How FAFSA treats disability income & retirement funds for older parents (65+) with cancer?
My parents are both over 65 (dad 68, mom 65) and I'm 18 starting college next fall. My mom was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer last year and is now on disability. Dad still works part-time but mostly lives on his retirement. I'm really confused about how FAFSA will evaluate our situation for the 2025-2026 year. Does disability income count the same as regular income? And what about their retirement accounts - are those protected or do they count against us? Mom's medical bills are insane even with Medicare. Will FAFSA consider these special circumstances? Really worried about getting enough aid since my parents can't help much with college costs.
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Emma Morales
My son was in a similar situation (I'm 67, wife had stage 4 lung cancer). From our experience, disability income DOES count as income on FAFSA, but retirement accounts are generally not counted as assets if they're in qualified retirement plans like 401k or traditional IRAs. The high medical expenses should definitely be mentioned in the special circumstances section - you'll need documentation though. When you get your SAI score, immediately contact each school's financial aid office to explain the situation. Some schools have more flexibility than others with professional judgment adjustments.
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Declan Ramirez
•Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Do you remember if you had to submit the medical bills to the schools directly or just to FAFSA? And did you find that schools were generally understanding about the medical expenses?
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Katherine Hunter
IMPORTANT: make sure that ur mom's disability is reported correctly on FAFSA!! social security disability income (SSDI) is reported differently than supplemental security income (SSI). also depends if she gets private disability insurance. wrong reporting = wrong aid calculation = less $$. call student aid to double check!!!!
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Declan Ramirez
•I didn't even realize there were different types of disability income... I think she gets SSDI but I'll double check with her. This is so confusing!!
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Lucas Parker
After trying to get through to Federal Student Aid for days about a similar special circumstances situation (parent with medical issues), I finally used a service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual FSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ showing how it works. The agent I spoke with explained exactly how to document medical expenses and disability income for the special circumstances review. Made a huge difference for us!
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Declan Ramirez
•Thank you for the suggestion! I've been trying to get through to them and keep getting disconnected. I'll check out that service because I really need specific answers about our situation.
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Donna Cline
I work in financial aid at a college. Here's what you need to know: 1. Disability income IS counted as untaxed income on the FAFSA 2. Retirement accounts (IRAs, 401k) are NOT included in asset calculations if your parents are of retirement age 3. Medical expenses aren't factored into the initial FAFSA calculation BUT... 4. You can submit a "Professional Judgment" request at EACH school after acceptance 5. Document EVERYTHING - medical bills, disability statements, retirement account statements Don't just rely on FAFSA - each school has discretion to adjust your aid package based on special circumstances like serious illness.
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Declan Ramirez
•This is incredibly helpful! I didn't know about the Professional Judgment request. So I should apply to schools first, then after acceptance request adjustments at each school individually? Does that mean my initial financial aid offers might not reflect our true circumstances?
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Harper Collins
My dad had cancer when I applied and tbh FAFSA was useless!!! The formula doesn't care if ur parents have medical bills. Got wayyyy better results going straight to financial aid offices and CRYING (not even joking). Bring documentation of EVERYTHING. Good luck!
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Kelsey Hawkins
•This is actually good advice. I work in a financial aid office and while I don't recommend the crying strategy specifically, being persistent and thoroughly documenting your situation does help. We have discretionary funds specifically for cases like this but students have to advocate for themselves.
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Dylan Fisher
Don't forget that retirement age impacts asset protection! For parents over 65, there's an "Asset Protection Allowance" that shields some retirement funds from FAFSA calculations. The exact amount changes each year but it's significant. Also, if your mom is on SSDI, you'll report that under "untaxed income" not under the regular income section. The CSS Profile (required by some private schools) asks more detailed questions about medical expenses than FAFSA does.
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Declan Ramirez
•I'm applying to some schools that require the CSS Profile too. Is that better for our situation since it asks about medical expenses directly? And do you know if I need to fill out any additional forms to get the Asset Protection Allowance or is that automatic?
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Dylan Fisher
•The Asset Protection Allowance is automatic based on the age you report for your parents. And yes, the CSS Profile is actually better for situations with high medical expenses because it has specific questions about them. For schools that only use FAFSA, you'll need to do extra legwork with the financial aid office to get those expenses considered.
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Katherine Hunter
i had cancer during my kids college years and its a NIGHTMARE the medical bills plus college costs i cnat believe the system doesnt automatically account for this stuff why do we have to jump through so many hoops when were already dealing with serious illness???
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Declan Ramirez
•I'm so sorry you went through that. It does seem really unfair that families dealing with serious health issues have to fight so hard for financial aid consideration. My mom is focused on her treatments and doesn't have energy to deal with complicated paperwork.
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Lucas Parker
My brother just went through this last year! Call each school's financial aid office directly AFTER you submit FAFSA. Each school handled our parent's cancer situation differently - state schools were less flexible than private schools. And keep ALL medical receipts from 2023 tax year since that's what 2025-2026 FAFSA will be based on. Good luck!
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Declan Ramirez
•That's interesting about private schools being more flexible. I was mainly looking at state schools because I assumed they'd be cheaper, but maybe I should apply to some private schools too if they might give better aid packages considering our circumstances.
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Liam O'Sullivan
Hey Declan, I'm a financial aid counselor and wanted to add some specific guidance for your situation. Since your mom's diagnosis was in 2024 but you're filing for 2025-2026 aid (which uses 2023 tax info), the timing creates challenges. However, you can request a "change of income" review if her disability started after the base year. Also, for schools that use institutional methodology, having both parents over 65 actually helps with asset protection - they get much higher allowances than younger parents. Start documenting ALL cancer-related expenses now (travel to appointments, co-pays, prescription costs) even if they seem small. When you contact financial aid offices, ask specifically about their "dependent student with parent medical hardship" policies - many schools have specific protocols for exactly your situation.
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