if at all remains to be seen. After all, my situation may be unusual and possibly uncommon among college students but does not necessarily qualify me as an "overcomer of unfavorable circumstances." Khadijah Williams was homeless for almost her entire life--my post HS graduation experiences pales in comparison timewise and, from what news articles say of her, in harshness.</p>

<p>Homelessness is, according to the FAFSA, also a means of claiming financial independence. My EFC is zero, but like I said, I don't want to see them again and obtaining their tax forms for another year will likely prove even more difficult.</p>

<p>The problem is in that I might have to show documentation of my homelessness by going to a homeless shelter, but I'm 17 and thus might be reported by the homeless director to authorities for being an unaccompanied youth. Additionally, I found this: Matter of Thomas B. v Lydia D. the New York State Supreme Court

[quote]

In New York State, children are considered emancipated if they:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Get married</p></li>
<li><p>Join the military</p></li>
<li><p>Emancipate themselves by abandoning their parents ("This implies that the child has become independent, that he or she has willfully abandoned the parent by refusing to abide by reasonable instructions or demands of the parent, and that such abandonment was not the result of actions on the part of the parent ...")</p></li>
<li><p>Become employed full-time and are financially independent.<br>

[/quote]

In a way, I'm currently homeless by volition because I'm electing not to take advantage of the laws binding my parents to their obligations. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>The school has recently offered to put me up in proprietary housing until December (but after that I'll be back where I started) free of charge, but I'm reluctant to accept because of strings expressly stated as attached and the offer's possibility of interference with my declaration of homelessness which will, in turn, ruin my chances at financial aid should I be accepted at a need blind + full need institution. </p>

<p>For the purposes of the FAFSA, question 58 (vagrancy) does not require official determination of homelessness and allows students to answer yes even if they were only self supporting and at risk, the latter a condition ill-defined. </p>

<p>Obviously, my long term transfer plans are months away and may be eliminated altogether if I'm unable to fulfill my academic goals at my current institution; my immediate ones for sustenance makeshift; I understand the likelihood of gaining acceptance to a need blind + full need school is slight, but if I am rejected, the 3 months of housing generously offered by my school will probably make very little difference when viewed within the scope of the next few years here if I repeatedly fail to find proper employment with sufficient wages for housing as well as food. </p>

<p>Whether someone else has shared this experience or not, his or her insight will be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>

</p>

<p>You need a roof over your head. You can’t live on the streets. Take this offer.</p>

3

<p>

I do realize the importance of a roof over my head, but my main concern is whether accepting the offer will preclude determination of homelessness later on.</p>

4

<p>Homelessness should be judged by your home abandoning you, not you abandoning your home.</p>

5

<p>I would not allow your claim of homelessness to stand. You are not really homeless … you CHOOSE to be homeless. I am a financial aid officer. I would require you to submit parent info.</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Even if I stay home, I’d have to buy my own food. With food eating up the majority of my budget, transportation costs are prohibitively high when accrued over time.
So yes, I guess there is a physical structure I can call home by sheer legislation but what about the “self-supporting at risk of being homeless”?</p>

7

<p>That is for students who have no home. They are truly lacking adequate shelter, and they have no parents willing or able to support them. You don’t even come close to being desperate. You have a home where you could live if you chose to do so. You do not fit the criteria of homelessness, and you would be required to submit parent info because you are a dependent student.</p>

8

<p>I’m unfamiliar with the whole financial aid process, but I just want to comment that you write very well for a college freshman.</p>

9

<p>If I emancipate myself through option 3, that would, as I understand it, remove parental obligations for housing among other things. Furthermore, the McKinney-Vento Act lists as a definition of homeless children and youth thus:</p>

<p><a href=“iii”>quote</a> children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public
spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train
stations, or similar settings; and

[/quote]
</p>

10

<p>I just re-read your first post. You said that your EFC is 0. Do you mean that your current EFC, including parent info, is 0? You will not get any more aid as an independent student than you would as a dependent student. 0 is as low as it goes.</p>

11

<p>You can argue until you are blue in the face, but the fact that you DO have adequate shelter available to you is a sticking point in claiming homelessness. You have to be able to document your homelessness by getting a professional (such as an intake counselor) to complete paperwork for you. Financial aid officers can exercise professional judgment to allow your claim to stand, but you might have trouble with that one.</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>Yes my FAFSA filed this year determined an EFC of zero. The issue isn’t whether I can get more aid, but rather one of obtaining the tax forms. In my pleas with my current college’s fa office I learned parents’ unwillingness to merely supply tax forms is not an legitimate exemption from the verification process.</p>

<p>Edit: I think you’re misunderstanding my point. If I emancipate myself, my parents are no longer legally obligated to provide me with necessary housing. I could unwittingly be in the emancipation process as we speak. If I am successfully emancipated, my parents’ house might become unavailable to me because I’ll have nothing to force my parents into accepting me. </p>

<p>

Conversely, if I have professional documentation, could an financial aid officer still deny my claim with professional judgment as authority? </p>

<p>Documentation may or may not be hard to obtain; the only obstacle to my finding out is whether it is illegal to leave one’s home before the age of majority (commonly 18 and not equivalent to the legislated age at which parents’ legal obligations cease). If so, attempting to obtain professional documentation would be a risky process, but in my research, I have not yet found federal provisions spelling minimum time of homelessness for eligibility to claim override.</p>

13

<p>It is VERY difficult to become an emancipated student. You must provide documentation that says that your family WILL NOT provide you with any help. Your family has offered to do this. How would you provide documentation that they say they won’t? Lying is considered fraud when it comes to financial aid. </p>

<p>Agreed with Kelsmom…if your EFC is $0, that is as low as it goes. MOST schools do not meet full financial need for accepted students anyway. MANY students with low EFCs choose to live at home and use their financial aid to pay their tuition costs.</p>

<p>You will have a very difficult time becoming emancipated. Simply CHOOSING to live away from your family is not sufficient for this claim. If your family is offering you a shelter…you would not be homeless by anyone’s definition…that is your choice.</p>

<p>How are you getting the college to give you free housing until December? What sort of story did you tell them that makes them feel they should offer you this? Perhaps there is some credence to your story…but what you have posted here is not believable.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>MANY parents are unwilling to provide this information. This does not add to your “criteria” for being declared homeless or independent for financial aid purposes.</p>

<p>My understanding is that students can file the FAFSA without parent info to get the Stafford loans. Kelsmom can verify the accuracy of this.</p>

14

<p>Actually, it is more difficult than just that. In order to file without parent info (and ONLY be eligible for unsubsidized loans at dependent limits for year in school), the parents must sign a statement certifying that they refuse to provide any financial information AND that they refuse to supply ANY assistance to the student (including housing, insurance, etc). Without the signed statement, no loans. And with it, no aid other than the unsub loans (at dependent limits).</p>

<p>If the OP wants to know how the school’s financial aid office will view his/her homeless claim, ask. I know the answer at my school. Find out the likely answer at yours.</p>

15

<p>This is from the federal trainers’ workshop on dependency issues:
The FAFSA asks if the student, at any time after July 1 of the year prior to the FAFSA year, was determined to be an unaccompanied youth who was homeless. If the determination was madeby any of these professionals who deal with the homeless community
• A director, or designee, of an emergency shelter or a transitional housing program,
funded by HUD
• A director, or designee, of a homeless youth basic center or transitional living program
• A high school or school district homeless liaison
The student would answer “Yes” to question 56, 57 or 58 on the FAFSA , depending on which professional made the determination, and would be independent.</p>

<hr>

<p>It further goes on to state:
However an FAA may also make this same determination, but there is no question on the FAFSA to capture this. When the FAA makes this determination, she must proceed on a case by case basis and document his decision. Since there is no question to reflect the change of the dependency status based on the FAA’s determination, unlike when the determination is made by a professional working in the homeless community, the FAA will have to change the student’s status to independent using the dependency override function. This use of the dependency override function is not a true dependency override. It is simply a way for the FAAto place the student in the correct status.</p>

<hr>

<p>Here is the thing, though … the training goes on to state the following:
Conflicting information must always be resolved.</p>

<hr>

<p>The fact that you could live at home but choose not to is conflicting information. You can’t be homeless if you really do have a home you could live in. You are not in danger if you live in the home, so there is really no compelling reason to consider you at risk of homelessness.</p>

16

<p>

My family’s verbal offers contrast greatly with their attitude toward me.

I did not have to show proof that I was homeless nor did I beseech them to offer me the option.

I don’t doubt it would not help in declaration of independence; however, failure to produce tax forms could hinder or halt financial aid, consequences better avoided if at all possible.</p>

<p>

emphasis mine

</p>

<p>

How would that be resolved?

You don’t know that</p>

17

<p>If you are in danger of living at home, you WOULD have to prove that. Are there protective orders through Child Protective Services or have there been police reports filed?</p>

<p>I’m not a financial aid officer but if someone claimed homeless…the first thing I would do is contact the family to verify this. I wonder if this is done. If the family says “gee…he didn’t like it here and moved out”…I would wonder what the deal really was.</p>

<p>It’s very clear that you WANT to be declared homeless because you somehow think it will help you. </p>

<p>As I said earlier…you are not the only college student whose parents will NOT provide financial information for completion of the FAFSA. This is not a grounds for providing more financial aid OR granting independent status. It just isn’t.</p>

18

<p>If you are in danger, that is another story. You can provide VERY DETAILED SUPPORTING EVIDENCE along with a request for a dependency override review. The aid office will review it and make a decision.</p>

<p>Good luck with your quest for homeless status. You can argue all you want … the determination will be made by a financial aid professional within the framework of regulations and professional training. You cannot answer yes to the homeless questions because you do not have the proper certification. You will need to go through your aid office to do it.</p>

19

<p>

How do you suggest I complete the FAFSA? From what I’ve read, even non-merit institutional scholarships and grants require completion of the FAFSA as the FAFSA determines need.
So yes, it will help me not in more aid but rather in the simple ability to file a complete FAFSA. </p>

<p>

I would say that I dislike my parents more than I hate being homeless, and declaration of homelessness is a tangential issue that hinges on the parental-residential conflict.</p>

20

<p>Students are denied aid every day because they can’t get their parents’ information. You wouldn’t be the first, and it’s not grounds for being declared independent.</p>