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Students with unusual circumstances, on a case-by-case basis, may appeal to change their dependency status to that of an independent student.  A justifiable reason to excuse parents from the student’s financial responsibility must exist and appropriate documentation must be provided to the Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA). However, none of the conditions listed below will qualify as unusual circumstances and therefore are not sufficient reasons for determining a student's status as independent and will not merit a dependency override:

• Student’s parent(s) refuses to contribute to the student’s educational costs;
• Parents are unwilling to provide information on the FAFSA or for verification;
• Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes;
• Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency

If you or your family have experienced a loss of income, you may request a recalculation of your financial aid eligibility. Please submit information to the Office of Student Financial Aid using our online form.

Please note, if your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is already zero, an income reduction will not change aid eligibility. Please contact the Aid Office to discuss your situation.

If a student-athlete's athletic grant-in-aid is reduced or cancelled during the period of the award or is reduced or not renewed for the following academic year, the student-athlete has the opportunity for a hearing to appeal the decision.  For a complete description of the process, please see the Financial Aid Handbook.

Please refer to the section on Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) about appealing the loss of financial aid due to failure to meet SAP standards.

Students who receive a notification of scholarship loss from the financial aid office can appeal by submitting a current-year merit appeal form here. Your appeal statement should clearly explain the circumstances that affected your ability to meet the scholarship renewal standards. Include documentation of these circumstances if possible. 

The financial aid office will notify you if your appeal is approved. If the Appeals Committee (or, in the case of University Scholars, the director of the University Scholars program) grants your reinstatement, note that no additional requests for scholarship reinstatement will be considered if you fail to meet standards again. 

All scholarship reinstatement appeals must be submitted before the deadline listed on the merit appeal form, prior to the start of your next semester. Appeals received after the deadline will be reviewed only for the following semester.