Special or Unusual Circumstances
Are you experiencing hardship due to changes in your financial circumstances that are affecting your ability to attend Pima Community College? Are you having difficulties obtaining parent information required on your FAFSA? We would like to have the opportunity to reconsider your eligibility for financial aid.
In some cases, the application for federal student aid (FAFSA) may not accurately reflect your financial situation and/or dependency status. We may be able to make adjustments to FAFSA data or determinations of independent status for certain situations as described below.
- Special Circumstances refer to situations where a student’s or parent’s financial information provided on the FAFSA has changed since the initial submission. Appropriately documented circumstances may justify a financial aid administrator adjusting data elements in the Cost of Attendance or in the EFC/SAI calculation.
- Unusual Circumstances refer to the conditions that justify an aid administrator making a determination of independent status. This is most commonly referred to as a dependency override.
A student may have both special and unusual circumstances. A PCC financial aid administrator may make adjustments that are appropriate to each student’s situation with appropriate documentation. Please allow up to 14 business days for processing. In rare cases, delays may occur primarily at peak processing periods.
If a student has been approved at PCC for independent status based on a dependency override or homelessness in a prior year, the approval may be rolled over into subsequent years at the discretion of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. Determination of this will occur automatically and you will be notified of our determination as soon as possible but not more than 60 days after your enrollment in a subsequent award year at PCC and a complete submission of a renewal FAFSA.