<p>If I have severed ties to my family because of an abusive relationship with my mother, what are the rules regarding financial aid for me. My parents make over $300,000 a year, so I know under normal circumstances I would be ineligible, but would I be able to be offered anything considering my parents are refusing to pay anything at all, and I have no relationship with them?</p>
<p>I have excellent grades and test scores, but I will be in a real bind if I am forced to take out loans for 100% of my college tuition.</p>
<p>Have any of you been in a similar situation, or have advice/insight?</p>
<p>I believe that if you can document the abuse, you might be eligible for a dependency override. BUT be prepared to provide documentation of what has forced you to sever your relationship with your parents. </p>
<p>Think of it this way…the school will want some kind of documentation that this is really a happening. Otherwise, there will be a new way to “game the system” in terms of dependency override. Abuse is a very serious issue and I’m sorry that you are dealing with this. BUT be prepared to explain this fully to whomever you need to explain this to at the college level.</p>
<p>I can understand the need for documentation. </p>
<p>However, are “verbal abuse” and “physical abuse” handled in the same manner? </p>
<p>If the OP is under 18, and she tries to get documentation of abuse from a minister or doctor, that person will have to contact CPS and there will be an investigation.</p>
<p>Someone will have to verify the abuse. Otherwise ANYONE would be able to request a dependency override by saying “I was abused”. The person documenting it will need to be willing to verify that this indeed is something that has happened to this student and the parent relationship is severed.</p>
<p>Yes, it will be necessary for the student to submit documentation of the situation from outside sources. We require a detailed (and I do mean DETAILED) personal statement, as well as detailed letters from two other persons familiar with the situation. Police reports, PPOs, court papers, etc should be included if they exist.</p>
<p>If family situation is toxic, irreparably broken, abusive (physically or verbally), unstable, etc. someone will most likely be able to corroborate what has been going on. Schools vary in what they require, so you will have to ask each school’s financial aid office what they need in order to determine if your circumstance merits a dependency override. One school may give an override while another may not. It’s Professional Judgment & results vary.</p>
<p>We sometimes allow letters from relatives and friends, if there is no professional who can speak to the situation. Usually, though, a high school counselor, teacher, clergyperson, social worker, etc is aware of what has been going on.</p>
<p>What we do not accept are letters telling us that Johnny has it rough & doesn’t get along with his parents … we have to know specific examples of the situation so we can determine if it makes sense to give a dependency override.</p>
<p>The fact that your parents are not paying anything is not relevant. You need to focus on the reasons behind the fact that you have no relationship with them.</p>
<p>From what I’ve about Profile schools (I know Kelsmom works at a FAFSA only school), most would require emancipation, records from Child Protective Services, proof that the child was removed from the home and things along those lines to make an independence determination.</p>
<p>Otherwise, as others have said, many would try this.</p>
<p>Use one of the EFC calculators. If your EFC comes out below a certain amount (about $5000 or so), you would be eligible for at least a portion of the Pell. Anyone who files a FAFSA is eligible for the Stafford loan. If you have financial need, then your loan would be subsidized meaning that the interest would not accrue while you were attending school. If no need…unsubsidized and interests accrues while you are a student.</p>
<p>Until you know whether or not you would be considered independent, you will need to include parent info to make a determination. If you want to see based on the possibility of becoming independent, you just use your info. Go to [EFC</a> Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp]EFC”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp) & enter the requested information.</p>
<p>Only a part of the Stafford can be subsidized. For instance a dependent freshman is eligible for $5500 in Stafford loans but a maximum of $3500 of that can be subsidized.</p>
<p>Pell cut off is currently an EFC of 4617 (will *likely *change for 2010-2011 but that will probably not be released till sometime in 2010). The pell is on a sliding scale inverse to the EFC. At 0 EFC the full Pell of (currently) $5350 is available. As the EFC goes up the $ Pell eligibility goes down until it is 0 once the cur off is reached.</p>
<p>As kelsmom says - you will have to initially file FAFSA with your parent info. Only the school can override your dependency status on FAFSA (if they approve an override based on your documentation).</p>
<p>While I have no problem with physically abusive parents being arrested, the OP may have to be careful not to exagerate the situation just to attempt to gain independence because her claims could cause certain professional to be REQUIRED to report her parents to Child Protective Services.</p>