In order to be considered as an independent student for financial aid purposes, you must meet one of the following six criteria: If you have an extremely adverse circumstance that prevents you from receiving assistance from your parents, you should contact the financial aid office. However, you should note that your parents' unwillingness to provide their financial information or to pay their expected contribution is usually not accepted as a reasonable circumstance.

There are only seven conditions under which a student is considered an "independent" for financial aid purposes - which means they do not have to file the financial aid paperwork with parent information.

The status of emancipated minor is not recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) for financial aid purposes; students must meet one of the approved criteria to be considered independent by USDE.

To be considered an independent student when completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) you must meet one of the following criteria: be married at the time you are filing; have a child or other legal dependents for whom you, personally, provide more than 50% of the support for that child or legal dependent and be able to document that support; be an orphan/ward of the court; be a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces or currently serving on active duty.

In order to be considered independent by federal and state financial aid criteria, you must meet one of the following conditions for the 2007-2008 academic year:

Students who are considered financially independent by the Agency for 2008-09 are processed without consideration of parental adjusted gross income. However, if you receive direct support from your parents, that support should be reported in your response to Worksheet B. It is important to keep in mind that any assets reported by a family on the 2008-09 application form should not include retirement account assets.

The government does not grant independent status simply because a student is living away from home. To qualify as independent, you must be out of high school four or more years, be married or common-law, have dependent children, or have worked full-time for two twelve-month periods.

Any student graduating from high school or who has earned a GED and has enrolled in a college or university for at least one semester of full-time study (or is in the process when completing an application) is eligible to apply as a transfer student.

To qualify as a student, your child must have been, during some part of each of five calendar months (not necessarily consecutive) during 2006: A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, a regular course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body in attendance; or A student taking a full-time, agricultural-related training course on a farm, given either by a school like that just described or by a state, county, or local government.

Under some extreme circumstances (unknown whereabouts of both parents, abusive situation, etc.) you may apply for dependency override. Documentation of your situation will be required.

A student's living situation does not affect the student's dependency status. The dependency status is determined as noted in Question #2.

The federal government has established criteria for classfying financial aid recipients as dependent or independent. If you are dependent (not self-supporting according to federal criteria), your parents' assets and income as well as your own are considered when determining your financial need. If you are independent, your need is evaluated solely on your own and your spouse’s income and assets.

You are an independent student if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions: the beginning of the academic year for which you are applying, will you be working on a master’s or doctoral program? (Not the bachelor’s degree prior to these degrees.)

Please follow this link to determine if the U.S. government considers you to be independent. www.fafsa.com/independent.htm

you have dependents (other than a spouse) who live with you, receive more than half of their support from you now, and will continue to receive more than half of their support from you;

An eligible undergraduate student is defined as a person carrying at least nine credit hours. An eligible graduate student must meet the graduate student guidelines of the college or university for full-time student status. Students must attend a state-accredited college or university. Please check with your college or university to see if the school is listed in the 2001 Higher Education Directory. Yes.