Applying For Aid

FAFSA Appeals

Financial Aid Eligibility

Financial Aid eligibility is determined by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. The U.S. Department of Education uses a formula to determine your Student Aid Index (SAI) based on income and tax information from two years prior. The SAI determines your eligibility for need-based funding (including Federal Grants, Federal Direct Subsidized Loans, and Federal Work Study).

Appeals and Professional Judgment Process

The USF Office of Financial Aid recognizes that an individual’s or family’s financial circumstances may change significantly from what was reported on the FAFSA, affecting their ability to meet their educational costs. If you have experienced a significant change in your financial situation, you may be eligible for an appeal and review of your FAFSA information through the Professional Judgment process. Financial aid administrators evaluate each request individually based on special or unusual circumstances, using supporting documentation, and any approved adjustments may affect your Student Aid Index (SAI).

Review the information below to learn about special and unusual circumstances and how to request a FAFSA appeal.

Note: If your Student Aid Index (SAI) is equal to 0 or a negative number, you are automatically qualified for the maximum in federal aid programs. There are no modifications we can make to your FAFSA that would change your eligibility for additional federal aid.

Special Circumstances

Special circumstances refer to a financial situation that warrants an adjustment to the student’s cost of attendance or the data used to calculate the SAI. Significant changes in your family's financial situation may merit recalculating your financial aid eligibility.

Circumstances we typically consider: Circumstances we do not consider:
  • Loss of employment/Reduction of income
  • Separation/Divorce
  • Death of a parent (dependent student) or spouse (independent student)
  • One-Time taxable income distribution
  • Unreimbursed medical expenses (dependent students)
  • Refusal of a parent to provide financial support
  • High cost of personal living
  • Bankruptcy
  • Credit card/other personal debts
  • Bonuses, lottery, or gambling winnings
  • Reductions in overtime or seasonal pay

Unusual Circumstances

Unusual Circumstances refer to the conditions that justify an adjustment to a student’s dependency status based on a unique situation (e.g., human trafficking, parental abuse or abandonment, incarceration), more commonly referred to as a dependency override.

Unusual Circumstances do not include:

  • Parents refuse to contribute to the student’s education.*
  • Parents will not provide information for the FAFSA or verification.
  • Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes.
  • Student demonstrated total self-sufficiency.

*If you indicate on your FAFSA that you are unable to add parental information because your parents refuse to provide it but you are not experiencing unusual circumstances and wish to request a direct unsubsidized loan only, you must indicate on the FAFSA that you are not providing parent information and applying only for unsubsidized loans.

Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determination

An “unaccompanied homeless youth determination” is a category of independent students. It is the determination that a student lacks fixed, regular, and adequate housing. This is broader than just living “on the street.” It includes but is not limited to:  

  • Youth sharing housing with other people temporarily because they had nowhere else to go;
  • Youth living in emergency or transitional shelters, for example, trailers provided by the
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency after disasters.
  • Youth living in motels, campgrounds, cars, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, substandard housing, or any public or private place not designed for humans to live in;
  • Youth living in the school dormitory if they would otherwise be homeless; and
  • Youth who are migrants and who qualify as experiencing homelessness because they are living in circumstances described above.

Cost of Attendance Adjustments

Your cost of attendance (COA) includes expenses such as tuition, fees, housing, meals, transportation, books and supplies, and personal expenses. Your total COA is the maximum amount of funding you can be awarded during an academic period. You may be able to request a COA adjustment if you have extra education-related expenses, including things like child/dependent care, a new computer, disability-related expenses, or increased transportation.

How to Request a FAFSA Appeal

Before you request an appeal, you must:

A student may have both a special circumstance and an unusual circumstance. The Office of Financial Aid may make adjustments appropriate to each student’s situation with appropriate documentation.

To request an appeal, or if you have questions about whether a particular situation may apply, please contact us.