FAFSA dependent status confusion - rejected after parents divorced

Age is actually the main factor here, not whether you support yourself financially. For FAFSA purposes, you're automatically considered independent if you're 24 or older as of January 1 of the award year. Since you turned 24 in January 2025, you should qualify as independent for the 2025-2026 award year. Something seems off with their determination. Did you perhaps enter your birthdate incorrectly on the application? That's the most common reason for this type of mistake.

did u check the boxes for the special circumstances? theres like a whole section where u can say ur parents wont provide info or ur estranged or whatever. might need to go back and look at that part

This sounds like a system error, not a policy issue. Based on your birthdate (01/15/2001), you were definitely 24 before January 1, 2025, which means you automatically qualify as an independent student for the 2025-2026 FAFSA. The system shouldn't even be asking for parent information. You need to speak directly with a Federal Student Aid agent to get this fixed. They'll need to override the system's determination. However, reaching them can be tough. I recently used Claimyr to get through to them after days of trying on my own - it's a service that holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of frustration. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ

FAFSA is such a nightmare this year with all the changes! I think there might be confusion because the new system has different rules about dependency status. You should be independent based on age alone, but maybe some of your answers to other questions triggered something in the system?

Looking at your situation more carefully, I wonder if this might be related to the divorce situation rather than your age. Sometimes when parents divorce, there can be complications with determining which parent's information should be included. The FAFSA generally requires information from the parent you lived with more during the past 12 months. But this is all moot because at 24, you ARE considered independent regardless of your relationship with your parents. The fact that they somehow included your father's income is definitely an error that needs correction. When you do get through to FSA, make sure to: 1. Clearly state your birthdate first thing 2. Ask them to verify the system shows you as 24 years old as of January 1, 2025 3. Request a formal review of your dependency status 4. Get a case number and the name of the representative you speak with 5. Ask for a timeframe for correction and how this will impact your aid disbursement Also, contact your school's financial aid office immediately. They often have ways to expedite these corrections.

i had something kinda similar happen with my FAFSA last year they kept saying i was a dependent even tho im 25?!?! turned out i accidentally checked the wrong box somewhere in the application. might be worth just starting a new application from scratch

Update: I finally got through to someone at FSA using that Claimyr service (which was actually super easy to use). Turns out there was a system glitch where my birth year was recorded as 2011 instead of 2001! The agent was able to fix it right away and said my application is being reprocessed with the correct dependency status. They said I should get a new SAI calculation within 3-5 business days. Thanks everyone for your help!

this happens way more than ppl think! my brother had same issue but with his social security number being off by 1 digit. the system is so rigid it cant catch obvious errors

So glad you got this resolved! This is exactly why I always recommend double-checking every single field on the FAFSA before submitting - even the ones that seem obvious like birthdates. The new system is incredibly sensitive to data entry errors and doesn't have the same error-checking that the old one did. Your story is going to help so many other students who run into similar issues. Thanks for sharing the update!