Special Circumstances
Financial aid policies and procedures are established to ensure equitable treatment for all students qualified to receive assistance. Because of individual circumstances, a particular student may feel a professional judgment of policies and procedures is warranted.
Professional Judgment (PJ) decisions are made by the UM-Dearborn’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS) on a case-by-case basis as the result of examining documentation of a particular student’s unique circumstances.
A PJ will only be exercised after all required documentation has been submitted and any/all conflicting/consistent information has been resolved.
Have your circumstances changed?
Call us at 313-593-5300, email us at [email protected], or schedule an appointment with a Financial Aid Advisor to discuss your options. We will advise you on your options and next steps on providing the proper documentation.
Occasionally, unusual circumstances warrant a reconsideration of financial aid eligibility. These could be either changes in your family's situation since you filed the FAFSA, or unusual circumstances not accounted for on the FAFSA. This can include, but is not limited to:
- Loss of income because of recent unemployment (unemployment must last for at least 10 weeks to warrant review)
- Separation or divorce
- Death of a parent (of a dependent student) or spouse (of an independent student)
- Receipt of one-time, non-recurring income in 2022
- High medical/dental expenses
Do not request this Appeal if:
- Family income in 2023 and/or 2024 will be higher than in 2022
- You have not yet filed a FAFSA
- Your Student Aid Index is between -1500 and 0
All circumstances must be documented.
A "budget" is the Cost of Attendance which reflects a student's expected educational expenses. A Budget Adjustment Appeal can increase a student's Cost of Attendance to allow for more borrowing, in the case of expenses which are higher than the allotted amounts.
This can include, but is not limited to:
- Child Care or Elderly Care expenses
- Disability expenses not otherwise covered
- Certain auto repair expenses
An adjustment can only be considered for documented expenses incurred within the academic year. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships reserves the right to limit the number of Cost of Attendance Adjustment Appeals allowed for each student.
- This option is available for students who have unusual circumstances that may qualify you for independent status. Examples of acceptable circumstances include an environment that threatens your health and safety or documented abandonment or estrangement by parents
- The OFAS will consider dependency overrides on a case-by-case basis for students with unusual circumstances. The following are some examples of conditions that could warrant a dependency override:
- Documented abandonment
- Parental drug abuse
- Parental mental incapacity
- Physical or emotional abuse
- Severe estrangement from parents
- Parental incarceration
- Circumstances that do not qualify for a dependency override include:
- The student is no longer living at home.
- The student is living at home (or with relatives) but is paying rent.
- The student has chosen to put themselves through college.
- The parents have decided not to provide financial information for the FAFSA or any financial assistance for the student’s college expenses.
- The student lives with a step-parent or a parent who refuses to provide support.
If your parents are not supporting you and refuse to provide their information or their consent and approval to transfer their federal tax information on your FAFSA form, you can submit your FAFSA to be eligible for Direct Unsubsidized Loans ONLY based on the following limits:
Freshman =$5,500, Sophomore = $6,500, Junior/Senior= $7,500
It is highly recommended that you review the unusual circumstances section to determine if you are eligible to file an appeal as it is more beneficial than requesting unsubsidized loans only.
If you need to add parent information to your FAFSA, make the corrections.
Contact our office for the next steps by making an appointment with a Student Financial Aid Advisor.
If the following conditions apply, an appeal would not be needed but additional verification is required. Provide the requested documentation through your FA Student Forms Portal and monitor your account for updates.
- Orphan Ward of the Court/ Foster Care
- If you are an orphan and were not adopted prior to turning 13, please provide death certificates for both of your parents.
- If you are a ward of the court provide the court document that shows that you were a ward of the court after age 13 in the state of your legal residence.
- If you were in foster care please provide the court document that shows that you were in foster care after age 13.
- Emancipated Minor/ Legal Guardianship
- Provide a copy of a court’s decision that, as of today, you are in legal guardianship or are an emancipated minor; or
- Provide a copy of a court’s decision that you were an emancipated minor or were in legal guardianship immediately before you reached the age of being an adult in your state.
- Unaccompanied Minor/ At risk of Homelessness
- SUBMIT a signed copy of the Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Determination Letter that confirms that you are an unaccompanied homeless youth or are unaccompanied, self-supporting at risk of homelessness. OR
- An Explanation Statement and a separate letter from a third party, which verifies your explanation statement. If you have trouble obtaining this documentation, please indicate this in your letter.