When to submit medical expense documentation for FAFSA special circumstances appeal?

Submit your medical documentation ASAP! This is exactly what a special circumstances appeal is designed for, and 38-40% of income is definitely significant enough to warrant reconsideration. Both schools should be contacted immediately with a formal appeal letter plus documentation of the ongoing expenses. Don't wait until after commitment - most schools want students to have the most accurate aid package before decision day. For documentation, you'll need: - Letter explaining the situation - Copies of major medical bills/receipts from past 12 months - Summary of annual expenses related to the condition - Any insurance statements showing out-of-pocket costs - Letter from doctor confirming the chronic nature of the condition Both schools should have a "Professional Judgment" or "Special Circumstances" form on their financial aid website. If not, call the offices directly.

CALL BOTH SCHOOLS IMMEDIATELY!!!! I went through this EXACT same thing last year with my son and our family's medical bills (my daughter has a rare condition). The first school made us wait until AFTER he enrolled to even LOOK at our medical documentation and then only adjusted his aid by a pathetic $1,500 when we're paying $45K+ in medical annually!!! The second school reviewed everything PRE-commitment and adjusted his aid by almost $12,000!!!! The system is COMPLETELY inconsistent and some financial aid offices truly do not care about your situation despite what they claim. GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING!!!!

We had a similar situation and both schools were actually super helpful once we explained. Just be sure to submit to BOTH schools so you can compare the adjusted packages. Financial aid offices usually have some discretionary funds they can use for these exact situations. Good luck!

The timing here is very important from a procedural standpoint. For special circumstances appeals based on medical expenses, you should: 1. Contact both financial aid offices immediately and specifically ask about their "Professional Judgment" process for medical expenses 2. Submit a formal appeal letter with detailed documentation that clearly shows the ongoing nature of these expenses 3. Be prepared to demonstrate how these expenses impact your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) or Student Aid Index (SAI) 4. Follow up within 5-7 business days if you don't receive confirmation Both schools should be able to provide revised aid packages before the May 1 commitment deadline, especially given the significant percentage of income these expenses represent. Just ensure your documentation clearly shows these are recurring costs, not one-time expenses.

my dad has MS and we had to do this last yr when i was applying. different schools have different forms for this - some call it "special circumstances" and others call it "professional judgment request" but its the same thing. you definitely need to contact them NOW before may 1st. one weird thing - the school my brother goes to made us submit the CSS profile before they would even look at our medical expense appeal. does ur daughter's schools require CSS profile or just FAFSA?

I spent hours trying to reach the financial aid office at my daughter's school for a similar situation last year. If you're struggling to get through on the phone (which is common this time of year), I recommend using Claimyr.com - it saved me so much time. They help you skip the hold times when calling financial aid offices. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Reaching an actual human at the financial aid office made all the difference in our appeal. The officer was able to walk me through exactly what documentation they needed for our medical expenses, and we ended up getting an additional $8,000 in grants.

Make sure to ask if they need the actual bills or just the EOB (explanation of benefits) from insurance! My daughter's school only wanted the EOBs which was way easier to compile.

Thank you all so much for the advice! I've contacted both schools this morning. School A said they definitely want us to submit everything before May 1st and gave me their special circumstances form. School B initially said they "typically" don't review medical expenses until after enrollment, but when I explained the situation more clearly, they agreed to review our documentation pre-commitment. I'm gathering everything now - EOBs, prescription costs, doctor letters, and our detailed expense breakdown. Fingers crossed we hear back quickly enough to make an informed decision!

one more thing - dont forget to include transportation costs to medical appointments if they're significant! we drive 3 hrs each way to my dads specialist and they counted those miles as part of our medical expenses

This whole process is so stressful! def update us on what happens, im going through something similar

As a follow-up, another important consideration: if your medical expenses have increased since the tax year used for the FAFSA (which you mentioned in an earlier comment), be sure to specifically highlight this trend. Include documentation showing both the historical costs (matching what would show on your tax return) AND the current/projected costs. Financial aid officers have significant discretion when making professional judgment adjustments, and clear evidence of increasing medical costs can strengthen your case for additional aid. This is especially relevant given the FAFSA's use of prior-prior year tax information, which can miss recent changes in financial circumstances.

Just wanted to add that if you're dealing with ongoing prescription costs, make sure to get a letter from your pharmacist or doctor stating that these medications are medically necessary and will be required long-term. Some financial aid offices want verification that these aren't temporary expenses. Also, if your husband's condition qualifies him for any disability benefits or special programs, mention this in your appeal letter even if you're not currently receiving them - it helps establish the severity and permanence of the medical situation. I learned this the hard way when my first appeal was initially denied because they thought our expenses might be temporary. The fact that you're spending 38-40% of gross income on medical expenses should definitely qualify for professional judgment consideration. Most schools have internal guidelines about what percentage warrants aid adjustments, and you're well above typical thresholds.

I'm going through a very similar situation right now with my son's college applications! We have significant ongoing medical expenses for my daughter's rare genetic condition, and I was also confused about the timing. After reading all these responses, I'm definitely going to contact the financial aid offices immediately rather than waiting. One thing I wanted to add that helped us - when we were gathering documentation, we created a simple spreadsheet showing monthly medical expenses over the past 18 months. This really helped illustrate the consistent, ongoing nature of the costs rather than just providing a pile of random receipts. We included columns for date, provider/pharmacy, type of expense (medication, specialist visit, therapy, etc.), insurance payment, and our out-of-pocket cost. Also, if your husband sees multiple specialists for his condition, try to get a coordinating letter from his primary care doctor or the main specialist explaining how all the different treatments/medications work together for his overall care plan. This helped prevent any questions about whether all the expenses were truly necessary. Good luck with both schools! It sounds like you're on the right track getting everything submitted before the May 1st deadline.

I just want to echo what everyone else is saying - don't wait! I went through this exact process two years ago when my mom was dealing with cancer treatment costs that were eating up about 45% of our family income. One thing that really helped our case was creating a "medical expense impact statement" where we clearly showed: - Our adjusted gross income - Total annual medical expenses - What our "effective" income was after medical costs - How this compared to the EFC the FAFSA calculated We also included a brief timeline showing that these weren't temporary expenses but part of an ongoing treatment plan. Both schools we applied to were actually very understanding once they saw the full picture. The key thing I learned is that financial aid officers want to help, but they need clear documentation to justify their decisions to their supervisors. Make their job as easy as possible by being super organized and thorough with your documentation. Also, don't be discouraged if the first person you talk to seems unhelpful - ask to speak with a supervisor or the director of financial aid if needed. Some staff members are more experienced with these special circumstances than others. You've got this! The fact that you're being proactive about this now gives you the best chance of getting accurate aid packages before decision day.

I'm so glad you reached out about this - the timing confusion around medical expense appeals is so common and stressful! As someone who just went through this process last year with my own family's chronic illness expenses, I want to emphasize what others have said: contact both schools TODAY. One thing that really helped us was being very specific in our initial contact. Instead of just saying "we have medical expenses," I called and said "We need to submit a professional judgment appeal for extraordinary medical expenses that represent X% of our gross income." This immediately got us to the right person who understood the urgency. Also, when you're gathering documentation, include a cover letter that starts with something like "Due to [husband's condition], our family has unavoidable annual medical expenses of approximately $X, representing 38-40% of our gross income. These ongoing costs were not captured in our FAFSA and significantly impact our ability to contribute to educational expenses." The financial aid officers deal with so many appeals - making yours crystal clear from the first sentence will help ensure it gets proper attention. Both schools should absolutely be able to give you revised packages before May 1st if you submit everything promptly. You're being a great advocate for your daughter by tackling this now instead of waiting!