Overview

The next section will guide you step-by-step through the application questions. If you are using FAFSA on the Web, you will be asked to either key in your answers or use the drop-down-menus to select your answers as you progress through the Web site. If you are filing a paper FAFSA, use the Notes pages as a guide to fill in the answers on the four-page application.

If you are completing FAFSA on the Web, you will notice that some of the questions do not appear in the same numerical order as they do on the paper FAFSA. For reference, the number of the paper FAFSA question is shown in parentheses behind the online question.

FAFSA on the Web filers the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet. For ease of data entry into the FAFSA on the Web site, you may want to print a copy of this worksheet and answer the questions on the worksheet prior to submitting the data on FAFSA on the Web.

FAFSA on the Web filers may be able to skip some questions based on their answers to earlier questions. You might qualify if, for example, you (and your parents, if you are a dependent student) don't have income over a certain amount and filed, or were eligible to file, an IRS Form 1040A or 1040EZ (that is, not required to file an IRS Form 1040). If you are able to skip certain questions, FAFSA on the Web will only display the questions you need to answer. However, you will also have the option to answer all questions since some states and schools require this information anyway.

Purpose: These questions collect personal identification information (name, telephone number, address, Social Security number, and so on). Also included is a question about citizenship status because you must be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen to receive federal student aid.

Questions 1-13

1-3. Name. The Department matches each name and Social Security number (SSN) with the Social Security Administration (SSA). Therefore, the name provided here should match the name on your Social Security card. If you use a name (such as a nickname) other than the name on your Social Security card, you will be asked to correct the inconsistency, and there might be a delay in the awarding of your aid.

4-7. Permanent mailing address. You must give a permanent home mailing address (not a school or office address).

An incarcerated student may use his or her school's administrative address. If such a student uses a school's administrative address, the school's financial aid administrator (FAA) must include a letter with the FAFSA indicating that the student is incarcerated and is therefore using the school's address.

Use the State/Military Abbreviations list when entering your state. See the list below:

State/Military Abbreviations

8. Social Security number. Generally, you must have an SSN to be eligible for federal student financial aid. If you submit a FAFSA without an SSN, your FAFSA will be returned to you unprocessed. The Privacy Act statement gives information about how your SSN may be used.

To apply for an SSN or to get a replacement Social Security card if yours has been lost or stolen, contact your local Social Security office. For additional information (in English or Spanish), you can call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 (1-800-325-0778 - TTY)—or go to its Web site at www.ssa.gov.

The one exception to the SSN requirement is for students from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau. If you are from one of these areas you are not required to have an SSN. Instead, the processor will assign an identification number to you that begins with "888." If you complete a FAFSA on the Web application, there is an edit that allows you to enter your identification number. Paper filers should mail the completed FAFSA to:

9. Your date of birth. Enter in the appropriate boxes of the paper FAFSA the month, day, and year in which you were born (formatted as MMDDYYYY). The "19" part of the year is pre-printed on the paper FAFSA. Do not use dashes on either the Web or paper applications. For example, if you were born on April 1, 1980, you would enter 04011980.

10. Your permanent telephone number. Enter your permanent telephone number where you can be contacted. Follow the instructions showing how to enter the number. For example, parentheses and dashes are used on the paper FAFSA: (202) 555-1212; however, on FAFSA on the Web, you would enter 2025551212.

11-12. Your driver's license number and state. You must provide your driver's license number (if any). If you do not have a driver's license, leave Questions 11 and 12 blank.

13. Your e-mail address. If you enter your e-mail address here the processor will be able to send you information electronically, such as notification that your FAFSA was processed. The FAFSA processor will send you an e-mail with a link to your SAR data on the Internet. By providing your e-mail address, the processor will be able to send you this information within 3 to 5 days. Using the paper process can take up to 2 to 3 weeks

Questions 32-47 (All applicants must complete)

Instructions

Purpose: All students (dependent and independent) must provide their financial information for these questions. The EFC calculation, determined by a formula specified by law, uses a family's income, assets, household size, and exemptions to determine whether the family has discretionary income. If the family has discretionary income, a portion, and only a portion, of that income is included in the EFC as available for the student's educational costs.

How to complete the income tax section

It is best if you (and your spouse) fill out your 2006 income tax return(s) before filling out this application. However, if you have not completed your income tax return(s), you should calculate your adjusted gross income (AGI) and taxes paid using the applicable IRS instructions. You can get the instructions and the appropriate tax form at a public library or download them in Portable Document Format (PDF) from www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html.

When your application is compared with the tax return(s) you (and your spouse) actually file, the financial information must agree. If there are differences, you should correct the information using Corrections on the Web or by correcting your paper SAR and mailing it back to the FAFSA processor.

Even if you (and your spouse) are not required to file a 2006 income tax return, you will need to calculate your earnings for the year. Use W-2 forms and other records to answer the questions in this section.

If an answer is zero or a question does not apply to you, enter 0 (zero). Do not leave any of these questions blank.

For the 2007-08 FAFSA, you will use 2006 tax information to answer the income tax questions. The income tax questions give 2006 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax form line references.

If you are married at the time you submit the FAFSA, even if you were not married in 2006, both your and your spouse's income, assets, and exemptions must be reported. If you and your spouse filed (or will file) separate tax returns for 2006, be sure to include the combined information from both returns on the FAFSA.

If you are single, divorced, separated, or widowed, you must answer the questions for yourself only and ignore the references on the FAFSA to "spouse."

If you are divorced, separated, or widowed but filed (or will file) a joint tax return for 2006, you must give only your portion of the exemptions, income, and taxes paid for the income and asset questions.

Information from one of the following 2006 income tax forms may be listed on the FAFSA in the same manner as U.S. tax information: the income tax return required by Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau. The amounts on these returns are already reported in U.S. dollars.

Foreign income

Income earned in a foreign country is treated the same as income earned in the U.S. Convert all figures to U.S. dollars, using the exchange rate in effect on the day you fill out the FAFSA. You can find information on current exchange rates at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/update.

Include the value of any taxes paid to the foreign government in the "U.S. income tax paid" line item. If income earned in the foreign country was not taxed by the central government of that country, the income must be reported as untaxed income on Worksheet B of the FAFSA and totaled in Question 41.

In many cases, if you file a return with the IRS for a year in which foreign income was earned, a portion of the foreign income can be excluded on IRS Form 2555 for U.S. tax purposes. The figure reported on line 45 of Form 2555 (or line 18 of Form 2555EZ) should be reported on the "Foreign income exclusion" line on Worksheet B on page 5 of the paper FAFSA. (The worksheets, such as Worksheet B and others, that you will use to help you complete either a paper FAFSA or FAFSA on the Web, are also available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.) The final total for the Form 2555 must not be reported as untaxed income because it contains other exclusions.

Questions 32-39

32. Filing return. Indicate whether you have already completed, are going to complete, or will not file a tax return for 2006.

33. Type of return filed. Indicate which tax form you filed or will file for 2006.

34. Eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ. If you (and your spouse) are eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ for 2006, indicate your eligibility to file one of these forms (even if you file a 2006 IRS Form 1040). For instance, tax preparers often file a Form 1040 or an electronic 1040 on behalf of a tax filer, even though that person's income and tax filing circumstances would allow him or her to file a 1040A or 1040EZ.

In general, you are eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ if you make less than $100,000, do not itemize deductions, do not receive income from your own business or farm, and do not receive alimony. You are not eligible to file a 1040A or a 1040EZ form if you itemize deductions, are self-employed, receive alimony, or are required to file Schedule D for capital gains. If you filed a 1040 only to claim Hope or Lifetime Learning credits and you would have otherwise been eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ, you should answer "Yes" to this question.

35. Adjusted Gross Income. Provide your (and your spouse's) adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2006. AGI is found on IRS Form 1040 — line 37; 1040A — line 21; or 1040EZ — line 4. If you have not completed a 2006 tax form, you should calculate your AGI using the instructions for the applicable IRS form. You can get the instructions and the form at a public library or download them in Portable Document Format (PDF) from www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html.

Note that AGI includes more than just wages earned; for example, alimony, taxable portions of Social Security, and business income are also included.

36. Income tax. Enter your (and your spouse's) 2006 income tax from IRS Form 1040 — line 57; 1040A — line 35; or 1040 EZ — line 11. Do not copy the amount of federal income tax withheld from a W-2 Form. Do not include any FICA, self-employment, or other taxes. If you did not pay any income tax for 2006, enter zero (0).

37. Exemptions. Enter your (and your spouse's) exemptions for 2006. Exemptions are on IRS Form 1040 — line 6d or 1040A — line 6d. If you checked the "You" or "Spouse" box on 1040EZ — line 5, use EZ worksheet line F to determine the number of exemptions ($3,300 equals one exemption). If you didn't check either box on line 5, you should enter "01" if single or "02" if married.

If you are divorced, separated, or widowed, and have filed or will file a joint tax return for 2006, you should give only your portion of the exemptions.

38. Student's income earned from working. When the Department's processor calculates your EFC, certain allowances are deducted from your (and your spouse's) income for necessary expenses (such as taxes and basic living costs). Your (and your spouse's) 2006 income earned from work (wages, salaries, tips, combat pay) will be used in the EFC calculation as an income factor when no tax form is filed.

39. Spouse's income earned from working. Use the instructions from #38, "Student's Income Earned from working" as the guide to answer this question for your spouse's income.

If you filed (or will file) a tax return, you should include your share only from IRS form 1040-lines 7 + 12 + 18 + Box 14 of IRS Schedule K-1 (Form 1065); 1040A-line 7; 1040EZ-line 1. Even if you filed a joint return, you must report your and your spouse's earnings separately.

If you filed a tax return using other than an IRS form, such as a foreign or Puerto Rican tax form, you should report on the FAFSA the amounts (converted to U.S. dollars) from the lines of the non-IRS form that correspond most closely to those on the IRS forms.

If you did not file a tax return, you should report your earnings from work in 2006. You can find this information on your W-2 Form(s).

Question 40 - Worksheet A

Earned income credit. Enter the earned income credit from IRS Form 1040 — line 66a; 1040A — line 40a; 1040EZ — line 8a.

Additional child tax credit. Report the amount from IRS Form 1040 — line 68 or 1040A — line 41.

Welfare benefits (including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]). Enter the total amount of welfare benefits you (and your spouse) received, including TANF, in 2006. Report the amount you received for the year - not monthly amounts. Do not include the annual value of food stamps or subsidized housing.

Untaxed Social Security benefits for all household members as reported in Question 90. If Social Security benefits were paid to your parents on your behalf (because you were under 18 years old at the time), those benefits are reported in the parent column as your parents' income, not your income.

If you, as head of household, received benefits on behalf of persons included in your household size, these benefits must be reported as your income in the student column. However, if a member of your household, such as an uncle or grandmother, received benefits in his or her own name, you do not report those benefits as your income.

The actual amount of benefits received for the year in question must be reported, even if that amount represents an underpayment or an overpayment that may be compensated for in the next year. This parallels the IRS treatment of overpayments of taxable income (such as salary) that must be reported and are taxed as any other income.

Question 41 - Worksheet B

Payments to tax-deferred pension and savings plans. You must report money paid into tax-sheltered or deferred annuities (whether paid directly or withheld from earnings), including—but not limited to—amounts reported on the W-2 Form, in Boxes 12a through 12d, codes D, E, F, G, H, and S. You must include untaxed portions of 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Note that employer contributions to tax-deferred pension and savings plans should not be reported on the FAFSA as an untaxed benefit.

IRA and other plans. Enter the amount of IRA deductions and payments to self-employed Simplified Employee Pension (SEP), Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE), and Keogh and other qualified plans. These plan payments can be found on IRS 1040 — total of lines 28 + 32 or 1040A — line 17.

Child support received. Report child support you received for all children during 2006. Do not include foster care or adoption payments.

Tax-exempt interest income. Enter the total amount of tax-exempt interest income you (and your spouse) earned in 2006, as reported on Form 1040 — line 8b or 1040A — line 8b.

Foreign income exclusion. The IRS allows eligible U.S. citizens and residents living in foreign countries to exclude a limited amount of income earned abroad. Though deducted for tax purposes, this amount is considered untaxed income for federal student aid purposes. Provide the amount of the foreign income exclusion you (and your spouse) reported for 2006 from Form 2555 — line 45 or 2555EZ — line 18.

Untaxed portions of IRA distributions. This amount can be calculated from IRS Form 1040 (line 15a minus 15b) or 1040A (line 11a minus 11b). If the result is a negative number, enter a zero here.

Untaxed portions of pensions. This amount can be calculated from IRS Form 1040 (line 16a minus 16b) or 1040A (line 12a minus 12b). If the result is a negative number, enter a zero here.

The only exception to reporting IRA or pension distributions as income is when these distributions are rolled over to another IRA or retirement plan within 60 days following the day on which you receive the distribution from the initial IRA or retirement plan.

Special fuels credit. Enter the total amount of credit for federal tax on special fuels that you (and your spouse) reported in 2006, from IRS Form 4136 — line 20 (nonfarmers only).

Housing, food, and other living allowances. Housing, food, and other living allowances provided to you or your spouse must be reported. These allowances must be reported when they are part of a compensation package that some people, particularly clergy and military personnel, receive for their jobs. Include cash payments and cash value of benefits. If you received free room and board in 2006 for a job that was not awarded as federal student aid, you must report the value of the room and board as untaxed income. (This category, "housing allowances," excludes rent subsidies for low-income housing.)

Veterans' noneducation benefits. Enter the total amount of veterans' noneducation benefits you received in 2006. Include Disability, Death Pension, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), and/or VA Educational Work-Study allowances.

Other untaxed income and benefits. Include untaxed income or benefits not reported elsewhere on Worksheets A and B such as worker's compensation, untaxed portions of railroad retirement benefits, untaxed portion of capital gains, Black Lung Benefits, Refugee Assistance, disability, foreign income that wasn't taxed by any government, etc. For students (and their spouses) whose W-2 Forms show combat pay, any untaxed portion of that pay must be reported on Worksheet B and the full amount must be reported as income earned from work. Do not include benefits from flexible spending arrangements (e.g., cafeteria plans), student aid, or Workforce Investment Act (WIA) (formerly JTPA) educational benefits.

Money received. Report any cash support you receive from a friend or relative (other than your parents, if you are a dependent student). Cash support includes payments made on your behalf. For instance, if your aunt pays your rent or utility bill that you would otherwise be obligated to pay yourself, you must report those payments on Worksheet B.

Certain income and benefits should not be reported on Worksheets A and B:

• Combat pay for non-tax filers. Students (and their spouses) who did not file a tax return must report any combat pay received as income earned from work in Question 38 or 39. None of it should be reported on Worksheet B. This is because income earned from work is used in place of adjusted gross income (AGI) for non-tax filers, so putting combat pay on Worksheet B in this case would yield a double-counting of funds.
• Student financial aid. Student aid received is already taken into account when a school packages your aid. However, work-study earnings must be reported as taxed income in the income questions of the Student's Income and Assets section and then excluded (on Worksheet C).
• Food stamps and other programs. Benefits received from federal, state, or local governments from the following programs are not counted as untaxed income: the Food Stamp Program; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Food Distribution Program; Commodity Supplemental Food Program; National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; Summer Food Service Program; and Special Milk Program for Children.
• Dependent Assistance. You may be eligible to exclude a limited amount of benefits received for dependent care assistance if certain requirements are met. Generally, up to $5,000 of benefits may be excluded from an employee's gross income, or $2,500 for a married employee who files a separate return from his or her spouse. This exclusion cannot exceed the employee's (or his or her spouse's) earned income. (Note: Some states provide reimbursement for childcare expenses incurred by welfare recipients through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). You must report this on the application because you bill the state for the amount of childcare costs incurred while on welfare and are reimbursed on that basis.)
• Per capita payments to Native Americans. You should not report individual per capita payments received in 2006 from the Per Capita Act or the Distribution of Judgment Funds Act unless any individual payment exceeds $2,000. Thus, if an individual payment were $1,500, you would not report it on your application. However, if a payment were $2,500, you would report the amount that exceeds $2,000: $500.
• Heating/fuel assistance. Exclude from consideration as income or resources any payments or allowances received under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). (Note: Payments under the LIHEAP are made through state programs that may have different names.)

Questions 43-45

Student Asset Information Instructions

An asset is defined as property that has an exchange value. The purpose of collecting asset information is to determine whether your family's assets are substantial enough to support a contribution toward your cost of attendance (COA). Only the net asset value is counted in the need analysis. To determine the net value of any asset, you first determine the market value of the asset and reduce the value by the amount of debt against that asset. The result is the net value of the asset.

Ownership of an asset

Ownership of an asset may be divided or contested in several situations:

• Part ownership of asset. If you (or your spouse) own an asset with others and therefore only own a portion or percentage of the asset, you (or your spouse) should report the net asset value that represents only your share of the asset owned. You would determine the current market value of the asset, reduce the value by any outstanding debt, and then multiply the net asset value by your ownership percentage. This result is then reported on the FAFSA.
• Contested ownership. An asset should not be reported if its ownership is being legally contested. For instance, if you and your spouse are separated and you may not sell or borrow against jointly owned property that is being contested, the FAFSA information you report would not list any value for the property or any debts against it. If ownership of the asset is resolved after the initial application is filed, you may not update this information. However, if ownership of the property is not being contested, you would report the property as an asset.
• Lien against asset. If there is a lien or imminent foreclosure against an asset, the asset would still be reported on the FAFSA until the party holding the lien or making the foreclosure completes legal action to take possession of the asset. If the status of the property changes after the application is filed, you may not update the asset information.

Assets that are not reported

Below are examples of assets that are not reported:

• Principal place of residence/family farm. Your principal place of residence is not reported as an asset. Neither is your family farm if the farm is your principal place of residence and your family "materially participated in the farm's operation."
• A small business with fewer than 100 employees. If your family owns and controls a small business that has fewer than 100 full time or full-time equivalent employees, do not report the business as an asset.
• Personal possessions. Do not report possessions such as a car, a stereo, clothes, or furniture. By the same token, personal debts such as credit card debt cannot be reported.
• Pensions and Whole Life Insurance. The cash value or built-up equity of a life insurance policy (often referred to as a whole-life policy) isn't reported as an asset. The income distributed to the beneficiary must be reported as income.
• Excluded Assets From Native American Students. Do not report any property received under the Per Capita Act or the Distribution of Judgment Funds Act (25 United States Code [USC] 1401, et seq.), the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 USC 1601, et seq.), or the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act (25 USC 1721, et seq.).

Investments

Rental properties. Generally, rental properties must be reported as investment assets rather than as business assets. To be reported as a business, a rental property would have to be part of a formally recognized business. (Usually such a business would provide additional services, such as regular cleaning, linen, or maid service.)

"Take-back" mortgages. In a "take-back" mortgage, the seller takes back a portion of the mortgage from the buyer and arranges for the buyer to repay that portion of the mortgage to the seller. For IRS purposes, the seller must report the interest portion of any payments received from the buyer on Schedule B of IRS Form 1040. If an amount is reported on Schedule B, the family should report the outstanding balance of the remaining mortgage on the FAFSA as an investment asset.

Trust funds. If trust funds are in your (or your spouse's) name, they should be reported as your (or your spouse's) asset on the application. In the case of divorce or separation, where the trust is owned jointly and ownership is not being contested, the property and the debt are equally divided between the owners for reporting purposes, unless the terms of the trust specify some other method of division.

How the trust must be reported varies according to whether you (or your spouse) receive or will receive the interest income, the trust principal, or both. If you (or your spouse) receive only interest from the trust, any interest received in the base year must be reported as income. Even if interest accumulates in the trust and is not paid out during the year, if you will receive the interest, you must report an asset value for the interest you will receive in the future. The trust officer can usually calculate the present value of the interest you will receive while the trust exists. This value represents the amount a third person would be willing to pay to receive the interest income you (or your spouse) will receive from the trust in the future.

The present value of the principal is the amount a third person would pay at present for the right to receive the principal when the trust ends (basically, the amount you would have to deposit now to receive the amount of the principal when the trust ends, including the accumulated interest). Again, the trust officer can calculate the present value.

As a general rule, you must report the present value of the trust as an asset, even if your (the beneficiary's) access to the trust is restricted. If the creator of a trust has voluntarily placed restrictions on the use of the trust, then you should report the trust in the same manner as if there were no restrictions. However, if a trust has been restricted by court order, you should not report it as an asset. An example of such a restricted trust is one set up by court order to pay for future surgery for the victim of a car accident.

Student Asset Information Questions

If you are eligible to skip these questions, but you choose to answer them on the Web or on paper, answering these questions will not affect your eligibility to receive Federal Student Aid, such as a Federal Pell Grant.

43. Total current cash on hand, and savings and checking account balances. Include the balance of your (and your spouse's) savings and checking accounts as of the date the FAFSA is completed. Do not include student financial aid.

44. Net worth of investments. Net worth means current value minus current debt. Investments include real estate such as rental property, land, and second or summer homes. Do not include your primary place of residence (that is, your home). Include the value of any multifamily dwellings that you own, except that you must exclude the portion of the value of a dwelling that is your principal residence. Investments also include trust funds, Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA)/Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) Custodial Accounts, money market funds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, stocks, stock options, bonds, other securities, Coverdell savings accounts, 529 college savings plans, the refund value of 529 state prepaid tuition plans, installment and land sale contracts (including mortgages held), commodities, etc. Do not include the value of life insurance and retirement plans (pension funds, annuities, non-Education IRAs, Keogh plans, etc.).

You should report the value of all qualified educational benefits or education savings accounts, such as Coverdell savings account, 529 college savings plan, or the refund value of a 529 state prepaid tuition plan in Question 44 if you or your spouse own the account and you are not reporting parental information on this application.

If you (and your spouse) own real estate or investments other than your principal residence, their value equals the amount they are worth today.

Investment debt equals how much you (and/or your spouse) owe on real estate and investments other than your principal residence. Investment debt means only those debts that are related to the investments.

Subtract the amount of debt on these assets from their value to determine the net worth of the asset. Indicate this amount in Question 44 for net worth of investments.

45. Net worth of business and/or investment farm. Business or farm value includes the current market value of land, buildings, machinery, equipment, inventory, etc. Do not include your primary home. Do not include the net worth of a family owned and controlled small business with not more than 100 full-time or full-time equivalent employees.

For business or investment farm value, first figure out how much the business or farm is worth today. An investment farm is a farming business where the student (and/or spouse, if married) do not reside on the farm, nor do they materially operate the farm.

Business or investment farm debts are what you (and/or your spouse) owe on the business or farm. Include only debts for which the business or farm was used as collateral.

Subtract the amount of debt from the value. Indicate this amount in Question 45 for net worth of business and/or investment farm.

To report current market value for a business, you must use the amount for which the business could sell as of the date of the application. Also, if you are not the sole owner of the business, you should report only your share of its value and debt.

Questions 46-47

Veterans' Education Benefits

46. Number of months veterans' education benefits received. Enter the number of months from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 you expect to receive veterans' education benefits. If you do not receive veterans' education benefits, enter zero (0).

47. Amount of veterans' education benefits. Veterans' education benefits information is not used in the EFC calculation; your school will use it when putting together your aid package. If you receive veterans' education benefits, you must report the amount you expect to receive per month during the school year (from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008). Such benefits include (but are not limited to)

• Montgomery GI Bill — Active Duty (MGIB)
• Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship
• Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)
• Dependents Educational Assistance Program (DEA)
• Reservists Educational Assistance Program (REAP)

Do not include your spouse's veterans' education benefits.

Questions 48-55 (Dependency questions - All applicants must complete)

These questions appear in Step 2 of the online FAFSA (FAFSA on the Web) or in Step Three of the paper FAFSA.

Purpose: These questions are used to determine, according to law, whether you are a dependent or an independent student for purposes of calculating an EFC. If you answer "No" to all of these questions, you are a dependent student, even if you do not live with your parents. On a case-by-case basis, a financial aid administrator (FAA) may make an otherwise dependent student independent if he or she can document in the student's file that the student's individual circumstances warrant the decision. The reason must relate to that individual student and not to an entire class of students. The FAA's decision is final and cannot be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education.

A dependent student moves on to Questions 56-89, and provides information about his or her parents in the purple areas of the paper FAFSA or in the area designated for parental income on FAFSA on the Web. An independent student skips Questions 56-89 and picks up with Question 90 and continues through to the end of the application.

You must answer all of the following questions:

48. Were you born before January 1, 1984? Note that if you were born on January 1, 1984, you should answer "No."

_{The information on this site was produced the US Department of Education and compiled by the site owners. We are not responsible for accuracy or truthfulnees- users should consult with a guidance counselor or visit the Department of Education's website for further information. Site design (c) 2007 giantific.com}

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