FAFSA Parental Info for Divorced Parents (older financially independent applicant)

[retro2021]

Hi all,

I have perused the threads about FAFSA parental information, though I am confused as to how to handle divorced/separated parents. I am an older applicant 6+ years out of undergrad. I am entering the parental information section because it is required by some of the schools I have applied to to be considered to institutional funding. My parents are not married, may I just choose either of them when choosing which parents to list? The little "?" symbol on FAFSA says to list the parent with which you have resided for the last 12 months. Obviously, that would not apply to my situation. I lived with each parent intermittently over the course of my childhood and was lucky to receive care and financial support from both. Does anyone have past experience with a similar situation?

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[8YearsLate]

I do not know your age, but I think at 24 or 26 you are considered independent, right? Perhaps look into this before you worry about listing parents. Are you applying/accepted this cycle and applying for Federal/Plus/Private loans?

 

[deleted367183]

My school required info from both sets of parents (mother/stepfather, father/stepmother) to be eligible for institutional aid. So it didn't really matter whom you put on the FAFSA. I do not remember if they had a second form for the second set of parents, or if you just sent in their tax returns straight. Zero of my parents were willing to give their financial info, however, so I just passed on institutional aid. Mine was a mid-tier public school (University of Cincinnati) with very little grant aid, so this was fortunately not a high-stakes matter for me.

 

[retro2021]

I do not know your age, but I think at 24 or 26 you are considered independent, right? Perhaps look into this before you worry about listing parents. Are you applying/accepted this cycle and applying for Federal/Plus/Private loans?

Thank you! I am applying for loans and parental info is not required for this. I am just including it for schools that require it (regardless of age) when they make decisions about institutional scholarship funding.

 

[retro2021]

My school required info from both sets of parents (mother/stepfather, father/stepmother) to be eligible for institutional aid. So it didn't really matter whom you put on the FAFSA. I do not remember if they had a second form for the second set of parents, or if you just sent in their tax returns straight. Zero of my parents were willing to give their financial info, however, so I just passed on institutional aid. Mine was a mid-tier public school (University of Cincinnati) with very little grant aid, so this was fortunately not a high-stakes matter for me.

Thank you! I am going to reach out to individual schools as I imagine most would request both if they request it at all. I feel you on parents refusing to supply all of the details, this may end up being the case for me as well as I didn't realize how detailed the follow up questions were following tax return questions.

 

[Bada Bing]

Thank you! I am going to reach out to individual schools as I imagine most would request both if they request it at all. I feel you on parents refusing to supply all of the details, this may end up being the case for me as well as I didn't realize how detailed the follow up questions were following tax return questions.

Coming into this very late, I know, but have you had any luck hearing back from schools about your parents' information? I'm in the same boat as you and confused about what to put on the FAFSA. I also have no sense of what to expect for institutional aid, in terms of cutoffs, but it seems like it's at least worth trying for. Requiring parental information especially for longstanding, independent non-trads makes absolutely no sense.

 

[retro2021]

Coming into this very late, I know, but have you had any luck hearing back from schools about your parents' information? I'm in the same boat as you and confused about what to put on the FAFSA. I also have no sense of what to expect for institutional aid, in terms of cutoffs, but it seems like it's at least worth trying for. Requiring parental information especially for longstanding, independent non-trads makes absolutely no sense.

Unfortunately not, I am sorry! Aside from knowing it is required at some schools for consideration of scholarship funding, I didn't garner any specifics about divorced/separated parents.

 

[CricB4Tube]

Coming into this very late, I know, but have you had any luck hearing back from schools about your parents' information? I'm in the same boat as you and confused about what to put on the FAFSA. I also have no sense of what to expect for institutional aid, in terms of cutoffs, but it seems like it's at least worth trying for. Requiring parental information especially for longstanding, independent non-trads makes absolutely no sense.

My school specifically wanted parent information for a scholarship. I'm a slightly older applicant but was estranged so never lived with parents as a child. I had the option of providing a notarized document describing my situation with a witness who was familiar with my situation also signing it. Unfortunately, schools don't seem to care if you're just an older applicant. I talked to someone who was in their 40's and they still had to provide their parents' income to be considered...