<p>Hi guys! I'm over the age of 24, so I can (finally!!) fill out the FAFSA as an independent. I just had a quick question--does filing as an independent generally yield more financial aid than filing as a dependent (e.g., listing parents' income, etc.)?</p>
<p>Extra notes: I have a sister who is also attending college next year, so that may result in more financial aid if I file as a dependent, but I'm not sure...this process is too confusing!</p>
<p>Thank you to any responders!</p>
<p>Well, how much income do you have?</p>
<p>I don’t think you have a choice. You’re over 24, so even if you wanted to, you couldn’t file as a dependent</p>
<p>I don’t see how filing as a dependent would help you anyway even if you had a sister in school. If you have enough income that would hurt you as an independent, then that SAME income plus your parents income would certainly hurt you as much or more.</p>
<p>If your EFC is 0 as an independent, then you get the max aid no matter how you filed. However, the aid isn’t much so don’t get too excited. A 5600 Pell grant (approx) and a 5500 student loan plus another 4k in loans for being independent.</p>
<p>I don’t think you have a choice. There is a series of questions on the FAFSA. When you get to the one about your birthday, you will answer yes, because you are over 24. Your FAFSA will be processed as an independent student.</p>
<p>It’s true … no choice. You are independent for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>I appreciate the responses–thank you so much everybody! I guess I have no other route but to file as an independent.</p>
<p>Again, thank you all. (:</p>
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<p>There is one situation where being a dependent would be better. When the parent’s income qualifies the student for the automatic 0 EFC, then student income is not taken into account at all so a student with an income over the protected allowance still gets the 0 EFC. A moot point for this particular poster as he is not dependent for FA purposes.</p>