The Department of Education allows colleges to consider Special Circumstances and Unusual Circumstances experienced by students. Special Circumstances refer to differences or changes in financial situations that may warrant special consideration. Unusual Circumstances refer to potential adjustments to a student’s dependency status based on a unique situation, such as parental abandonment, incarceration, refugee or asylee status, or victims of human trafficking.
Special Circumstances:
Unusual Circumstances
The FAFSA process defines dependence differently than the IRS, so it is possible that a person’s understanding of what it means to be independent will be different from the classification required by the FAFSA process. Kirkwood is not permitted to determine that a student is independent if the only circumstance reported is one of the following:
The FAFSA form identifies circumstances in which an appeal for Unusual Circumstances may be considered. A student by be experiencing Unusual Circumstances if they:
If you feel these or similar circumstances apply, you are invited to submit an appeal for Unusual Circumstances, which you may also see or hear referenced as a Dependency Override. The appeal will require a narrative to explain your circumstances, and an upload of documentation will be required.
To request an appeal, access Student Forms and login with your knumber and password. If you have never accessed Student Forms before, you will need to confirm your name, date of birth, social security number, and Kirkwood student email to create an account. Once logged in, click the Manage Requests button in the top right corner.
Special and Unusual Circumstances
The Department of Education allows colleges to consider Special Circumstances and Unusual Circumstances experienced by students. Special Circumstances refer to differences or changes in financial situations that may warrant special consideration. Unusual Circumstances refer to potential adjustments to a student’s dependency status based on a unique situation, such as parental abandonment, incarceration, refugee or asylee status, or victims of human trafficking.
Unusual Circumstances
The FAFSA process defines dependence differently than the IRS, so it is possible that a person’s understanding of what it means to be independent will be different from the classification required by the FAFSA process. Kirkwood is not permitted to determine that a student is independent if the only circumstance reported is one of the following:
The FAFSA form identifies circumstances in which an appeal for Unusual Circumstances may be considered. A student by be experiencing Unusual Circumstances if they:
If you feel these or similar circumstances apply, you are invited to submit an appeal for Unusual Circumstances, which you may also see or hear referenced as a Dependency Override. The appeal will require a narrative to explain your circumstances, and an upload of documentation will be required. Some examples of documentation that would typically be uploaded for an Unusual Circumstances appeal include:
If such documentation is not available, please upload a document explaining why you do not have documentation. Regardless of the narrative and documentation provided, some follow-up may be required in order to determine whether a Dependency Override is appropriate for your unique circumstances. If you have questions before you get started, please reach out to your Financial Aid Advisor. If you are ready to request an appeal, you can do so here. Once an appeal has been completed, students can typically expect a response within 5-10 business days.
Special Circumstances
Sometimes, a student has unusual expenses or a change in income that impacts their ability to pay for school. Depending on the circumstances, an increase to the estimated Cost of Attendance (COA) or an adjustment to the Student Aid Index (SAI; formerly Expected Family Contribution or EFC) may be appropriate. If you feel these circumstances, described below, or similar circumstances apply, you are invited to submit an appeal for Special Circumstances.
SAI Adjustments
An SAI adjustment has the potential to increase eligibility for more beneficial types of aid, such as grants, federal work-study, and subsidized loans. These appeals are typically considered if there is a change in income and/or resources from the tax year reported on the FAFSA and now. This could be due to a job loss or other changes to employment and/or resources. In the narrative of this Special Circumstances appeal, you would tell us what changed and provide a timeline. You will need to account for the income of everyone whose income is required to be on your FAFSA. You would also describe the documentation that you will be including. Required documentation may be different depending on your circumstances, but some examples are:
If you have any questions about this, please reach out to your Financial Aid Advisor. If you are ready to request this type of appeal, you may do so here. Some follow-up may be required in order to determine whether an Unusual Circumstances appeal is appropriate for your situation. Once an appeal has been completed, students can typically expect a response within 5-10 business days.
COA Adjustments
While a COA adjustment cannot increase eligibility for grants, it can create room within a financial aid package that might not have otherwise been there for access to grants, federal work-study, and loans. COA adjustments are used to account for expenses that are above and beyond the Cost of Attendance estimates (link to COA page). Colleges’ authority to deviate from the established COA estimates is limited in some cases. Please review the types of adjustments we typically make and determine whether you feel your circumstances apply before submitting this type of appeal.
Please understand that some expenses, such as the cost of caring for dependents, is already considered in your SAI (formerly, EFC), so we are not permitted to consider those general costs here. If you have any questions about this, please reach out to your Financial Aid Advisor. If you are ready to request this type of appeal, you may do so here. Some follow-up may be required in order to determine whether an Unusual Circumstances appeal is appropriate for your situation. Once an appeal has been completed, students can typically expect a response within 5-10 business days.
If you have any additional questions about your academic progress, contact the Financial Aid office at 319-398-7600 or 1-877-386-9101, or on the third floor of Iowa Hall.