Professional Judgment

 

What is professional judgement?

Commonly referred to as “PJ” in the financial aid world, professional judgement refers to the ability of a financial aid administrator to use their discretion on a case-by-case basis to make adjustments to the data elements on your fafsa that impact your student aid Index (SAI).

this discretion is granted by federal regulations, and all requests for professional judgement must be substantiated with adequate documentation in a timely manner.

 

  • Students must notify the financial aid office in writing of their intent to request a professional judgement review. you will then be contacted by the financial aid office to review the terms of your professional judgment request, determine potential eligibility, and discuss necessary documentation to proceed.

  • No. in many cases, an adjustment does not increase the student’s eligibility for grants or the total amount of aid awarded. in some cases, need-based aid can actually be lost if the student’s sai increases as a result of adjustments. however, we reserve the right to deny any appeal that would not increase a student’s eligibility for aid.

  • this mainly depends on how long it takes for you to submit your supporting documentation.

    After all documents are received, we ask that you please allow 2-4 weeks for processing. During this time we may ask you for additional documentation or clarifying information.

    final notification of your professional judgement decision will be delivered to you via e-mail.

  • The documents necessary for your determination depend completely on your circumstances. Please contact the financial aid office for a more comprehensive list of acceptable documents for various scenarios.

 

All Professional judgement decisions made by the office of financial aid are final.

Unusual circumstances

Unusual circumstances refer to conditions that would justify a financial aid administrator making an adjustment to the student’s dependency status based on a unique situation.

This is also commonly referred to as a “Dependency Override.”

Examples of unusual circumstances include, but are not limited to:

  • Human trafficking

  • Parental abandonment

  • Incarceration

  • Refugee or asylee status

  • documented circumstances of child abuse

  • Other reasons of a similar nature to those listed above

Unusual Circumstances do not include:

  • Parents refusing to contribute to a student’s educational costs

  • Parents refusing to provide information for the Fafsa or verification

  • student no longer being claimed as a dependent for income tax purposes

  • student demonstrating self-sufficiency

  • changes in a student’s marital status after submitting the fafsa

students are able to have both a special circumstance and an unusual circumstance. the financial aid office may make adjustments that are appropriate to each student’s situation with appropriate documentation.

Special circumstances

special circumstances refer to conditions that would justify a financial aid administrator adjusting data elements in the cost of attendance or student aid index calculation.

Note: the financial aid office does not have the authority to make direct adjustments to the sai or to the formula used to calculate sai.

Examples of special circumstances include, but are not limited to:

  • Substantial changes in income

  • Divorce or separation

  • Disability of spouse or parent

  • death of spouse or parent

  • natural disasters affecting your home

Special circumstances do not include:

  • parents refusing to contribute to a student’s educational costs

  • Parents refusing to provide information for the fafsa or verification

  • inability or unwillingness to borrow federal student loans

  • vacation expenses

  • standard living expenses