Reporting Parents Information On the FAFSA

Parent Information on the FAFSA Form

Each parent will report similar information to what you reported for yourself: basic information about your parent’s identity (e.g., name, date of birth, and Social Security number—if your parent has one); living situation (e.g., marital status, state of residence, family size); and financial circumstances (e.g., tax information and certain assets). They’ll also have to provide consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS into the FAFSA form. Learn more about the types of information you and your parents will report on the FAFSA form.

If your parents refuse to provide their consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred into your FAFSA form, you won’t be eligible for federal student aid.

Unusual Circumstances and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth

In certain situations, you can submit their FAFSA without their parents' information if they have no contact with their parents due to an unusual circumstance. Unusual circumstances may include the following situations:

  • Your parents are incarcerated.

  • You have left home due to an abusive family environment.

  • You are a victim of human trafficking.

  • You have been granted refugee or asylee status.

  • You were abandoned by or estranged from your parents and have not been adopted.

If you have an unusual circumstance, select “Yes” to the “Do unusual circumstances prevent the student from contacting their parents or would contacting their parents pose a risk to the student?” question on the FAFSA form. You’ll be considered provisionally independent. You will be able to skip questions about your parents on the FAFSA form and submit it without a parent's signature.

You will be contacted by the Financial Aid Office regarding what supporting documentation you’ll need to submit. Examples of supporting documentation may include the following:

  • a documented interview between you and the financial aid administrator at the college or career/trade school you plan to attend

  • a court order or official federal or state documentation showing that your parents or legal guardians are incarcerated

  • a documented phone call or written statement from an attorney, guardian ad litem, court-appointed special advocate (or similar), or a representative of TRIO or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant confirming your unusual circumstance and their relationship to you

If you indicate that you are unaccompanied and homeless or at risk of being homeless on the FAFSA form, you can complete and submit the form without providing parent information.

Look for the question that asks if you were unaccompanied and either (1) homeless or (2) self-supporting and at risk of being homeless. Select “Yes” and indicate if you were determined to be homeless or at risk of being homeless by one or more of the following eligible agencies:

  • A local educational agency homeless liaison, as designated by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, or a designee of the liaison

  • The director or designee of an emergency or transitional shelter, street outreach program, homeless youth drop-in center, or other program serving individuals who are experiencing homelessness

  • The director or designee of a program funded under Subtitle B of Title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

  • The director or designee of a Federal TRIO program or a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate program (GEAR UP) grant

  • A financial aid administrator (FAA) who documented your homeless circumstance in the same or a prior award year

If you don’t have a determination from any of the listed agencies, select “None of these apply.” 

The Financial Aid Office will contact you to go over your circumstances and determine whether you qualify as an unaccompanied homeless youth. If you meet the above requirements, you may be eligible for a dependency override. You must submit several documents to show your situation. We do not grant dependency overrides based on financial independence.

Learn more about what it means to answer “yes” to the student unaccompanied and either homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless question on the FAFSA form.

Parents Have Special Financial Circumstances

Special financial circumstances may include the following situations:

  • significant changes to your parents’ financial situation, such as loss of employment or pay cuts

  • tuition expenses at an elementary or secondary school

  • high amounts of medical or dental expenses not covered by insurance

  • a family member who recently became unemployed

  • other changes in income or assets that may affect your eligibility for federal student aid

If your parents have experienced special financial circumstances, submit a completed FAFSA form as instructed and then notify the Financial Aid Office. We encourage you to file a Financial Aid Appeal so we can consider making an adjustment to your FAFSA information.

It is important to note:

  • You must NOT have declined any offered financial aid; this includes offered Federal and/or State loans ("self-help aid").
  • Filing an appeal does not guarantee additional aid will be granted even if the request is approved. Award increases are contingent on funding levels and fund availability.
  • If the requested appeal documents are not received within two months of the request, we will conclude that you do not wish to pursue the appeal, and your appeal request will be closed.
  • Financial obligations to Salem State should be met during the appeal process, or payment arrangements should be made. If the appeal results in additional funds being awarded, excess payment(s) will be refunded, or established payment plans will be adjusted. 

Parents Unwilling To Provide Their Information

You are not considered independent of your parents if they refuse to help you with the FAFSA form. If your parents are not supporting you and refuse to provide their information or their consent and approval to transfer their federal tax information on your FAFSA form, here’s the process for filling out the FAFSA form online:

  • Select “Yes” to the “Are the student’s parents refusing to provide their information on this FAFSA form?” question on the FAFSA form.

  • The FAFSA form will be submitted without parent information.

  • Follow up with the Financial Aid Office to find out what you need to do next to receive a Direct Unsubsidized Loan only.

    Important: If you submit your FAFSA form without parent information, you will not receive a Student Aid Index (SAI). Some state- or school-based aid programs look at the SAI to determine your eligibility for their funds; because you won’t have an SAI, you won’t be considered for those financial aid programs. You could be giving up a chance at many sources of financial aid. So, encourage your parents to provide their information—doing so won’t require them to support you in any way, it’ll just help you be considered for as many sources of financial aid as possible.

Reporting Information About My Noncitizen Parents

Your parents’ citizenship status does not affect your eligibility for federal student aid. In fact, the FAFSA doesn’t even ask about your parents’ status.

Here are some tips if your parents are noncitizens:

  • Parents who don’t have a Social Security number (SSN) can create a StudentAid.gov account to access and complete their portion of your FAFSA form.

  • If you’re inviting your parent to the FAFSA form as a contributor and they don’t have an SSN, select the box that indicates the individual does not have an SSN. Don’t enter an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in the SSN field. Individuals without an SSN will instead be asked to provide an ITIN in a separate ITIN field in their section of the form.

  • The SSN will be blank and disabled on your parents’ section of the FAFSA form if the parent doesn’t have an SSN. If your parent has an ITIN, they should add it to the ITIN field on the FAFSA form. If they don’t have an ITIN, they should leave that question blank.

  • If your parent doesn't live in the U.S., they can select their country from the “Country” dropdown menu.

  • If your parent lives and files taxes in a foreign country and doesn’t file U.S. taxes, they will still need to provide consent and approval. They will need to convert the amounts on the foreign tax return into U.S. dollars using the published exchange rate and manually enter their financial information from their most recent foreign tax return into the FAFSA form.

  • If your parent lives in and files taxes with a U.S. territory or a Freely Associated State only, your parent should use the information from that tax return to fill out their section of the FAFSA form.

  • If your parent lives in and files taxes with a U.S. territory or a Freely Associated State, and files a U.S. tax return, contact the financial aid office at the college or career/trade school you plan to attend to determine which tax forms and information your parents need to provide to accurately calculate your federal student aid eligibility.

  • If your parent doesn’t file taxes at all, they will be asked for information about how much they earned from work, rather than being asked for information about specific items on the tax form.

Do You Need More Help?

Financial Aid
Student Navigation Center
978.542.8000
navcenter@salemstate.edu
Walk-In Service: Student Navigation Center: Second Floor, Classroom Building, Central Campus, 71 Loring Avenue, Salem, MA 01970