Dependency review

Use this form to request a review of your dependency status. Dependency appeals are only approved for documented unusual circumstances (i.e., abuse, abandonment, etc.). The Higher Education Act allows an aid administrator to make dependency overrides on a case-by-case basis for students with unusual circumstances. However, none of the conditions listed below, singly or in combination, qualify as unusual circumstances or merit a dependency override:

1. Parents refuse to contribute to the student's education.
2. Parents are unwilling to provide information on the application or for verification.
3. Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes.
4. Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.

Unusual circumstances do include the following situations and a dependency override may be allowable:

1. Abusive family environment
2. Abandonment by parents
3. Incarcerated parents
4. Parents institutionalized
5. Abusive family
6. Deceased parents
7. Victim of human trafficking or legal refugee status
8. Unable to contact parents
9. Student has given birth to a child(ren) since completing the FAFSA.

If your parents will not financially support you or refuse to provide their information on the FAFSA, you can be considered for a student Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan by submitting the Request for Federal Student Loan Due to Parental Nondisclosure.

If you have given birth to a child(ren) since completing the FAFSA, and the child(ren) lives with you and receives more than half of their support from you now and between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, this will now make you an independent student.

If you are at risk of being homeless, complete the Homelessness Confirmation and Questionnaire form.

If there are no unusual circumstances that would qualify you for a dependency review, you must correct your FAFSA and include your parent's information on it.

Important

• Changes resulting from this review do not guarantee an increase in aid.
• Notification of the decision will be sent to your ASU email account.

Determining Parent in Question

When determining which parent this request pertains to, you will follow the rule of which parent should include information on the FAFSA as per the FAFSA application instructions:

• If the student’s parent was never married and does not live with the student’s other legal parent, or if the parent is widowed and not remarried, that parent should only provide their own information in the Parent section, and the Parent Spouse or Partner section should be skipped.
• If the parents are divorced or separated, answer the questions about the parent who provides the greater portion of the student’s financial support, even if the student does not live with them. If both parents provided an exactly equal amount of financial support during the past 12 months, or if they don’t support the student financially, answer the questions about the parent with the greater income and assets. If this parent is remarried as of today, answer the questions about that parent and the stepparent.
• If the student’s widowed parent is remarried as of today, answer the questions about that parent and the stepparent.

Instructions

Complete and submit online.

1. Please click on the eForm below and follow the instructions provided.
2. Submit the eForm.