Special Circumstances & Petition for Independent Status

Significant changes in your family’s income may merit recalculating your financial aid eligibility. Please review the information below to determine if you have an eligible reason for a Change of Circumstance Request.

Eligible Reasons for a Change of Circumstance Request:

• Loss or reduction of income. This income reduction must be documented.
• Loss or reduction of untaxed income. This includes the loss of Social Security, AFDC/TANF, child support, alimony, disability payments, workers’ compensation or other untaxed income.
• Change in marital status during the calendar year. The student (dependent or independent) marries, or a parent (if dependent) or spouse (if independent), is no longer residing in household due to separation or divorce AFTER the FAFSA has been filed.
• Death of a parent or spouse. The parent (if dependent) or spouse (if independent) passes away AFTER the FAFSA has been filed.
• Permanent and total disability. Parent (if dependent), student or spouse (if independent) suffered a permanent and total disability.

The U.S. Department of Education determines your student dependency status based on the information you provided in the FAFSA. In certain situations, a student may submit an appeal to CCC requesting that their dependency status be reviewed. A Financial Aid administrator will review the request and determine if the student is eligible to be considered an independent student. An appeal can only be approved in limited, exceptional circumstances.

Important Notice: The unwillingness and/or inability of your parents to financially support you and/or living on your own and paying your own bills are not by themselves reasons that demonstrate “exceptional circumstances” and cannot be considered.

1. A signed and dated statement that includes a complete history of:
   • Your relationship with your biological and/or legally adoptive parents. Make sure to include information about the relationship of both parents.
   • Specific dates of events that caused your separation from your parents
   • Additional information regarding your self-support may be requested
2. Two signed and dated letters documenting first-hand knowledge of your exceptional circumstance. The Office of Financial Aid may contact these references for additional information or clarification of your situation.
   • The first letter should be from someone close to the family situation, preferably a relative. For example, this could be a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling or cousin.
   • The second letter should be from a non-relative who is familiar with your situation. For example, this individual could be a high-school teacher or counselor, clergy, therapist or medical professional.

Letters should be detailed and refer to actual events — they should not be restatements of information you have shared about relevant events, but should reflect the writer’s direct knowledge.

Police reports may, in some cases, substitute for one of the required letters.

To begin the process, please contact the Financial Aid Office.  We will discuss your situation and provide instructions on how to begin the process.