Special Circumstances

The Department of Education allows Financial Aid Administrators to make limited adjustments to information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). These adjustments are known as either “Special Circumstances” or “Professional Judgement,” and are considered on a case-by-case basis based on supporting documentation of the circumstances. College of Coastal Georgia requires a form to be completed and documentation provided to support.

Typical areas of adjustments:

  • Income Loss/Changes

  • Excessive out of pocket medical expenses

  • Divorce

  • Increase to a student’s Cost of Attendance based on documentation provided of extraordinary education expenses incurred while at College of Coastal Georgia.

Dependency Override

This Special Circumstance is designed to assist dependent students who have documentable situations to support them being without parents. Examples of these situations include the following:

  • Cases of parental abuse

  • Parental neglect

  • Parental abandonment

  • Parental incarceration

A Dependency Override cannot be considered for a parent’s refusal to provide information on the FAFSA. In addition, a student that is under 24 but is self-sufficient is not a case for a Dependency Override.

Should a student feel they would like to be considered for a “Special Circumstance,” they should contact their financial aid counselor. Once all the necessary documentation is provided, a student can typically expect a one-week turnaround for an update, depending on the time of year submitted. If submitted during the beginning of a semester, turnaround time is typically three weeks.

Please note that these such adjustments are made solely at the discretion of the Office of Financial Aid based on the documentation requested and provided, and cannot be appealed beyond the Office of Financial Aid.