FAFSA denied aid due to living abroad - US citizens told we don't qualify?

This is 100% incorrect information from the financial aid office. US citizens living abroad absolutely qualify for federal financial aid through FAFSA. The Higher Education Act specifically addresses this. I went through this exact situation when my daughter attended UCLA while we were stationed in Germany. What you need to do: 1. Request a formal review with the financial aid office director (not just a counselor) 2. Cite the Federal Student Aid Handbook, specifically Volume 1, Chapter 2 which covers citizenship requirements (not residence requirements) 3. Submit your US tax returns again to demonstrate you maintain US tax home status 4. Provide documentation of your temporary foreign assignment Most financial aid offices rarely deal with expat families, so lower-level staff often misunderstand the rules. Don't take no for an answer - escalate immediately.

omg the SAME THING happened to my cousin last year!!!! they were in qatar for like 3 yrs and got denied at first. but they fought it and eventually got the aid. don't give up!!!! the financial aid offices are soooooo confused about international stuff.

Financial aid professional here. There's confusion between the university's institutional aid policies (which can have residency requirements) and federal financial aid eligibility (which is based on citizenship, not current address). To clarify: US citizens absolutely qualify for federal aid regardless of where they live, but individual colleges may have different policies for their own institutional scholarships and grants. It sounds like the university might be conflating these two things. You need to specifically ask them to clarify which type of aid they're denying - federal (Pell, direct loans, etc.) or institutional. If they're denying federal aid, they're incorrect and you need to escalate this immediately. Request a formal appeal and cite the Federal Student Aid Foreign School Handbook which explicitly addresses expatriate situations. Your SAI calculation should be processed the same regardless of your current address as long as you filed US taxes and completed the FAFSA correctly.

The entire financial aid system is BROKEN and this is just another example. They deliberately make these "mistakes" to save money, hoping families won't know their rights or fight back. I bet if you weren't persistent they'd just keep denying you what you're legally entitled to. My daughter went through similar nonsense last year (different scenario but same runaround). DON'T trust anything they say on the phone - get EVERYTHING in writing. And don't explain your situation to different people hoping for a better answer, because they'll use any inconsistencies against you. Record names, dates, and details of every conversation. The system is designed to wear you down!

Have you tried calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center directly? Sometimes going straight to the source is better than dealing with the university's office when it comes to eligibility questions. I had to do this for a complicated dependency override situation last year.

This EXACT situation happened to us while in Australia last year. The key is understanding what's happening with your SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation. When you have a foreign address, sometimes the system flags the application for manual review because it's looking for US-based cost of living adjustments. In our case, they had incorrectly applied a zero for the housing adjustment instead of using our actual housing costs converted to USD. After we appealed and had them manually recalculate our SAI using our converted Australian housing costs, our federal aid package was approved. The financial aid officer admitted they rarely process expatriate applications and weren't familiar with the proper procedure. Be persistent but polite. Ask specifically for someone who has experience with expatriate FAFSA applications.

maybe try calling ur congressman? my brothers roomate had fafsa issues and his mom called their state rep and suddenly everything got fixed real fast lol. worth a try maybe?

One more thing to check - make sure your FAFSA listed a US mailing address somewhere (like a relative's address) rather than only your foreign address. Some schools' systems have trouble processing FAFSA results without a US address on file, even though it's not technically required. This small detail caused huge problems for us when we were in Japan. Also, be aware that some aid counselors may be confusing in-state tuition eligibility (which often does require physical residency) with federal aid eligibility (which doesn't). These are completely separate issues, but I've seen them conflated repeatedly.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this stress right before tuition is due! As someone who just went through a similar situation with my daughter while we were living in the UK, I wanted to share what worked for us. The breakthrough came when I realized I needed to speak specifically to someone in the financial aid office who handles "unusual circumstances" or "professional judgment" cases - not the general intake counselors. When I called and asked to be transferred to someone who deals with expatriate or international student situations, I finally got connected to a supervisor who actually understood the rules. Here's what I'd recommend doing immediately: 1. Email the financial aid director (find their name on the university website) and request an urgent meeting 2. In your email, specifically state "US citizen eligibility for federal financial aid while residing abroad" 3. Mention that you're requesting a professional judgment review of your case 4. Ask them to provide in writing which specific federal regulation they believe makes you ineligible The key phrase that helped me was asking them to cite the specific CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) section that supports their denial. Most of the time, they can't because it doesn't exist for citizens living abroad temporarily. Don't give up - this is absolutely fixable! Michigan is a great school and they'll figure this out once you get to the right person.