Special Circumstances

What is Professional Judgment?

What are the categories within the purview of Professional Judgment?

• Income adjustment: for those who have faced significant changes to their financial circumstances (compared to that which was reported on the FAFSA)
  • Some examples of qualifying circumstances include: 
    • Economic hardship, such as loss of employment or a reduction in family income or assets
    • Death or permanent disability of a wage-earner 
    • Receipt of unemployment benefits
  • Dependency overrides: for students considered dependent on the FAFSA but who have unusual circumstances that may make the student independent. Unusual circumstances include but are not limited to:
  • Student is homeless or at risk of being homeless 
  • Student or parent incarcerated 
  • Student is a victim of human trafficking 
  • Student granted refugee/asylee status

How can a student request to be considered?

• Contact our office to discuss any extenuating circumstances. If qualify for professional judgment, additional documentation would need to be provided.  

What is the timeline?

• It can take several weeks after initial contact and receipt of documents for the record to be reviewed. If eligible, a student’s FAFSA would be updated based on the information provided and sent out to be reprocessed by FSA.