Dependent vs Independent status on FAFSA - messed up before & owe $2000

This is actually a really important question! For FAFSA purposes, dependent vs. independent is determined by specific criteria, not just who claims you on taxes or whether you live separately from your parents. For 2025-26 FAFSA, you're considered an independent student ONLY if at least ONE of these applies: - Born before January 1, 2002 - Married currently - Working on master's/doctorate - Have children you support financially - Emancipated minor/legal guardianship - Veteran/active military - Homeless/at risk of homelessness - Orphan/ward of court/in foster care after age 13 If NONE of those apply to you, you're DEPENDENT - even if you live alone and support yourself. Based on what you shared, you'd be DEPENDENT for FAFSA purposes since you're 23 (born after Jan 1, 2002) and don't meet the other criteria.

i had the EXACT same issue!!! checked independent and lost my pell grant cause the system thought i had more $$ than i did. the whole covid remote thing was a nightmare, nobody explained anything right. ur not alone in this mess lol

I work in financial aid and see this confusion ALL THE TIME. The dependency rules for FAFSA are completely different from IRS tax dependency rules, which trips up so many students. If you're under 24 (as of Jan 1, 2026 for the 2025-26 FAFSA), not married, don't have dependents, and aren't a veteran/active military, you're almost certainly DEPENDENT for FAFSA purposes - even if you're financially independent in real life. The only other way to be considered independent if you don't meet those criteria is through a dependency override, which requires documented unusual circumstances like parental abuse, abandonment, or incarceration. Simply not living with or getting support from parents is NOT enough for an override. And yes, this means you'll need your parents' financial information on your FAFSA application.

If your parents refuse to provide information, unfortunately, you'll only be eligible for unsubsidized loans - no grants, work-study, or subsidized loans. You could document their refusal and submit it to your financial aid office, but that just allows you to get unsubsidized loans, not change your dependency status. It's not a great situation, but it's better than incorrectly filing as independent (which is considered fraud and can lead to having to repay aid).

have u tried talking to someone at the school directly? sometimes they can help if u explain ur situation

I had major issues reaching anyone at Federal Student Aid when I was in your situation. After getting disconnected 6 times and waiting on hold for hours, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a live agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent was able to go through my specific situation and explain exactly what I needed to do. For complicated situations like dependency status questions, sometimes you just need to talk to an actual human who can look at your specific case.

Anybody else think its crazy you can be 23, living on your own, paying your own bills, and STILL be considered "dependent"?? Makes no sense. Old enough to go to war but not old enough to fill out FAFSA without mommy and daddy's tax forms 🙄

Getting back to your question about the $2,000 you owe LaGuardia - that's a separate issue from your current FAFSA. You should contact LaGuardia's financial aid office to discuss why that happened and if there's any way to resolve it. If you incorrectly filed as independent when you should have been dependent, they might have had to recalculate your aid package after discovering the error, which could explain the balance. For your current FAFSA, definitely file as dependent if you don't meet the independent criteria. And make sure to file early - the timeline for 2025-26 FAFSA shows that earlier filers often get better aid packages as some funds are first-come, first-served.

My daughter went through something similar!!! The financial aid office at her school actually helped create a payment plan for the balance she owed from the previous mistake. Most schools have some kind of option for that. Good luck!

I'm in a very similar boat! I'm 22, work full-time, and pay all my own expenses but still have to file as dependent because I don't meet any of the independence criteria. It's frustrating but I learned the hard way that it's better to follow the rules exactly than risk owing money back. One thing that helped me was scheduling an appointment with my school's financial aid office BEFORE submitting my FAFSA. They walked me through the dependency questions and helped me understand what documents I'd need from my parents. Even though my parents were hesitant about sharing their info, having the financial aid counselor explain why it was necessary made the conversation easier. Also, don't let that old balance at LaGuardia stress you out too much - most schools are willing to work with students on payment plans, especially when the debt was caused by confusion during COVID. Call them and explain what happened. You might be surprised how understanding they can be!