§1087uu–2 Special Rules for Independent Students

Summary

Financial aid offices must accept proof that a student is an unaccompanied homeless youth or is unaccompanied, at risk of homelessness, and supporting themselves if that proof comes by phone, a written note, or a verifiable electronic match from certain trusted people or programs. Trusted sources include a school homeless liaison, the director of a shelter or outreach program, the director of certain federal college-prep programs, or a financial aid officer at another school who already documented the student. If no one from those groups can confirm it, the aid office must decide case by case based on the student’s written statement or a documented interview. The office must ignore why the student became homeless or self-supporting when making that decision. A separate set of rules applies when confirming foster care status at age 13 or older; acceptable proof includes a court or state record, confirmation from state/county/tribal agencies or Medicaid, a foster care agency, an attorney/guardian ad litem/CASA, Chafee voucher eligibility, or documentation from another school’s financial aid office. Decisions about independence must be made quickly. They can be made as early as the year before the student’s award year and must be completed no later than 60 days after the student enrolls in the award year when they first apply. If a school already found a student independent in a prior year, the student is presumed independent in later years at that same school unless the student says things changed or the school has clear conflicting information. Financial aid offices may rely on documented independence decisions made by other schools. All records and interviews about these decisions must be kept for the student’s enrollment period plus an extra time set by the Department so the student can reuse them later.