[kellygirl1985]

I am 22 years old and I have not been living with my parents for about 15 months. I was told by my aunt that my cousin who is only 19 is registered in college as an independent student. I have not been able to do this because I am still considered an dependent student. My aunt said that all I needed to do is go to the college and tell them that I want to register as an independent student I really hope that someone might have some advise as to what do I do.

[charlotte234s]

You have to meet certain requirements, but yes, you can go to the school and register as an independent student if you do meet them.

Are You an Independent Student?

That's the FAFSA page with information on the requirements.

[joeannmaillo]

What you have to remember is that the school and Fafsa are seperate entities. You can register with the school as independent, but financially you are still dependent. I'm having the same issues right now trying to register will the gov (fafsa) as financially independent. I honestly believe there are too many flaws within their system. Basically, my step father owns a small trucking company (just him), but all they really care about is the bottom line. They just look at how much he made and how much of that he had to give back to Uncle Sam, not taking into account upkeep, business expenses, mortgage costs and other mics debts that he's accrued because of the business. They assume that he's making a ton of profit and that I get some cut of that. I've been living on my own for about 4 years now (since I was 17) and have been struggling with this issue for so long. What I was told was that you cannot file as financially independent until you are 26, have a dependent of your own (a child), or are legally married. Thus they are condoning young women, who can't afford to pay for school on their own and who have no other means to do it either, get pregnant, married or just wait until they're 26 to start school. I was forced to pay for my own classes this spring term, because I refuse to wait any longer to finish my degree. I could only afford to take two classes, because I had quit my job earlier in '07 to attend school full time (which I did this past spring and summer), when they (all of a sudden) decided to drop a bomb on me before the fall term of '07. They told me I was no longer eligable for fafsa in the fall so I was in limbo. I finally started this new job and got my finances in order (somewhat) and they tell me that I am expected to contribute 12,000 dollars before I could even qualify for any financial aid!!! Are you kidding me? I have so much credit card debt from being forced to pay for summer classes last year that I can't even think about giving them 1000 dollars, let alone 12000!!! It's a very frustrating issue and they don't seem to show any signs of making it easier on us.