Female student sitting at computer

Financial Aid & Cost

Home / Financial Aid & Cost / Financial Aid & Cost | Forms

Financial Aid Forms

Professional Judgment Appeals

Special Circumstances Appeal

The Financial Aid Office recognizes that students and their families may experience special circumstances that may affect their ability to contribute to the student’s educational costs. The Special Circumstances Appeal is a formal request students can make to have their Student Aid Index (SAI) reevaluated due to a significant change in their family’s financial situation. A change in SAI may impact eligibility for federal and/or state grants.

Circumstances may include job loss, significant reduction in work hours or wages, medical expenses, changes in marital status, or other unexpected circumstances that the student would like reviewed.

Please speak with your Financial Aid Specialist for more information.

Unusual Circumstances Appeal

In some circumstances, students are unable to provide their FAFSA contributors (parents’ or guardians’) information on the FAFSA.  Students who would like to request a dependency override to change their dependency status from dependent (requiring contributor information) to independent can do so by completing the Unusual Circumstances Appeal form.  Circumstances that may permit a dependency override include:

  • Custodial parent (contributor) is deceased and student has no contact with living contributor, if applicable.
  • Custodial parent (contributor) is incarcerated and student has no contact with living contributor, if applicable.
  • Unusual parent (contributor) circumstances such as abuse, unknown whereabouts, abandonment, etc.

The below conditions, either individually or in combination, are not grounds for an unusual circumstances appeal:

  • Refusal from the contributor to provide support for the student’s education.
  • Contributor’s unwillingness to provide information on the FAFSA or for verification.
  • Contributor not claiming the student as a dependent for income-tax or other purposes.
  • The student demonstrates self-sufficiency or is living independently.

*Students whose contributors refuse to provide FAFSA information and do not support the student should select yes to question 8 “Apply for a Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” on the FAFSA.

Please speak with your Financial Aid Specialist for more information.

*Both Special and Unusual Circumstance appeals are overseen through a review process using professional judgment by the Office of Financial Aid.  All requests are considered using best professional practice on a case-by-case basis; requests do not guarantee approval.  All financial aid regulations are subject to change through legislation or policy change by the U.S. Department of Education.

*There is not a deadline for submitting a professional judgment appeal. Students who are actively enrolled may request a professional judgment appeal during their registered term(s). To ensure appropriate time for our office to review the request we recommend submitting the appeal no more than one week prior to the end of the student’s registered term.  Please see below for suggested dates. We also strongly recommend providing all requested documentation with the appeal to ensure an efficient and timely review.

Enrollment Period Last Day of the Enrollment Period Last Day OFA Can Review
Fall 2024 registration only December 14, 2024 December 9, 2024
Spring 2025 registration only, or Fall 2024 & Spring 2025 May 2, 2025 April 28, 2025

Unaccompanied Homeless Youth

The Higher Education Act (HEA) uses the McKinney-Vento Act’s definition of homeless, which includes youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and unaccompanied, which includes youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. This definition is broader than shelters or the streets; it includes staying with others temporarily due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason, and staying in motels due to lack of adequate alternative accommodations. The HEA uses at-risk of homelessness to refer to students whose housing may cease to be fixed, regular, and adequate.

If documentation from a third party is not available, Financial Aid Administrators must make a determination based on a documented interview or written statement from the student based on legal definitions of homelessness and unaccompanied contained in the education subtitle of McKinney-Vento Act.

Please contact your Financial Aid Specialist with questions or concerns.