Provisional Independent Student Status

If you are a dependent student but have unusual circumstances that prevent you from including parent information on the FAFSA, you can request a provisional independent student determination. This allows you to submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and receive an estimated Student Aid Index (SAI) without parent information.

Unusual circumstances include (but are not limited to) abuse, abandonment, neglect, and parent incarceration.

If you mark on the FAFSA that you are unaccompanied and homeless, or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless, but do not have an official designation of homelessness from a designated agency, you will also receive a provisional independent determination. Homelessness is defined on the FAFSA as listed below:

• Unaccompanied means you're not living in the physical custody of your parent or guardian.
• Homeless means lacking fixed, regular, and adequate housing. You may be homeless if you're living in shelters, parks, motels, hotels, public spaces, camping grounds, cars, or abandoned buildings, or if you're temporarily living with other people because you have nowhere else to go. Also, if you're living in any of these situations and fleeing an abusive parent, you may be considered homeless even if your parent would otherwise provide a place to live.
• At risk of being homeless-when a student's housing may cease to be fixed, regular, and adequate, for example, a student who is being evicted or has been asked to leave their current residence and has been unable to find fixed, regular, and adequate housing.

Documenting your circumstances

You will receive a task on your My Financial Center to meet with an Enrollment Services Counselor to document your circumstances. We will review your documents to determine if you qualify for a Dependency Override. If approved, your status will change to independent on the FAFSA and your parent information will not be required.

If the Dependency Override petition is not approved

If the documentation does not show that you're independent of your parents, you will be considered a dependent student. You will need to submit your parent information on the FAFSA. If you're awarded a scholarship or Cougar Pell Promise based on the provisional independent status, those awards may be cancelled if your eligibility changes based on your dependency status.

However, if your parents refuse to submit their information at that point, you can choose to receive a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan only.

Common reasons for Provisional Independent student status to convert to officially independent

The FAFSA will ask you "Do unusual circumstances present the student from contacting their parents or would contacting their parents pose a risk to the student?" Such circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Parental abandonment or estrangement
• Abuse
• Neglect
• Victims of human trafficking
• Legally granted refugee or asylum status
• Student or parent incarceration
• You mark on the FAFSA that you are homeless or at risk of being homeless and don't have a determination from an eligible agency to verify that status.
• You have been in foster care, homeless, or you were an unaccompanied youth but have not been designated as such by an eligible agency.
• You would otherwise be eligible for a Dependency Override petition.

Circumstances that do not qualify for independent status

• Your parents are unable to provide financial support or refuse to contribute to your education;
• Your parents are unwilling to provide the information needed to complete the FAFSA or verification;
• Your parents do not claim you as a dependent for income tax purposes; or
• You are able to show that you are financially self-sufficient.

Instructions

1. Submit a letter regarding your unusual circumstances. Include information regarding your relationship with your parents, the length of time you have been in this situation, other people you have lived with, how you have provided financially for yourself during this time, and, if you are a returned missionary, how you provided financially for your mission.
2. Submit third-party letters from two or more people who have first-hand knowledge of your situation. The letters should be from people who are unrelated to you but are aware of your situation, such as a counselor, bishop, law enforcement official, etc. Those individuals writing letters should include their relationship to you and how long they have been aware of your situation.
3. Submit any additional documentation that may be applicable to your situation, such as:
   
   • Police report
   • Documentation of incarceration
   • Death certificate
   • Court order

Contact us

If you have any questions about being considered a provisionally independent student on the FAFSA, or to find out if you may be able to petition your particular circumstance, we invite you to contact Enrollment Services to make an appointment to discuss your situation. Counselors are happy to assist you.