Special Circumstance Request

Christopher is entering his junior year this fall. He and his family completed the 2021-22 FAFSA with their 2019 tax information as requested. However, Christopher’s mother is a single parent and had her hours reduced at the restaurant where she works. Christopher hears about the Special Circumstance Request from an email from the Financial Aid Office, and decides to complete the request. In review of the request, Christopher’s Financial Aid Counselor sees that he already has a 0 Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and is already receiving the maximum amount in federal and state need-based aid already. Unfortunately, the Special Circumstances Request will not benefit Christopher.

Heather completed the 2021-22 FAFSA on 10/15/2020 with her (then) spouse. She has since gone through a legal divorce. Heather hears from her advisor that she can complete a Special Circumstance Request to exclude her ex-spouse’s financial information from the FAFSA. Her ex-spouse worked as a truck driver making around $55,000 annually, and Heather has not worked since 2018 so that she can focus on school. When her ex-spouse’s financial information was excluded, her Expected Family Contribution (EFC) was lowered enough to make her eligible for need-based aid.

Note: If a student is only Independent based on being married, after a divorce they will revert to a Dependent status and require parental data to be included on the FAFSA.

Simone comes to the Financial Aid office stating that she has separated from her spouse since the time she completed the 2021-22 FAFSA. She states that she has not yet legally divorced the spouse, but wants to know if she has any options to exclude the spouse’s information from the FAFSA. Simone and her spouse both earned above average incomes in 2019. After providing appropriate documentation regarding the separation, Simone’s Financial Aid Counselor finds that even without the spouse’s financial information included it did not lower Simone’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC) enough to provide her with additional need-based aid.

John’s spouse lost a battle with cancer in 2020, and he heard from a friend that he could complete a Special Circumstance Request with the Financial Aid Office to see if his spouse’s income could be excluded from his eligibility for need-based aid. John’s spouse worked as a scientist in a laboratory making roughly $115,000 annually. John provides all necessary documentation to the Financial Aid Office, and his Counselor finds that when his spouse’s financial information is excluded that his Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is lowered drastically. He now has an EFC that will make him eligible for need-based aid.

Stacy, a freshman, lost her mother in 2020. She plans to complete a Special Circumstance Request to attempt to get more financial aid to help pay her tuition and fees. She provides the Death Certificate to the Financial Aid Office. Stacy also informs the office that she received a one-time large financial compensation from a life insurance policy that her mother owned through her employer. After taking all of the information provided into account, Stacy’s Financial Aid Counselor concludes that a Special Circumstance Request would not benefit her due to the large benefit received.