Dependency Status

Your Status Makes a Difference

When you apply for federal student aid, answers to certain questions will determine whether you’re considered dependent upon your parents. If you are dependent, you must report your parents’ income and assets as well as your own. If you are independent, report only your own income and assets (and those of your spouse, if you’re married).

Why programs classify

Federal student aid programs are based on the idea that students (and their parents or spouse, if applicable) have the primary responsibility for paying for their postsecondary education. Students who have access to parental support (dependent students) should not receive need-based federal funds at the expense of students who do not have such access (independent students).

Claiming independence status

You’re an independent student if at least one of the following applies to you:

• You are 25 years old or older.
• You are married.
• You are or will be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program.
• You have legal dependents other than a spouse.
• You are an orphan or ward of the court (or were a ward of the court until age 18).
• You are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces.

If you claim to be an independent student, your school may ask you to submit proof before you can receive federal student aid. If you think you have unusual circumstances that would make you independent even though none of the above criteria apply to you, talk to your aid administrator.

Administrators can change your status if they think your circumstances warrant it, based on the documentation you provide. But the aid administrator won’t automatically do this. That decision is based on the administrator’s judgment, and it’s final—you can’t appeal it to the U.S. Department of Education.

Information current as excerpted from the 2002-2003 "Student Guide," prepared by the U.S. Department of Education, and may change per government regulations.