<p>Hello,</p>
<p>This forum was a tremendous help so I'm reaching out again, appreciate your help.</p>
<p>How truly unavailable is financial aid for prior years? I was misinformed by my financial aid office when I first made an appointment three semesters ago, and forewent significant aid because of it. I am standing up for myself now and insisting my retroactive aid.</p>
<p>Thank you for any help you may have</p>
<p>No, I don’t think you can reclaim any financial aid for prior years.</p>
<p>Nope Even with an outright mistake, once the deadlines are past, that’s it.</p>
<p>If you are still in school right now, you can get an adjustment for the current term (and for summer, only if your school’s summer term is a header - that is, part of the 2012-13 award year). Once the year is over, it is over. </p>
<p>I am curious about your post. In what way were you misled?</p>
<p>I made an appointment with the Financial Aid Dept. for help with independent vs. dependent status. The woman said I was independent only if both parents were deceased or I was 24 years old.</p>
<p>I reality, my father was my only parent and had passed away two years prior. My mother tried to kill me and my siblings when I was 5 and is not legally allowed to see her children. Rather than reach out to my mother, I chose to pay tuition in full from the life insurance money of my fathers passing.</p>
<p>I think I was misled because the women did not tell me about the dependency override for physically abusive parents. When I found out about it this summer I was granted it. I got $20k this year (half grants,) and my $5,550 Pell from last year.</p>
<p>This leaves $7,000 in grants from previous semesters.</p>
<p>Sorry for getting personal, I wanted to private message the situation but was unable to (<15 posts.)</p>
<p>And, yes, I am still in school. Is it possible to get current year loans converted to grants to make up for the grants lost in previous years?</p>
<p>No. Dependency overrides are only granted for one year at a time. You will have to re-apply each year (usually that just involves a new form & a personal statement indicating that the situation has not changed - but be sure to check with your school for their requirements, which may be different). Because you did not receive an override in the prior year, you cannot be considered independent for that year.</p>
<p>I am sorry that you did not receive good advice. It is possible that the response you were given was based on the question that you asked … that is, it was a good answer to your question … but if the question was not accompanied by the whole story, the person you asked may not have been aware that there was more to the story. I have granted dependency overrides, and I know that this happens. It’s not intentional, but because students don’t necessarily lay out their whole lives when they ask a question, it is what it is. The response you received is correct for 99% of the students who ask, so it is the answer given. The very few who do have extenuating circumstances don’t realize that they might qualify for a dependency override - and because so few qualify, most financial aid folks won’t just figure you are one who does. </p>
<p>You are on the right track now, which is great. However, it might be a good idea to send an email to the director of your aid office (or if it’s a big school, send it to the Client Services Director in the Financial Aid Office) to let them know what happened to you. Focus just on what you asked and what you were told, and how the response affected you. What do you think SHOULD have happened? Should there be a standard answer that indicates, “But if you have extenuating circumstances, here is information regarding dependency overrides” - or should there be information on the school’s finaid website? - or do you have some other idea of what might have helped you? Make sure you include this in the email. It most likely will not help your past situation, but it could help future students.</p>
<p>Kelsmom- thank you for your response. I completely agree with your statement that I am the 1% outlier, and it’s reasonable that I did not get get the correct response. But I apply the same idea to the rule that they “don’t disburse aid for prior years.” </p>
<p>I did not get last year’s Pell Grant this September. I got a related email from the bursar’s office saying “It’s federal regulation that aid given for prior years cannot be used to pay tuition for the current year.” That statement itself reveals that aid for prior years is given (although it may be rare.)</p>
<p>Does this parallel seem accurate? $7,000-$10,000 is worth defending in court. It would probably end at a threat, but I’d prefer not to do even that.</p>
<p>I assume the Financial Aid Department has an allowance (a lot more than $7-$10k) set aside for these kinds of mixups. Regardless of prior year, present year, etc.</p>
<p>That statement itself reveals that aid for prior years is given (although it may be rare.) </p>
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<p>No, that is not correct. Aid from prior years cannot be awarded after a year is over. I think it was just phrased awkwardly … what is meant is that you cannot get aid now from back then to use to pay your current balance. You would never get federal aid retroactively; whether or not your school’s own funds could ever be used for to pay off a prior balance (effectively giving aid retroactively), I couldn’t tell you.</p>
<p>You would not stand a chance in court, so the parallel is irrelevant.</p>
<p>
OP, time to move on.</p>
<p>Thanks all for your guidance on this issue.</p>