Financial Aid issue

[MadetoLove]

Suppose a college-aged student has a legally dependent child but is unmarried, umemployed and is living with their parents. According to the advisors at the community college they attended, they were able to qualify as an independent student. The advisors wrote up a statement basically saying the student received income (in the form of food, clothing, shelter, etc) from their parents by contributing to housework and the like. The student ended up receiving grant money.

Now, the student is preparing to attend a university and has asked the university how they can verify their independent status with the school. The financial aid rep they spoke to said they can only qualify as an independent student if they can show that they claimed the child on their taxes. Because this student has been unemployed, they do not have any tax forms to show.

This student is now worried that they may have done something wrong to obtain grant money. Would you consider this a moral problem? And if so, do you think this student should go speak with proper authority figures on the issue? (people who are qualified to discuss financial aid and are trustworthy)

 

[Rence]

This student is now worried that they may have done something wrong to obtain grant money. Would you consider this a moral problem? And if so, do you think this student should go speak with proper authority figures on the issue? (people who are qualified to discuss financial aid and are trustworthy)

I don’t think they did anything wrong. She’s an adult, with a child, unmarried, living with her parents, with no job. True? Her parents are giving her things she needs because she obviously can’t do so without a job. True? Why shouldn’t she get the grant? What exactly is dishonest or immoral about it? Is this not why they have grants? If she feels bothered by it, yes, she should go to someone qualified to discuss financial aid and are trustworthy so that she is assured that what she is doing is moral and honest…

 

[puzzleannie]

This student is now worried that they may have done something wrong to obtain grant money. Would you consider this a moral problem? And if so, do you think this student should go speak with proper authority figures on the issue? (people who are qualified to discuss financial aid and are trustworthy)

in both cases the student in question has worked with the proper authority at each school and complied with their directives, so even if the proper policy was not followed, it is not her fault, but that of the financial aid advisor. So she has no moral culpability. She should continue working with the financial aid officer at the university and follow the proper procedures.

It behooves every student to work with the school’s advisors well in advance since financial aid can be a real maze, with different rules applying to different people in different times and places, and the situation can change even while you are in school.

 

[purplesunshine]

Not illegal at all, even though these are federal programs and money what qualifies at one school will not at the next.

Very likely, the student will not qualify. Independant is ment to encompass a student who lives entirely on their own, in their own apartment or at a shelter. It is not ment to get extra money for a dependant student.

What the advisor did is sketchy, but it may be what that school does. I’m really not surprized to hear that out of a community college. It won’t happen in a bigger school, I promise you. The “independant” well has dried up. The money you got was a gift of an unscruplous worker, take it and move on.