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Financial Aid Office

Special Circumstances for FAFSA Professional Judgments

FAFSA Professional Judgments Information

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) does not provide families with a place to explain special circumstances affecting their ability to pay for college. 

If you and or your family have unusual circumstances that might affect your financial situation, complete and submit your FAFSA, then contact the Financial Aid Office. In some cases, the Financial Aid Office may decide to consider these unusual circumstances (unemployment, death of a wage-earner, divorce, loss of child support income) and adjust your cost of attendance or the information used to calculate your Student Aid Index (SAI). You will need to provide the Financial Aid Office with adequate documentation to support any unusual circumstances. Note that documentation and necessary FAFSA corrections must be processed before the end of the period of enrollment, therefore you (student) should submit documentation in a timely manner.

If your financial situation has changed since you filed your FAFSA, or if you believe that you have an unusual circumstance, you may ask the Financial Aid Office to review your situation. The Financial Aid Office may be able to make adjustments that more closely reflect your circumstances. It is your responsibility to notify the Financial Aid Office of any special or unusual circumstances or changes in your financial status or dependency status that may affect your financial aid eligibility or ability to pay for college.

Dependency Status Override - Unusual Circumstance

  • If you are asked to provide parent data on your Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) but cannot because an extreme circumstance has caused a break-up in your family, you may contact the Financial Aid Office and request an adjustment to your FAFSA Dependency Status. Please note that your status cannot be changed because your parent(s) refuse to contribute to your education, is or are unwilling to complete the FAFSA, do not claim you on their taxes, or you are living financially on your own.

Income Adjustments - Special Circumstance

  • If you or your family has had a loss of income in the time since your financial aid applications were filed, you may contact the Financial Aid Office and request an adjustment to your FAFSA based on a change in income. The loss of income may be due to loss of employment, loss of benefits, divorce, death, a natural disaster or some other major change.
  • If you or your family have unusual expenses that were not reported on your financial aid applications, you may contact the Financial Aid Office and request an adjustment to your FAFSA based on unusual expenses that impact your ability to contribute towards your educational expenses.

Provisional Independent Status on your FAFSA

Provisional independent status is granted to students who indicate on their FAFSA that they have either an unusual circumstance or are seeking a homeless youth determination. The FAFSA will calculate a Student Aid Index (SAI) to let you know what you might be eligible for based on your income, family size, and other relevant data on the FAFSA. However, the application is still considered to be in a rejected status and therefore incomplete. You cannot receive any federal aid until the process is complete. You should contact the Financial Aid Office immediately if they have not aleady initiated any contact with you.

Remember, each family's situation is unique and is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee approval. The Financial Aid Office decisions are final and cannot be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education. Therefore, we strongly advise families to always consider alternative payment arrangements while waiting for the outcome of an appeal.
In the meantime, students are encouraged to check their CUNYfirst "To Do List" for Task and Holds section in the Student Center for related tasks as well as their college e-mail account for communications related to their financial aid status.

The following are circumstances that will NOT be considered:

  • Parent(s) refusal to contribute to the student’s education;
  • Parent(s) did not claim student on their tax returns;
  • Parent(s) unwillingness to provide information on the FAFSA;
  • Student demonstrates total financial self–sufficiency.