Financial Aid: +30 years old

[ifbyrk]

Does anyone know of a thread that discusses the age at which schools consider a student to be independent of their parents when calculating financial need?

For example, Stanford:

• Our current financial aid policy states that the primary responsibility for financing a student's education belongs to the parent/family regardless of the student's dependency status. For the purpose of calculating institutional (grant) eligibility, we require all students that are under 30 years of age by the start of the academic year to submit tax information (unless adverse circumstances prevents them) in order for us to calculate the expected parental/family contribution (which takes into consideration: income, assets, family size, siblings in college, etc.).

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[ZeaL6]

I'm not 100% on this, but from what I have gathered from interviews/second looks is that you will be considered an independent no matter what , but in order to obtain financial need beyond loans (possible need based scholarships) you have to have your parents information regardless of age. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[DoctorKrieger]

Is that Stanford bit for their undergrad students? As far as I know, all grad students are considered independents and parental info is not needed for student loans, and are not eligible for subsidized loans.

 

[sinombre]

Is that Stanford bit for their undergrad students? As far as I know, all grad students are considered independents and parental info is not needed for student loans, and are not eligible for subsidized loans.

Parent info is requested by schools for need and merit-based awards (which you submit through FAFSA). You don't need parent info in order to take out unsubsidized federal loans, but you need it (regardless of age) if you want to be eligible for school-specific scholarship money.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Parent info is requested by schools for need and merit-based awards (which you submit through FAFSA). You don't need parent info in order to take out unsubsidized federal loans, but you need it (regardless of age) if you want to be eligible for school-specific scholarship money.

This. I'm 35, with kids, have been financially independent since age 19, and I co-signed for my mom's loans when she wanted to take some college courses a while back. I still have to cough up her 1040 when it comes time to beg for non-loan fin aid.

 

[ifbyrk]

I'm not 100% on this, but from what I have gathered from interviews/second looks is that you will be considered an independent no matter what , but in order to obtain financial need beyond loans (possible need based scholarships) you have to have your parents information regardless of age. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

As Sinombre correctly stated, virtually all medical schools require parent's financial information for need based determination. Some schools, however, view a 35 year old adult like Pon Asinorum above as independent, while others do not.

My original post was from Stanford's Medical School - Financial Aid Frequently Asked Questions. (http://med.stanford.edu/md/financial_aid/FAQs.html)

Here is a quote in contrast from Weill Cornell.

Eligibility (http://weill.cornell.edu/education/admissions/fin_aid_eli.html)

Financial status is not a factor in the selection of students at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Admissions is need blind. All accepted students have merit and no differentiation is made among them for financial aid, which is need based. The Medical College is unable to assume the role of substitute for the family and thus does not recognize any student as "independent" regardless of age, prior independence or marital status. Parents must submit information about their financial resources if the student is seeking financial aid from Medical College funds.� Information from both parents is required if they are divorced or separated.

As this varies from school to school, I was hoping that any older students could help provide a picture of which medical schools recognize independence of +30 year old students when determining financial need.

Thanks.

 

[sazerac]

If you are looking to assemble a list, I can tell you Tulane falls into the Requires Parental Info category.

On SDN, students often bemoan being personally poor while being the offspring of wealthy (and indifferent) parents, however the tables can be turned for us non-trads. My FAFSA E. F. C. based solely on my own finances was the federal maximum ($99,999), but my parents are quite poor (like <$10K a year poor, with no assets). It was awkward being forced to hit them up for their tax info, but it resulted in a substantial scholarship from my medical school. Standford would have considered me an independent and told me to take a hike.

 

[AMEHigh]

My school views you as independent if you're married or over 26. I've never submitted my parents info and I've always received federal aid (same amount offered to everyone else and previously received a small scholarship from my school. Seems like policies differ by school.

 

[atomi]

The school I went to required parental information for all students regardless of age if you wanted to be consider for school-funded grants and loans. Their explanation was that it had nothing to do with being financially independent, but rather to make sure that school resources weren't being given away to students who had the 'safety net' of a parent with a multimillion net worth.

In my opinion it is silly because nearly everyone will be employee in residency in graduation and able to pay their loans back. The school funds should be used to uniformly reduce the cost for everyone equally so that med school truly costs the same rather than to attempt to redistribute wealth. The classes are made up mostly of upper middle class and wealthy young people, so the bar for getting these "need-based" grants is set incredibly low (or high, I guess). Your parents could earn $200k/year and you could still quality for the maximum "need-based" grant (i.e., tuition discount) offered by the school.

 

[Amygdarya]

WashU considers you independent if you're over 30 years old.

 

[mdeast]

Stanford considers you independent if you're over 30 years of age (i.e. I don't think you need to report parental income and it isn't factored into financial aid decisions).