Important Information - NCHE



FAFSA Applicants – In Foster Care, Orphan, or Dependent or Ward of the CourtImportant InformationBecause the FAFSA only collects limited data on applicants in the foster care system, we release this information with a detailed explanation. If you include this information in writing or in a presentation, please ensure that you provide a clear understanding of what the data mean. Data on applicants who are, or have been in the foster care system collected on the FAFSA should not be construed to be representative of the entire population of such applicants.Population of Applicants Included in this ReportThe FAFSA does not collect foster care information for the purpose of determining the population of students attending postsecondary institutions. Rather, there are two questions on FAFSA on the Web regarding applicants in foster care that have different purposes.In application cycle 2015-16, the question "Are you a foster youth or were you at any time in the foster care system?" was added to FAFSA on the Web. It is asked in order to provide additional information on assistance through Federal programs for foster youth. The question is offered to all students who apply online, but is not a required field.The other question is part of a series of questions asked to determine the dependency status for Federal Student Aid, and is presented only to a subset of the applicant population. The question is: At any time since you turned age 13, were both your parents deceased, were you in foster care or were you a dependent or ward of the court?Applicants who answer “Yes” are considered independent for the purposes of Federal Student Aid and do not need to report parents’ financial and other information on the FAFSA. This question is offered only to students who had not already been determined independent by an earlier question on the FAFSA on the Web. There are eleven questions on the FAFSA that are used to determine dependency status. The Foster Care/Orphan/Dependent-Ward of the Court question is the eighth question. Once an applicant provides a positive response on FAFSA on the Web for any of the dependency determinant questions, most of the additional subsequent questions are not presented (skipped). See exception in note below. Based on the priority of questions on FAFSA on the Web, counts of applicants in this report do not include most applicants who, at the time, were 24 years or older, married, in a graduate program, in active duty, or veterans, as well as those who provided more than half of the support for their children or other dependents. Note: Although 99% of initial applications were submitted by students via FAFSA on the Web, a similar logic does not exist for skipping questions on applications or corrections submitted via paper or directly from a school. Therefore, in some cases, being in Foster Care/Orphan/Dependent-Ward of the Court might not be the only reason an applicant was determined to be independent for the purpose of Federal Student Aid.Table 1. Applicants who responded on FAFSA on the Web that they were foster youth or at any time had been in the foster care system (for the purpose of receiving additional information on assistance through Federal programs for foster youth)StateApplication Cycle 2015-2016Total429,294AK1,248AL5,516AR4,206AZ8,827CA70,840CO7,256CT4,276DC1,199DE1,029FL23,403GA14,357HI1,801IA4,711ID2,142IL15,577IN9,360KS5,039KY7,645LA4,488MA9,470MD8,049ME1,784MI15,989MN6,993MO9,240MS3,374MT1,314NC12,867ND946.Table 1 (continued). Applicants who responded on FAFSA on the Web that they were foster youth or at any time had been in the foster care system (for the purpose of receiving additional information on assistance through Federal programs for foster youth)StateApplication Cycle 2015-2016NE3,691NH1,200NJ7,629NM2,434NV4,029NY19,774OH16,260OK5,722OR8,859PA14,593RI1,503SC6,045SD961TN10,298TX25,192UT3,187VA9,019VT755WA11,839WI7,064WV2,585WY814Other2,895Table 2. Applicants who reported on FAFSA on the Web that at any time since age 13, both parents were deceased, they were in foster care, or were dependents or wards of the court (for the purpose of determining dependency status for Federal Student Aid)StateApplication Cycle2013-20142014-2015 2015-2016 Total141,391130,339122,300AK337316295AL2,0371,9781,895AR1,1601,1471,120AZ2,8502,7192,650CA25,89524,25322,727CO1,7831,5281,481CT1,7531,5521,461DC586523429DE339286301FL6,9556,4226,231GA4,2393,8433,572HI654604512IA1,4831,3711,259ID533460461IL5,2884,7794,241IN2,8812,6932,492KS1,5581,4891,468KY3,0572,8882,688LA1,5881,6081,491MA3,3573,0772,885MD3,1033,0152,705ME417394377MI5,4634,7484,202MN1,9951,7111,559MO2,8892,5652,433MS1,2801,2201,201MT330269275NC3,5533,1893,093ND310272249Table 2 (continued). Applicants who reported on FAFSA on the Web that at any time since age 13, both parents were deceased, they were in foster care, or were dependents or wards of the court (for the purpose of determing dependency status for Federal Student Aid)StateApplication Cycle2013-20142014-2015 2015-2016 NE1,3971,1581,142NH413299321NJ3,0872,8012,667NM631596537NV1,0891,1281,046NY6,7256,2125,710OH4,7494,2663,872OK1,3731,3111,367OR2,7722,4082,140PA5,4674,8514,405RI559511494SC1,7621,5931,550SD256234223TN3,8123,6543,581TX7,8107,3047,056UT1,004878892VA3,1452,9062,663VT264251238WA2,9062,7582,566WI1,8041,5901,481WV1,012980981WY293283269Other1,3881,4481,346Table 3. Total applicants by dependency (for reference)Dependency Status (for Federal Student Aid)Application Cycle2013-20142014-20152015-2016Dependent9,131,7819,022,7958,893,669Independent12,061,97211,539,13410,864,095Sum:21,193,75320,561,92919,757,764 ................
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