Unusual Circumstance Appeal Process at SOU
Most undergraduate students at Southern Oregon University are considered dependent students for financial aid purposes. The FAFSA will determine your dependency status based on a number of questions. If you answer ‘no’ to all of the dependency questions on the FAFSA, you are considered a dependent student for financial aid purposes and must provide your parent information. If there are unusual circumstances where you cannot provide your parent information on the FAFSA, the SOU Financial Aid Office may be able to override your dependency status and determine your financial aid eligibility without parent information or signatures.
Unusual circumstances that may warrant a dependency override include:
- Parental abandonment or estrangement
- Parents cannot be located
- Family abuse
- Incarceration or institutionalization
We cannot override dependency because of the following:
- Your parents are unwilling to provide information for the FAFSA
- You are financially independent
- Your parents don’t claim you as a dependent on their taxes
Requesting an Appeal Due to Unusual Circumstances
The SOU Financial Aid Office understands that many students have unique family situations. If you’re unsure if your circumstances qualify, please contact finaid@sou.edu to discuss your situation. If you would like to submit an Unusual Circumstance appeal, please complete the following:
- If you have not done so already, submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the appropriate year.
- Request an Unusual Circumstances appeal at sou.studentforms.com. With the appeal, submit the following (all information and documentation you provide is considered confidential):
- A typed personal statement that explains your unusual circumstances and why you are unable to provide your parent information on the FAFSA (at a minimum, include what the unusual circumstances are, the timeline of the relationship with your parents, and what type of contact you have with your parents now)
- Additional letters of support from a third-party professional familiar with your situation (i.e. therapists, school counselors, members of the clergy, etc.)
- Any additional documents that are relevant to your situation
Once all documents have been completed and submitted we will review the documents, make a determination, and notify you of the results. A review typically takes between 3-4 weeks from the date when all necessary documentation has been received. Additional documents may be requested throughout the review process. During peak processing times, the request may take longer than the typical 3-4 weeks to be reviewed, but no longer than 60 days from the date when all of the above documentation has been received.
Other Appeals
If you need to submit a Special Circumstance Appeal due to a significant change in income, please review the criteria and process here.