On the FAFSA is there any reason to answer questions about parents?

[HopefulAg]

As a professional student you're considered independent of your parents, so is there any reason to answer the questions about them? Does it increase your (miniscule) chances of receiving federal aid?

Do professional students even have any chance of receiving federal aid? I know I have to fill it out anyways for loans, but just curious.

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[cowgirla]

The parent info qualifies you for the Health Professional student loan. I got enough from HPSL last year that I didn't need to take out any Grad Plus loans. So for me it was definitely worth it. 5% interest vs 8% makes me very happy.

 

[variegata]

I filled it out last year to try for the HPSL, but didn't bother with it this year. My parents' income won't help me much with any sort of need-based aid so I didn't trouble myself with asking them about their taxes this year.

 

[BlacKAT33]

I filled it out last year to try for the HPSL, but didn't bother with it this year. My parents' income won't help me much with any sort of need-based aid so I didn't trouble myself with asking them about their taxes this year.

👍 I heard the info to fill out for HPSL is insanely annoying, especially if your parents are divorced and things are separate. I heard you can get a range of a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand (5k??) i'm not even sure it goes that high you'd have to look it up.

if you're parents make a good amount of money, no point in filling it out

and if you're not applying for HPSL, don't fill specific details about your parents income out! they dont need it

 

[bre8162]

It was worth it for me! I have a chance at a tuition waiver at Illinois. There is a rough verification cycle, but it has always been that way for me because of weird custody and marriage situations in my family. I can go through the small amount of torture for the money though.

 

[cowgirla]

👍 I heard the info to fill out for HPSL is insanely annoying, especially if your parents are divorced and things are separate. I heard you can get a range of a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand (5k??) i'm not even sure it goes that high you'd have to look it up.

if you're parents make a good amount of money, no point in filling it out

and if you're not applying for HPSL, don't fill specific details about your parents income out! they dont need it

Yes, you can get a couple thousand from the loan.
My father's income would be considered above "a good amount" by most people, and my mother makes right around the national average. So I'm not sure what exactly schools look at when doling out the money, but if it was just income there's no way I would have gotten any! It's a shot at a low interest loan, if you can get the info, I don't see why you wouldn't/shouldn't/couldn't fill it out.

 

[sumstorm]

Our school doesn't do the HPSL, so I don't bug my parents for their info (which was really obnoxious the first year I applied when I was looking at schools that might need it)....I have lived at home in over 15 years. They weren't thrilled sharing those details with me.

 

[JumpHigherLivie]

So I'm not sure how the ins and outs work to be honest, but I never fill out parent information on FAFSA (haven't depended on or lived with my parents for a number of years) and federal loans, for the past two years, have covered all of my tuition (in state) and living expenses (about $1,400/month).

I was under the impression this was normal (at least it seems to be at Mich State), but perhaps it is not? I'm not sure if our financial aid office just does a really good job at handling everything (I know they create a student budget that our loans are based off of) or what? But about half my loans are federal and half fall under HPSL.

 

[MSUspartan]

So I'm not sure how the ins and outs work to be honest, but I never fill out parent information on FAFSA (haven't depended on or lived with my parents for a number of years) and federal loans, for the past two years, have covered all of my tuition (in state) and living expenses (about $1,400/month).

I was under the impression this was normal (at least it seems to be at Mich State), but perhaps it is not? I'm not sure if our financial aid office just does a really good job at handling everything (I know they create a student budget that our loans are based off of) or what? But about half my loans are federal and half fall under HPSL.

are you sure? HPSL are only given on an as-needed basis if you're poor...trust me, i'm SUPER poor and only get $5000 in HPSL (health profession scholarship loans) ...they show up on stuinfo as FED Health Profession Ln and have low interest. The other loans the finaid office gives just show up as Unsubsidized/subsidized loan med.

MSU does make sure you have enough loans to cover cost of attendance, regardless of your income, but you only get HPSL if you qualify based on parental fafsa info.