To request a Professional Judgment, please submit the form(s) and additional documentation to support your request to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. Tax information (tax return transcript, 1040 tax forms) from the original FAFSA data (prior-prior year) are REQUIRED for all families who request a professional judgment review.

Please include the student’s name and EIU E# on all documentation. Upon receipt and review of the appeal form, additional documentation may be requested as needed. Please check your EIU Panthermail and PAWS account frequently for updates and additional requests.

The financial aid office will begin accepting requests for Professional Judgment review on March 1^st each year for the upcoming award year. Please note, a successful appeal does not guarantee additional aid, and sometimes additional aid is not immediately available.

• XPJ - Request for Professional Judgment Review

Examples of Professional Judgment reasons include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The family has incurred extraordinary medical/dental expenses beyond what is claimed through a Schedule A on federal taxes.
• The student’s parent has retired.
• The student’s or parent(s)’ income was significantly reduced from the tax filing year that FAFSA is using.
• The student or parent(s) no longer receives untaxed benefits such as child support, or other sources of income, which was previously indicated on the FAFSA application.
• The parent or student has received a one-time disbursement of funds (i.e. severance package, bonus, etc...) which were unavailable for educational expenses.

It is EIU’s policy that a Professional Judgment will not be processed due to a parent in college.

In the interest of providing the most accurate information possible to the Department of Education, it is best practice to use actual tax information as opposed to estimating current year income information; however, there are certain limited circumstances which allow the office to use estimated income information. The Financial Aid Office will only accept estimated income for the current tax year if (ALL must apply):

• There are 3 or more months of actual income data available AND
• In the case of lost employment, it has been a minimum of 60 days since the loss of employment has occurred AND
• Using the prior year’s ACTUAL tax information will not provide an accurate picture of the families ability to pay educational expenses (ex. Loss of employment took place in the current year)

In the limited case that family income is estimated, please note that no additional adjustments will be made when income was over or under-estimated. For future FAFSA years, the ACTUAL tax data will be used which could yield a difference in the amount of financial aid received from year-to-year.

The requests are processed in the order in which they are received. We will revise certain financial elements initially provided by you on the FAFSA. Even though these applications are identified as having the potential to yield a significant increase to the student’s financial aid, the Office of Financial Aid cannot ever guarantee that an increase will occur.

The review process could take approximately 30 days (federal regulations allow 60 days) and will conclude with the student being notified in their PAWS account when the first step of the professional judgment is complete. Once the revisions are accepted at the Department of Education, the school will receive confirmation and revise aid, if warranted. Students will receive a second notification directing them to PAWS to view their awards.

The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships is authorized to make certain adjustments to income information provided on your FAFSA in the event of separation, divorce, abandonment, or death of a spouse/parent’s spouse. We must receive all of supporting documents listed on the form before processing begins.

• For Parents: XDIV - Division of Income for Parent of Dependent Student

• For Students: XDVI - Division of Income, Independent Student

Under VERY LIMITED circumstances, an otherwise dependent student may be able to submit the FAFSA without parental information due to unusual circumstances. Consider the following examples of unusual circumstances where you may be able to submit your FAFSA without providing parental information:

• Your parents are incarcerated; or
• You have left home due to an abusive family environment; or
• You do not know where your parents are and are unable to contact them (and you have not been adopted).

If you believe you have an unusual circumstance and are unable to provide parental information, please complete this form and attach all supporting documents requested:

• XDOV - Dependency Override

If approved, this will automatically renew for subsequent years.

NOTE: Not all situations are considered an unusual circumstance. The following are situations that WOULD NOT be considered an unusual circumstance:

• Your parents refuse to contribute to your college expenses; or
• Your parents do not claim you as a dependent on their income taxes; or
• You do not live with your parents; or
• Your parents do not wish to provide their information on your FAFSA.
  • (In this situation, you may still submit your FAFSA with no parent information, but you will be eligible for a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan only.)

The FAFSA is a snapshot of your information. Therefore, you must report your marital status as of the day you submit the FAFSA.

However, if you get married after completing the FAFSA and updating your information better reflects your ability to pay or addresses an inequity, a financial aid administrator may approve and process a change.

PLEASE DO NOT MAKE A CORRECTION TO YOUR FAFSA. THIS WILL CAUSE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO REJECT YOUR FAFSA WHICH WILL RESULT IN A DELAY OF PROCESSING YOUR FINANCIAL AID.

When the financial aid administrator changes your marital status from “single” to “married”, it changes your dependency status from “dependent” to independent”. Your parent’s household and income information are no longer used to establish aid eligibility, but rather, your (married) household and income will. For this reason, it generally does not benefit an independent student to request a change in marital status.

If it appears this change will benefit you, we will request a completed “Change in Student Marital Status” form and supporting documentation.

• XCMS – Change in Marital Status

You will need to provide the following:

• Change of Marital Status Form
• Household Information
• Student and Spouse Income Information
• Student and Spouse Cash on Hand Information
• Marriage License/Certificate

FAQ:

ARE YOU CHANGING YOUR NAME?

We recommend that you not change your name on the FAFSA if you have legally changed (or plan to change) your name unless you have a Social Security card in your possession that has your new name on it.

IF APPROVED FOR A MARITAL STAUS CHANGE ON THE FAFSA, HOW WILL THE FINANCIAL AID OFFICE ASSESS THE INFORMATION?

If a marital status change is approved, the financial aid office will:

• Add both your and your spouse’s Adjusted Gross Incomes together and enter the new number in the Adjusted Gross Income field.
• Do the same for taxes paid and exemptions.
• Enter each of your individual earnings into the “Student” and “Spouse” fields.
• Combine cash, checking, and savings.
• Change the number of people in your household and how many household members are in college.

MY SPOUSE IS ALSO A STUDENT AT EIU. HOW DOES THAT WORK?

If approved, typically financial aid will adjust both partner’s financial aid.

CAN I STILL GET THE PARENT PLUS LOAN IF APPROVED?

No, you cannot continue to receive Parent Plus Loans if you are an independent student.

I AM ALREADY INDEPENDENT. CAN I DO A MARITAL STATUS CHANGE?

In most cases, students do not benefit from a change of marital status if already independent.

OH NO! I ALREADY UPDATED MY FAFSA. WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

You will automatically be selected for verification by the Department of Education. This may mean we have to pull back aid that you have already received until the verification process is completed. Please contact the financial aid office for more information.

• There is no deadline for Professional Judgment Appeals. However, Department of Education guidance requires the student to be enrolled at the time the appeal is processed. (This does NOT include appeals filed before the academic year/semester begins.)
• Financial aid is awarded on a first come, first served basis.  Funding may be limited as the academic year/semester progresses. It is in the student’s best interest to file the appeal as early as possible.

• The EFC can never be reduced below 0 (Zero), and the Student Aid Index (SAI) cannot be reduced to less than -1500.
• Additional requests for Professional Judgment reviews for the same circumstance will not be reviewed.

• XDIV - Division of Income for Parent of Dependent Student
• XDOV - Dependency Override
• XDVI - Division of Income, Independent Student
• XPJ - Request for Professional Judgment Review
• XCMS - Change in Marital Status

There is a FAFSA issue that has been quite confusing for families with qualified retirement savings rollovers that can result in an overly-inflated EFC (expected family contribution) / SAI (student aid index). This higher EFC / SAI may result in reducing the student’s eligibility for financial aid.

Retirement savings moved from one qualified retirement plan to another qualified plan should not be reported as income on the FAFSA.

However, when tax information is embedded in the FAFSA, a rollover may be reported incorrectly.

If you believe this may be the case, please allow us to help you. We advise students and parents against correcting the error on the FAFSA because by changing any of the tax data, a family compromises all information transferred from the IRS. Instead, the family should provide documentation to the financial aid office.

Acceptable verifying documents include:

• a copy of the IRS 1099-R form; OR
• a copy of the first two pages of the US1040