Professional Judgement

The 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) uses your family’s 2022 calendar year income to determine your financial aid eligibility. Due to varying special and unusual circumstances, students and parents often find the information provided may no longer accurately reflect their financial situation. If you or your family’s finances have changed since 2022 as reported on your 2024-2025 FAFSA, you can request to have your federal aid eligibility reevaluated by submitting a professional judgment appeal form for your specific circumstances to the Financial Aid Office at 黑料社.

To request a Professional Judgment, please submit the specific form as it relates to your special or unusual circumstance. Include the additional documentation to support your request to the Financial Aid Office at 黑料社. Please email the documents to the Financial Aid Office at Finaid@wilmu.edu  Please include your name and student ID # on all documentation. Upon receipt and review of the appeal form, additional documentation may be requested as needed. Please check your My黑料社 student portal frequently for updates and additional requests. 

Special Circumstances

This refers to the financial situations (loss of a job, divorce, death of a parent or spouse, etc.) that justify an aid administrator adjusting data elements in the FAFSA calculation. If you believe you have a special circumstance, please complete the 2024-2025 Special Circumstance Form below, and attach all supporting documents requested. 

Special Circumstances Form

Unusual Circumstances/Dependency Overrides

This refers to the conditions that justify a financial aid advisor making an adjustment to a student’s dependency status based on a unique situation (e.g., human trafficking, refugee or asylee status, parental abandonment, incarceration). This is more commonly referred to as a “Dependency Override." If you believe you have an unusual circumstance, please complete the 2024-2025 Request for Professional Judgment Dependency Override Due to Unusual Circumstances Form below, and attach all supporting documents requested.  

Unusual Circumstances-Dependency Override Form

Parent Refusal  

Under 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 the 2024-2025 Parent Refusal Form below, and attach all supporting documents requested.

NOTE: Not all situations are 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 yourIn this situation, you may still submit your FAFSA with no parent information, but you will be eligible for a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan only.

Parent Refusal Form

Determination of Independence - Homelessness

If you indicated on the 2024-2025 FAFSA that you are considered a Homeless Unaccompanied Youth. The Department of Education requires that 黑料社 verify this information before finalizing the review of your FAFSA application.  Please complete the 2024-2025 Homeless Unaccompanied Youth Determination Form below, and attach all supporting documentation requested.  

Determination of Independence – Homelessness Form