Special and Unusual Circumstances

Special Circumstances

If there has been a change to your family's situation that reduces your ability to pay for college, you may request a review of the information on your financial aid application by completing the Special Circumstance Request form. Not all Special Circumstance reviews will result in a change to financial aid eligibility.

Circumstances that are generally given consideration include:

  • Loss of income or benefits
  • Divorce or separation
  • Death of a parent (or spouse if married)

FAFSA data will be verified prior to the Special Circumstance review. At a minimum, a student will be required to submit the following information to the Financial Aid Office if requested:

  1. Completed Special Circumstance Request form.
  2. Signed copies of federal income tax return for the requested tax year(s), with applicable tax schedules and attachments.
  3. W-2's for the appropriate tax year(s).
  4. Documentation of untaxed income (if applicable).
  5. Third party documentation to validate the special circumstance request. Examples of documentation include unemployment claim payment history, layoff notice, severance letter, legal separation papers or divorce decree, death certificate, explanation of benefits for unreimbursed exceptional medical/dental expenses not covered by insurance.

Once all supporting documentation is received, the Financial Aid Office will begin its review to determine if a Special Circumstance adjustment is warranted and notify the student of the result within 30 days.

Unusual Circumstances

The FAFSA determines 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 on the FAFSA.

If there are unusual circumstances where you cannot provide your parent information on the FAFSA, the Clovis Financial Aid Office may be able to perform a dependency override to make you an independent student for financial aid purposes 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 in cases where:

  • Parents are unwilling to provide information for the FAFSA
  • Student is financially independent
  • Parents don’t claim student as a dependent on their taxes

The Clovis Financial Aid Office understands that many students have unique family situations. Students are asked to contact the Financial Aid Office to discuss their situation and request an Unusual Circumstance Review. The completed form must be submitted with all required supporting documentation. All information and documentation provided by the student is considered confidential. Please note that submission of an Unusual Circumstance Review does not guarantee that a dependency override will be approved. 

Once all documents have been completed and submitted, we will review the documents, make a determination, and notify the student of the results within 2-3 weeks.

If you believe you have a special or unusual circumstance that warrants review, please contact one of our Financial Aid Analysts:

Erica Riggs
erica.riggs@cloviscollege.edu
(559) 324-6480

Alyssa Talbot
alyssa.talbot@cloviscollege.edu
(559) 325-5263