Students can apply for financial aid for the following semesters/academic year.
2009-10
Students can still apply for Winter 2010 and must use the 2009-10 FAFSA for Spring/Summer 2010 aid. Step by step instructions should be reviewed before completing the FAFSA.
2010-11 academic year
This includes the fall, 2010, Winter, 2011 and Spring/Summer, 2011 semesters. Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2010-11 award year. Step by step instructions are available for students, who should review them carefully before submitting the FAFSA.
When a student applies for financial aid, the answers to certain questions on the FAFSA determine the student’s dependency status. The dependency status is either dependent on parents or independent and providing no parental information.
The reason for the classification by dependency status is based on the federal, state and institutional philosophy that the student and/or his/her family have the primary responsibility to pay for education beyond high school. If the student is unmarried and under age 24, the parents are responsible for assisting with college expenses, even if the student does not live with the parent(s). Parent’s income information is required in these circumstances.
Financial aid funds supplement, not replace, what the parent(s) and/or student is expected to pay for college expenses.
For the 2009-10 application year, the student is considered independent and does not provide parent’s information on the FAFSA if any one of the following is true:
• Born before January 1, 1986;
• Married;
• Veteran of the U. S. Armed Forces;
• Serving on active duty in the U. S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training;
• Has legal dependent(s) other than a spouse and supports the dependent(s) 50% or more. The dependents cannot be supported by someone other than the student;
• At the time the student turned age 13, both parents were deceased, the student was in foster care or the student was a dependent or ward of the court
• An emancipated minor as determined by a court in Michigan;
• Under legal guardianship as determined by a court in Michigan;
• Determined on or after July 1, 2008, by a high school or school district homeless liaison as an unaccompanied youth who was homeless;
• Determined on or after July 1, 2008, by a director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as an unaccompanied youth who was homeless;
• Determined any time on or after July 1, 2008, by a director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program that student was an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless.
If the student cannot answer “yes” to any one of the above questions, the student is dependent and must provide parental information on the FAFSA. If the student claims to be independent based on one of the above circumstances, he/she will be required to submit proof of the above circumstance before the student's file can be processed.
If the student cannot answer “yes” to any one of the above questions, the student is dependent and must provide parental information on the FAFSA. If the student claims to be independent based on one of the above circumstances, he/she will be required to submit proof of the above circumstance before the student's file can be processed.
The student will receive a communication from the Financial Aid Office regarding the status of his/her application request.