{"id":217,"date":"2022-01-14T14:49:05","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T19:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/?page_id=217"},"modified":"2024-09-05T08:54:49","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T12:54:49","slug":"special-circumstances","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/apply-for-aid\/special-circumstances\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Circumstances"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Special Circumstances\/Dependency Appeals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Financial Special Circumstances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If your financial situation has changed due to loss of job or benefits, separation or divorce, death or other special circumstances, please visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/forms\/\">forms<\/a> page and select either \u2018Special Circumstances Dependent\u2019 or \u2018Special Circumstances Independent\u2019 for the appropriate academic year. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Please be sure to include supporting documentation.&nbsp;Once we have received this information, a determination will be made for additional financial aid awards if funds are available.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dependency <\/strong><strong>Special<\/strong><strong> Circumstances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For the 2024-25 Award Year, you must still indicate an unusual circumstance and request a <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.na3.adobesign.com\/public\/esignWidget?wid=CBFCIBAA3AAABLblqZhCNEtsGqSR3PJGWB7vkfY64-6lGMabccIdCAmLv6E2eb8m1jml3mOEyp8fJ8UdEfpA*\">determination of independence<\/a> with our school to allow us to process their FAFSA form.  The University of Rhode Island will notify you within 60 days \u00a0with a final determination of your dependency or other special circumstance.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you are granted an adjustment for unusual circumstances and are determined as and independent student, you will be independent for<strong> <\/strong>each<strong> <\/strong>subsequent award year at our&nbsp;institution unless your circumstances have since changed or we receive conflicting information about your status.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If we determine that you should not be considered independent, you will be eligible for dependent-level Direct Unsubsidized Loans unless you subsequently complete the FAFSA form as a dependent student by providing parental information.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You will need to reaffirm your dependency status each year when filing the FAFSA.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Acceptable documentation may<strong> <\/strong>include:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A documented interview between you and the financial aid administrator;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Submission of a court order or official Federal or State documentation that your parents or legal guardian are incarcerated;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A documented phone call or written statement from an attorney, a guardian ad litem, a court-appointed special advocate (or similar), or a representative of a TRIO or GEAR UP program that confirms your circumstances and the person\u2019s relationship to you.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A documented determination of independence made by a financial aid administrator at another institution in the same or a prior award year; or<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Utility bills, health insurance, or other documents that demonstrate your separation from your parents or legal guardians.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Special Circumstances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In determining independence due to homelessness financial aid counselors will consider documentation from the following entities\u2014provided through a documented phone call, written statement, or verifiable electronic data match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A local educational agency homeless liaison, as designated by the <em>McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act<\/em> (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)), or a designee of the liaison;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The director of an emergency or transitional shelter, street outreach program, homeless youth drop-in center, or other program serving individuals who are experiencing homelessness, or a designee of the director;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The director of a Federal TRIO program or a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate program (GEAR UP) grant, or a designee of the director; or<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A financial aid administrator at another institution who documented your circumstance in the same or a prior award year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In the absence of documentation from any of the individuals described above, FAAs must make a case-by-case determination based upon the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A written statement from, or a documented interview with you that confirms that you are an unaccompanied homeless youth, or unaccompanied, at risk of homelessness, and self-supporting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Special Circumstances\/Dependency Appeals Financial Special Circumstances Dependency Special Circumstances Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Special Circumstances In determining independence due to homelessness financial aid counselors will consider documentation from the following entities\u2014provided through a documented phone call, written statement, or verifiable electronic data match. In the absence of documentation from any of the individuals described above, FAAs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-217","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1676,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217\/revisions\/1676"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/financial-aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}