The recently enacted College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) expands the criteria under which an undergraduate student is considered independent for Title IV purposes effective July 1, 2009 for the 2009-10 award year.

Current Definition of "Independent"

Currently, an undergraduate student is only considered "independent" for Title IV purposes if he or she:

• Is at least 24 years of age on or before December 31st of the award year;
• Is a graduate or professional student;
• Is married;
• Has children or dependents other than a spouse for whom the student provides more than half support;
• Is an orphan (i.e. both parents are deceased) or is a ward/dependent of the court, or was a ward/dependent of the court until age 18;
• Is serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for other than training purposes;
• Is a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces; or
• Is a student for whom a financial aid administrator makes a documented determination of independence by reason of other unusual circumstances using his or her own professional judgment discretion.

Orphan or Ward of the Court

Effective July 1, 2009 the orphan/ward of the court criterion is expanded to include any student who is an orphan, is in foster care, or is a ward of the court at any time after turning 13 years of age. Under this new law, youth who are adopted after their 13th birthday will not need to include their adoptive parents' income, asset, or other information for purposes of determining need for federal student financial aid.

Emancipation or Legal Guardianship

For the 2009-10 award year, the independent student definition will also be expanded to include applicants who are emancipated minors or are in legal guardianship as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in the applicant's state of legal residence. Currently, the independent student definition does not include either category of applicants. Currently emancipation or legal guardianship may only be considered as factors which may influence a financial aid administrator's decision to allow a dependency status override when exercising his or her professional judgment discretion on a documented, case-by-case basis.

Homelessness

Likewise, a student applicant's homelessness currently may only be considered by a financial aid administrator when using professional judgment based on circumstances unique to that student applicant. But starting in 2009-10, the independent student definition will also be expanded to include any applicant who has been verified during the school year in which the application is submitted as either:

• An unaccompanied youth who is a homeless child or youth, as such terms are defined in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; or
• An unaccompanied youth who is at risk of homelessness and is also self-supporting.

Under this criterion, unaccompanied youth must be verified as either homeless or at risk of homelessness during the school year in which the application is submitted by at least one of the following:

• A local educational agency homeless liaison, designated pursuant to 722(g)(1)J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act;
• The director or a designee of the director of a program funded by the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act;
• The director of a program funded under subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; or
• A financial aid administrator.

For purposes of making this determination, homeless children and youths are defined as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of "homeless" or "homeless individual or homeless person" defined in section 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act) and includes the following:

• Children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;
• Children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C));
• Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
• Migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).

The terms "homeless" and "homeless individual or homeless person" do not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained under federal or state law. Additional information on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is available on the Department's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/programs/homeless/legislation.html.

Simplified Dependency Override Process

Effective July 1, 2009 the CCRAA also simplifies the dependency status override process by allowing a financial aid administrator to make a determination of independence based on a documented professional judgment determination made by another financial aid administrator at another school for the same FAFSA award year. Currently, a financial aid administrator must make his or her own dependency override determination based on his or her own professional judgment discretion and based solely on documentation that he or she collects in support of that determination.

By David L. Futrell
NASFAA Assistant Director for Professional Assessment, Training, and Regulatory Assistance

Posted 11/08/07 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.