AwardYear: 1997-1998 Edition: PostSecondary Part: 2 - - The application process for financial aid SectionNumber: SectionTitle: Using professional judgment PageNumbers: 39-40 Using professional judgment You may use your professional judgment, only on a case-by-case basis, to either increase or decrease one or more of the data elements used to calculate the EFC. The reason must be documented in the student's file and it must relate to that student's special circumstances that differentiate an individual student (not to conditions that exist for a whole class of students). A notice on the first page of the FAFSA instructions tells applicants to notify the financial aid administrator if they have special circumstances. The FAFSA gives examples of elementary or secondary school tuition, unusual medical or dental expenses, a family member who recently became unemployed, or other unusual circumstances. Professional judgment is not limited to the situations mentioned (or required in those situations) and could include those circumstances that were considered to be special conditions in previous school years: divorce, separation, or the death of a parent or spouse. You may not make a direct change to the EFC figure, assessment rates, or allowances; you may adjust only an actual data item in keeping with the student's special circumstances. For example, if a family member is ill, you might adjust the adjusted gross income to allow for lower earnings in the coming year, or you might adjust assets to indicate that family savings will be expended on medical expenses. Because items like medical expenses and tuition do not appear on the application or the SAR or ISIR, you need to be familiar with the elements in the formula so your professional judgment changes are made and documented properly. If you make an adjustment for a student who may be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, the SAR must be used to send the adjusted information back to the FAFSA processor. (If you are using EDE services, you may use the corrections function to make the change electronically--in this case, you will receive the resulting ISIR at the school, and the student will receive the one-page SAR Information Acknowledgement.) An adjustment to a line item is made just like a correction--you report the adjusted amount on Part 2 of the SAR or ISIR in the column labeled "Write in only new or corrected information." You must also indicate that an adjustment is being made in the "School Use Only" box. (See the chart on page 41.) If you use professional judgment to adjust a SAR line item, the resulting EFC must be used consistently for all federal student aid awarded to that student. For example, if the financial aid administrator adjusts the EFC for purposes of awarding the student's Federal Pell Grant, that adjusted EFC must also be used to award aid from the campus-based or FFEL programs. You can also use professional judgement to adjust the student's cost of attendance. Dependency Overrides As mentioned on page 26, a student sometimes has unusual circumstances that may justify a dependency status override. You may override only from dependent to independent. However, if you find that an independent student is receiving substantial support from his or her parents, you may adjust one or more of the data elements on the FAFSA, such as nontaxable income.) All dependency overrides must be on a case-by-case basis, and the reason for the adjustment must be documented in the student's file. To override dependency status on the FAFSA, the student fills out the gray and white areas of the form (for independent students) and you then authorize the dependency override by marking the oval for an override, filling in the school's Title IV Institution Number, and signing in the "School Use Only" box. A separate letter attached to the application (in lieu of making the override) is not acceptable. You may also use the SAR to override a student's dependency status, using the "School Use Only" box on Part 2. Check box 1 in the section labeled D/O, fill in the school's Title IV Institution Number, and sign. You may also use the SAR or EDE to cancel a dependency override performed by another financial aid administrator (FAA). Mark box 2 in the section labeled D/O on the SAR or follow the prompts provided in EDE software. |