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FAFSA - Step 4
You
are now in Section 4 of the FAFSA, Questions 59-78 relating to your Parents
Information. This section is often difficult to complete without the
assistance of your parents. In this section, your parents must provide
financial information for Questions 59-84 if you are a dependent student.
The EFC calculation 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.
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 as
they apply to such an individual.
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.
An adoptive parent is treated in the same manner as a biological parent.
Neither a foster parent, a legal guardian, nor a grandparent who has not
legally adopted the applicant is treated as a parent for purposes of filing
a 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 57, thus updating your dependency status to independent, and
correct all other information as appropriate. 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.
If your parents are divorced or separated, 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.
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 left the
household for an indefinite period of time. 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, 2003,
must be reported even if your parent and stepparent were not married until
after the start of 2003, but prior to the date the FAFSA was completed.
Question 59 asks for your 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
parent(s) must report their marital status as of the date the application is
completed.
Enter "married" if your parents are currently married. Similarly, if the
parent you have resided with for the last 12 months prior to the date you
complete the FAFSA has remarried, you would enter "married" on the FAFSA. 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
the situation to be a common-law marriage, then file the FAFSA as if they
are separated. Check with the appropriate state agency concerning the
definition of a common-law marriage.
Question 60 asks for the 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 item 59.
Question 61 - Father's/stepfather's Social Security Number. Enter your
father's or stepfather's Social Security Number. All dependent applicants
must provide the Social Security number of the parent providing financial
data on the application.
Question 62 - Father's/stepfather's last name. Enter your father's or
stepfather's last name (that is, enter the information for the same person
(in #60) whose financial information you are reporting). Use the name found
on his Social Security card. Your father's or stepfather's SSN and last name
on the application must match the number and name on his Social Security
card.
Question 63. Mother's/stepmother's Social Security Number. Enter your
mother's or stepmother's SSN.
Question 64. Mother's/stepmother's last name. Enter your mother's or
stepmother's last name. Use the name found on her Social Security card. Your
mother's or stepmother's SSN and last name on the application must match the
number and name on her Social Security card.
Question 65 - 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, 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, 2003 through June 30, 2004 or if the other
children could answer "No" to every question in Questions 52-58
Your parents' unborn child, if that child will be born before July 1, 2004
and your parents will provide more than half of the child's support through
the end of the award year (June 30, 2004)
Other people, including your children and/or your unborn child due before
July 1, 2004, 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, 2003 through June 30, 2004
To determine whether to include children in the household size, the
"support" test is used 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 AFDC 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.
Question 66 asks for the Number of college students in parents' household.
This question asks about the number of household members who, in 2004-05,
are or will be enrolled in a postsecondary school. Count yourself as a
college student. Do not include your parents. Include others only if they
will be attending at least half time in a program that leads to a degree or
certificate at a postsecondary school eligible to participate in any of the
federal student aid programs.
The number of family members in college directly affects your family's
ability to contribute to your education costs. The EFC is divided by the
number of family members (excluding parents) in college.
Question 67 - 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.
Let's move on to question 68 - Legal resident before 1998. 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, 1998 or "No" if your parents became residents of
their state on or after January 1, 1998.
Question 69 - Date of legal residence. If your parents did not become legal
residents of their state before January 1, 1999, provide the month and year
legal residency began for the parent who has lived in the state the longest.
Question 70 - Age of older parent. The age of your older parent is used when
calculating your EFC to determine the asset protection allowance for your
parents. The higher your parent's age, the higher the protection allowed
against the value of your parents' assets in the EFC calculation. Report
your older parent's age as of the day the FAFSA is completed.
Now take a look at the Parent Worksheets.
On the worksheets, your parents should complete the right-hand or purple
side on page 8 of the paper FAFSA.
The instructions for completing the parent worksheets is the same for the
student worksheets. Please rewind this tape to section 2 to review the
instructions and then complete the parent worksheets.
Now you can move onto Questions 82-84. These questions should be answered
following the same criteria as for Questions 47, 48, and 49.
This concluded step 4 of the FAFSA. You should now be ready to continue with
step 5.
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