Submitting a blank FAFSA

[Syndicate]

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So I'm going to do my FAFSA and other financial forms this weekend and all the schools I've been accepted to DON'T require parental info on the FAFSA. If they don't need my parents' info and I was a full time student last year + this year, I'm essentially submitting a FAFSA with no tax figures and stuff. Is that ok?

 

[chenzt]

Once FAFSA identify you as an "independent" (when you check the box that you are attending professional school next year), the parental info becomes optional.

 

[dancingmate]

Check with your schools-one of my schools says they will not look at my FAFSA unless I include parental information.

 

[NickNaylor]

Check with your schools-one of my schools says they will not look at my FAFSA unless I include parental information.

Agreed with this - you might want to investigate this. Most schools typically will not consider you for institutional aid (grants, loans, scholarships) unless you provide your parents' FAFSA info. If you've done your research and know that this isn't the case at your school then ignore this, but it's just something to keep in mind.

 

[midnight0il]

Doublecheck that your schools don't require the parental part. They usually use that part to determine eligibility for scholarships and institutional loans. From my understanding, you'll probably end up only qualifying for federal loans if that is the case, which sucks.

Either way, if you were student last year, you wouldn't have filed a tax return and that section should be $0.

 

[midnight0il]

Haha, same post as @NickNaylor.

 

[Syndicate]

Doublecheck that your schools don't require the parental part. They usually use that part to determine eligibility for scholarships and institutional loans. From my understanding, you'll probably end up only qualifying for federal loans if that is the case, which sucks.

Either way, if you were student last year, you wouldn't have filed a tax return and that section should be $0.

Thanks midnight and nicknaylor! I think for some of my schools that don't require parent income on the FAFSA, they have a separate financial aid paper form/online form that do require the parents information. But some of my schools don't have separate financial aid forms so I think they require the parents information on the FAFSA.

 

[Syndicate]

Sorry - another question: If I provide parental information on the FAFSA and the individual online financial forms each school uses (NeedAccess, CSS, etc), do I have to submit my parents 1040 and W2's to all my individual schools?

 

[swift3y]

I've heard that filling out your parents' info may help but can't hurt the size of your financial aid package. Can someone else confirm?

 

[taina]

hey can we bring this back--
do we absolutely have to fill out FAFSA?
can i just not include parents?
the rents are kind of against giving out the information, and im lucky enough to not need financial aid..

 

[Ace Khalifa]

hey can we bring this back--
do we absolutely have to fill out FAFSA?
can i just not include parents?
the rents are kind of against giving out the information, and im lucky enough to not need financial aid..

+1, would like to know as well

 

[cidem2065]

Any medical school you have an acceptance at will be able to tell you their policy on providing parent info. More often than not they want it for eligibility for school-based and other forms of aid but will not affect your status as an independent, and thus your ability to qualify for tuition-covering loans.

 

[bluejay456]

This is school dependent unfortunately. What I've seen though is no parental info on FASFA but include parental info on the need access form