FAFSA, Higher Education
This resource will help you navigate answering the questions about homelessness and how to request an unaccompanied homeless youth determination.
Be sure to check out the FAQs, which are based on real questions we receive from youth experiencing homelessness while filling out the FAFSA.
Are you filling out the FAFSA for the first time? Are you also an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or at risk of being homeless and self-supporting? If so, you will need to provide information about your status on the FAFSA.
Related: Does My Living Situation Meet the Definition of Homelessness?
This resource will help you navigate answering the questions about homelessness and how to request an unaccompanied homeless youth determination.
Fill Out the FAFSA
You must fill out a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) every year that you’re applying for financial aid. The 2024-2025 FAFSA is a completely new form with many changes, including:
- Fewer questions
- An expansion of Pell Grant eligibility for low-income students, and
- Changes for homeless and foster youth that are designed to remove barriers and streamline the process of applying for financial aid
In the first few sections of the FAFSA, you will enter your personal and demographic information. You will then be asked the following questions:
Question: At any time on or after July 1, 2023, were you homeless or were you self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?
If you meet the definition of homelessness described HERE, you can answer YES to this question.
If your situation falls into one of the categories found here and you are not in the physical custody (living with) a parent or guardian, your living situation meets the definition of an unaccompanied homeless youth and you do not need to enter your parent or guardian’s information on your FAFSA.
If you are experiencing homelessness but living with and/or receiving support from your parents, you will answer NO to the following questions, because you do not meet the definition of an unaccompanied homeless youth. You will fill out the FAFSA as instructed.
If you answer YES, another question will pop up.
Question: Did any of the following determine you were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless?
If you think you have, had, or can get a determination of homelessness from YOUR HIGH SCHOOL OR SCHOOL DISTRICT HOMELESS LIAISON OR THEIR DESIGNEE, here is what you will do:
- Check the box THE STUDENT’S HIGH SCHOOL OR SCHOOL DISTRICT LIAISON OR DESIGNEE
- After you complete your FAFSA, reach out to your homeless liaison and request a determination stating you are an unaccompanied homeless youth. If you’d like to send an email requesting the determination, we have provided a sample email you can use here. Give this determination to your financial aid office.
If you stayed in or received services from a drop-in center, shelter, or any other program that serves individuals experiencing homelessness on or after July 1, 2023, here is what you will do:
- Check the box that says DIRECTOR OR DESIGNEE OF AN EMERGENCY OR TRANSITIONAL SHELTER, STREET OUTREACH PROGRAM, HOMELESS YOUTH DROP-IN CENTER, OR OTHER PROGRAM SERVING INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
- After you complete the FAFSA, reach out to the program and ask if the director or a designee will provide a determination for your FAFSA (sample email available here). Give this determination to your financial aid office.
Reminder:
This category also includes homeless higher education liaisons. See here if your institution or state has designated homeless higher education liaisons.
If you think you are part of a TRIO or GEAR UP program, here is what you do:
- Check the box that says DIRECTOR OF DESIGNEE OF A PROJECT SUPPORTED BY A FEDERAL TRIO OR GEAR UP PROGRAM GRANT
- Reach out the TRIO or GEAR UP program and ask if the director or designee will provide a determination for your FAFSA (sample email available here). Give this determination to your financial aid office.
If you were determined to be an unaccompanied homeless youth on the FAFSA by a financial aid administrator at another institution, here is what you do:
- Check the box that says FINANCIAL AID ADMINISTRATOR (FAA)
- Reach out to the financial aid administrator who made the determination and ask them to provide a new determination for your FAFSA (sample available here). Give this determination to your new institution’s financial aid office.
If you checked any of those three boxes, this screen will pop up indicating you’re an independent student and you can continue filling out the FAFSA without parent information.
If you meet the definition of an unaccompanied homeless youth, but cannot provide any documentation from any of the authorized entities, you will answer NONE OF THE ABOVE, and this screen will pop up.
Note:
Although this screen says you are a provisionally independent student, you are waiting to be determined as an unaccompanied homeless youth and should go through the unaccompanied homeless youth determination process outlined in the law.
Here is what you will do next:
- Send an email to your financial aid administrator and explain that you are an unaccompanied homeless youth and are requesting either a documented interview (sample email available here), or information about how you can provide a written statement (Tips to write a written statement can be found here).
- If your financial aid administrator wants to conduct an interview, meet with your financial aid administrator to receive your determination after completing your FAFSA. Tips to prepare for meeting your financial aid administrator can be found here.
If you have an unusual circ*mstance where you cannot provide information about your parents but are not an unaccompanied homeless youth, you may be considered a provisional independent student and go through a dependency override.
Note:
Many of the reasons listed above are frequently the cause, or contributing factors to youth homelessness, so consider if you may meet the definition of an unaccompanied homeless youth, or unaccompanied youth at risk of homelessness and self-supporting. If that is the case, return back to the previous question.
Dependency overrides are granted on a case-by-case basis in which a financial aid officer will use their professional judgment. Provisional independent student status and unaccompanied homeless youth determinations are different and distinct and should not be conflated.
FAQs
These FAQs are real questions that we receive from youth experiencing homelessness while filling out the FAFSA. If you have a FAFSA-related question, please contact us.
