Questions 56-89 (Dependent applicants must complete)

Purpose: Your parents must provide financial information for Questions 56-89 if you are a dependent student (i.e., if you answered "No" to every question from 48-55). The EFC calculation, determined by congressional formula, uses information from this part to determine what portion of your parents' income and assets should be available to contribute to your educational cost of attendance.

Who is Considered a Parent?

The term "parent" is not restricted to biological parents. There are instances (such as when a grandparent legally adopts the applicant) in which a person other than a biological parent is treated as a parent, and in these instances, the parental questions on the application must be answered, since they apply to such an individual (or individuals).

If your parents are both living and married to each other, answer the questions about both of them.

If your parents are living together and have not been formally married but meet the criteria in their state for a common-law marriage, they should report their status as married on the application. If the state does not consider their situation to be a common-law marriage, then you should follow the rules for divorced parents. Check with the appropriate state agency concerning the definition of a common-law marriage.

A foster parent, legal guardian or a grandparent or other relative is not treated as a parent for purposes of filing a FAFSA unless that person has legally adopted the applicant. An adoptive parent is treated in the same manner as a biological parent on the FAFSA.

If one, but not both, of your parents has died, you should answer the parental questions about the surviving parent. Do not report any financial information for the deceased parent on the FAFSA. If the surviving parent dies after the FAFSA has been filed, you must submit a correction to Question 53, thus updating your dependency status to independent, and correct all other information as appropriate (e.g., you will no longer fill out Questions 56-89). If the surviving parent is remarried as of the date you complete the FAFSA, answer the questions about both that parent and the person he or she married (your stepparent).

If your parents are divorced (or separated - see below for more information), answer the questions about the parent you lived with more during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA. If you did not live with one parent more than the other, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA or during the most recent year that you actually received support from a parent. If this parent has remarried as of the date you fill out the FAFSA, answer the questions on the remaining sections of the FAFSA about that parent and the person he or she married (your stepparent).

If your parents are legally separated, the same rules that apply for a divorced couple are used to determine which parent's information must be reported. A couple doesn't have to be legally separated in order to be considered separated for purposes of the FAFSA. The couple may consider themselves informally separated when one of the partners has permanently left the household. If the partners live together, they can't be considered informally separated.

A stepparent is treated in the same manner as a biological parent if the stepparent is married, as of the date of application, to the biological parent whose information will be reported on the FAFSA or if the stepparent has legally adopted you. There are no exceptions. Prenuptial agreements do not exempt the stepparent from providing required data on the FAFSA. Note that the stepparent's income information for the entire base year, 2007, must be reported even if your parent and stepparent were not married until after the start of 2007, but were married prior to the date the FAFSA was completed.

Questions 56-75

56. Parents' marital status as of today. The FAFSA asks about parents' marital status because their marital status directly affects the treatment of income and assets in the EFC calculation. Your parents must report their marital status as of the date the application is completed.

57. Month and year your parents where married, separated, divorced or widowed. Enter the month and year that your parents attained the status you selected in Question 56.

58. Father's/stepfather's Social Security number. Enter your father's or stepfather's Social Security number (SSN) (that is, enter the information for the same person whose financial information you are reporting). All dependent applicants must provide the Social Security number of the parent providing financial data on the application. The Privacy Act statement on the FAFSA explains how his SSN can be used. If your father doesn't have a Social Security number, enter 000-00-0000. FAFSA on the Web filers should enter the numbers without dashes.

59-61. Father's/stepfather's last name, first initial and date of birth. Enter your father's or stepfather's last name, first initial and date of birth (that is, enter the information for the same person (in #58) whose financial information you are reporting). Use the name found on his Social Security card. Your father's or stepfather's SSN, last name and first initial on the application must match the number and name on his Social Security card. For information on how to update or correct the name on his Social Security card, he can call the Social Security Administration (SSA) at 1-800-772-1213 or go to the SSA's Web site at www.ssa.gov.

62. Mother's/stepmother's Social Security number. Enter your mother's or stepmother's Social Security number (SSN) (that is, enter the information for the same person whose financial information you are reporting). All dependent applicants must provide the Social Security number of the parent providing financial data on the application. The Privacy Act statement gives information about how her SSN can be used. If your mother doesn't have a Social Security number, enter 000-00-0000. FAFSA on the Web filers should enter the number without dashes.

63-65. Mother's/stepmother's last name, first initial and date of birth. Enter your mother's or stepmother's last name, first initial and date of birth (that is, enter the information for the same person (in #62) whose financial information you are reporting). Use the name found on her Social Security card. Your mother's or stepmother's SSN, last name and first initial on the application must match the number and name on her Social Security card. For information on how to update or correct the name on her Social Security card, she can call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 or go to their Web site at www.ssa.gov.

66. Number in parents' household. The number of family members reported determines the amount of an allowance that protects a portion of the reported income and this amount is subtracted from your family's income in the EFC calculation. This allowance provides for basic living expenses for the household size you indicate in this question.

The following persons are included in your parents' household size:

• You (the student), even if you do not live with your parents
• Your parents (the ones whose information is reported on the FAFSA)
• Your parents' other children, if your parents will provide more than half of their support from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009 or if the other children could answer "No" to every question in Questions 48-55
• Your parents' unborn child, if that child will be born before July 1, 2009 and your parents will provide more than half of the child's support through the end of the 2008-09 award year (June 30, 2009). (If there is a medical determination of a multiple birth, then all expected children can be included.)
• Other people (including your children and/or your unborn child due before July 1, 2009), if they live with and receive more than half of their support from your parents at the time of application and will continue to receive that support from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.

To determine whether to include children in the household size, the "support" test is used (rather than a residency requirement) because there may be situations in which a parent supports a child who does not live with the parent, especially in cases where the parent is divorced or separated. In such cases, the parent who provides more than half of the child's support may claim the child in his or her household size. It does not matter which parent claims the child as a dependent for tax purposes. If your parent receives benefits (such as Social Security or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF] payments) in the child's name, these benefits must be counted as parental support to the child.

Support includes money, gifts, loans, housing, food, clothes, car payments or expenses, medical and dental care, and payment of college costs.

67. Number of college students in parents' household. This question asks about the number of household members who, in 2008-09, are or will be enrolled in a postsecondary school. Count yourself as a college student. Include others only if they will be attending at least half time in an approved program during 2008-09 that leads to a degree or certificate at a postsecondary school eligible to participate in any of the federal student aid programs. Do not include your parents. Also do not include a student at a U.S. military academy because the family is not expected to contribute to that student's postsecondary educational cost at the academy.

The number of family members in college directly affects your family's ability to contribute to your education costs. For a dependent student, the parents' contribution to the EFC is divided by the number of family members (excluding parents) in college.

68. State of legal residence. Indicate the two-letter abbreviation for your parents' current state of residence. Your parents' residence is their true, fixed and permanent home. If your parents are separated or divorced, use the state of legal residence for the parent whose information is reported on the form. Use the State Abbreviations list to provide the abbreviation for your parents' state of legal residence. If your parents live in a foreign country, enter "FC" in the state abbreviation space.

69. Legal resident before 2003. States have varying criteria for determining whether you are a resident for purposes of state financial aid. However, if you established a true, fixed and permanent home in any state more than four years ago, you will meet the state's criteria. Select "Yes" if your parents became residents of their state before January 1, 2003 or "No" if your parents became residents of their state on or after January 1, 2003.

70. Date (month and year) of legal residence. If your parents did not become legal residents of their state before January 1, 2003, provide the month and year legal residency began for the parent who has lived in the state the longest.

71-75. Benefits your parents (or anyone in your parents’ household) received during 2007. If your parents (or anyone in your parents household) received benefits from any of the federal benefits programs shown in the boxes below, they should mark the ovals to the corresponding questions on the paper form or use the corresponding drop-down menus online. Use the instructions for Question 66 to identify who is included in your parents’ household. Answering these questions will not reduce your eligibility for student aid. Nor will it reduce your, your parents, or anyone in your parents’ household’s eligibility for these federal benefits.