So, I told my friend I would let him know how to file FAFSA after I started mine since I get help from a program.
I guess he logged on to see how it was and decided to file it right then and there because it seemed easy to him.
He told me he filed it as Independent because there was “no choice to put either dependent or independent”
He submitted already, which worries me a lot.
What might the consequences be? And is there anything we can do to correct this?
MYOB. This has nothing to do with you.
What likely happened is your friend answered one if the dependency questions incorrectly. If that happened, the college will likely select him for verification. The school will notice that he is a HS senior…and will likely ask for documention proving he is independent. If he can’t provide it, he will have to redo his FAFSA…and provide parent information.
@thumper1 thank you for the reply, it is very helpful but it is my business if he asked for help. please don’t be rude.
I agree that he must have answered “yes” to one of the dependency questions, making him independent. It used to be relatively common for students to mistakenly say they had a legal guardian - but there is a help item this year that explains that biological parents are not legal guardians. So hopefully that was not the issue for your friend (if so, he can fix it by going back in & answering no to the question). There may be reasons you don’t even know about … your friend may actually be in a legal guardianship situation, or he may be/have been a ward of the court, or other things that would make him independent. Or he may have made a mistake. I think it would be helpful for you to suggest he double-check his answers to the dependency questions. Otherwise, he may get a financial aid package that looks great & find out too late that the forms were completed wrong & the aid will be rescinded.
I wasn’t being rude.
Have your friend wait until the FAFSA processes. He can’t change nothing until it does. Then he needs to go back into his FAFSA, see if he can change whatever field he answered incorrectly.
There are a bunch of questions regarding dependency. If you answer YES to any one of them, your FAFSA is processed as independent. He answered one of those incorrectly. Answers probably shoild all have been NO…if he really IS dependent for financial aid purposes.
That is how he filed as independent.
@thumper1 is right, the FAFSA will likely get selected for verification unless he’s able to later go back and change the wrong answer… You might review some of the early questions to find out what wrong answer he put.
Strangely enough, the FAFSA doesn’t always get selected (depending on the reason for the independent status). I have run across situations like this, and the student had already been awarded. When I realized that the student filled out the FAFSA incorrectly, I had to require parent info, the awards changed drastically, and things got a bit ugly. This is why I think it’s very important to get it straightened out sooner rather than later.
The FAFSA never asks if you are dependent or independent. It has 13 questions that determine dependent or independent. If he answered correctly then perhaps he does qualify. It would make more sense for him to post, as you may not know. You can see the questions here:
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/dependency
-Will you be 24 or older by Dec. 31 of the school year for which you are applying for financial aid?
-Will you be working toward a master’s or doctorate degree (such as M.A., M.B.A., M.D., J.D., Ph.D., Ed.D., etc.)?
-Are you married or separated but not divorced?
-Do you have children who receive more than half of their support from you?
-Do you have dependents (other than children or a spouse) who live with you and receive more than half of their support from you?
-At any time since you turned age 13, were both of your parents deceased, were you in foster care, or were you a ward or dependent of the court?
-Are you an emancipated minor or are you in a legal guardianship as determined by a court?
-Are you an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?
-Are you currently serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces for purposes other than training?
-Are you a veteran of the U.S. armed forces?
If none of the criteria listed above apply to you, you may be considered a dependent student and may be required to provide your parents’ financial information when completing the FAFSA. If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you may be an independent student. You may not be required to provide parental information on your FAFSA.
I’m not sure if he can go in and correct it. First try:
Make changes at fafsa.gov:
Click on the “Login” button and provide the information requested to get into your account.
On the My FAFSA page, click “Make FAFSA Corrections.”
Enter your FSA ID (username and password).
Change your information.
Submit your new information.
OR
Write in the corrections or updates on your paper Student Aid Report (SAR), sign it, and mail it to the address provided on the SAR.
OR
Check with the financial aid office at the school you plan to attend; the school might be able to make changes for you electronically.
The school won’t want to make these changes, because the FAFSA will then reject … it won’t have the required parent info & signature. In this case, the student must make the update, then have the parent add the necessary info to the FAFSA before resubmitting.