FAFSA Help Guide: Dependancy Questions

Step #3 of the FAFSA Online Guide to the FAFSA Form tutorial follows. If you have not read through steps 1 and 2, we suggest you start with step #1. If you are ready to file your FAFSA form or Renewal FAFSA form online, then please click here.

Step #3: Dependency Questions

• Question 48 trips up a lot of people. Were you born before X date is another way of asking, are you older than someone with X date as their birthday?
• This section of questions is to determine if you are a dependent or independent student. Learn the difference between the two!
• Question 54: Answer "Yes" if you are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces or are a National Guard or Reserves enlistee who is on active duty for other than state or training purposes. Answer "No" if you are a National Guard or Reserves enlistee who is on active duty for state or training purposes.
• Question 55: Answer yes if you have engaged in active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard), or you were a member of the National Guard or Reserves who was called to active duty for purposes other than training, or you were a cadet or midshipman at one of the service academies, and you were released under a condition other than dishonorable. Box 24 of the DD214 indicates the "Character of Service." If anything other than "dishonorable" appears in that box, you should answer, "Yes" to this question, as long as you were called to active service. There is no minimum amount of time the student has to have served to be considered a veteran for federal student aid purposes, but the service does have to be considered "active service." If "dishonorable" appears in box 24, you must answer "No" to Question 54. You should also answer "Yes" if you are not a veteran now but will be one by June 30, 2008. Note that if you are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and will continue to serve through June 30, 2008, you should answer "No" to this particular question.
• If you answered "Yes" to any of the questions 48-55, you should now skip to Question 90. If you answered "No" to every one of these questions, continue with Question 56. If you are a health professions student, your school may require you to complete Questions 56-89 even if you answered "Yes" to any of the dependency questions.

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