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You need to determine if the Department
of Education views you as a Dependent
or Independent student before you go
any farther in this process. Whether
you are a Dependent student or an Independent
student will determine if you need to
use your parent(s) income tax and household
size information to complete the FAFSA.
Please answer the six questions below
to determine your dependency status
for completing the FAFSA.
A Dependency Status Worksheet can be
printed from the Printable Forms section
to determine your Dependency Status.
- Are you 24 years old or older?
- Do you have a bachelor’s
degree?
- As of today, are you married? (Answer
yes if you are separated, but not
divorced.)
- Are you an orphan or ward of the
court or were you when you turned
18 years of age?
- Are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed
Forces?
- Do you have dependents other than
a spouse that receive more than half
of their support from you now and
will continue to do so through June
30 of each year?
INDEPENDENT STATUS
If you (the student) answer “YES”
to one or more of the questions in the
list above, the U.S. Department of Education
considers you as an INDEPENDENT student.
Use ONLY your and your spouse’s
(if applicable) income and household
information to complete the FAFSA.
DEPENDENT STATUS:
If you answer “NO” to every
question in the list above, the U.S.
Department of Education considers you
a DEPENDENT student. You MUST use your
and your parent(s) (or stepparents,
if applicable) income and household
information.
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