Special Circumstances

What If I Have Special Circumstances regarding my income?

The process of determining eligibility for financial aid uses standard formulas and standard student budgets. The Financial Aid Office recognizes that some students have unusual, special circumstances that are not considered in the standard process of determining eligibility. Students with special circumstances are encouraged to contact the Financial Aid Office (or download below) for either a Petition for Consideration of Special Circumstances form or a Request for Financial Aid Income or Budget Adjustment form (whichever is most appropriate). The appropriate form is completed by the student (and parent, if student is dependent) and submitted for review of their financial aid package based on the individual circumstances documented.

The Petition for Consideration of Special Circumstances form allows revisions, based on professional judgment by the financial aid officer, to income or budget for an individual student based on loss of parent's or independent student's employment, untaxed income or benefit, student's or parent's separation or divorce, death of a parent, or other special circumstances which affect a student's (or his/her family's) ability to contribute toward his/her education. Documentation to support the claim of unusual circumstances must be provided.

The Request for Financial Aid Income or Budget Adjustment form is appropriate if you have some unusual costs such as:

• You are a dependent student and your parent attends college at least halftime
• You have computer costs associated with your education
• You have disability-related costs
• You have child care expenses as a result of school attendance.

Documentation must be provided for all of the above situations. Complete the form below and attach documentation in order to have these special circumstances considered.

Downloadable Forms

• Dependent Student Special Circumstances form
• Independent Student Special Circumstances form
• Request for Financial Aid Income or Budget Adjustment form (13K PDF)