<prompt> Human: This year FAFSA is requiring applicants to use their 2015 tax returns instead of 2016. This isnt good for me though because in 2015 my mom received retirement money which was reported. The amount earned was much higher than what my parents actually earn now though because theyre just painters. But this of course is much lower than what I myself earned in 2016. I dont receive any help from my parents and Im entirely paying for school on my own, so why do I have to use their 2015 returns? Sorry if this is a stupid question, thanks in advance.  <response>: Financial aid administrator here... What everyone said regarding age is true. You have to be at least 24 years old in order to complete the application without your parents. Other automatic qualifiers are active duty military, married, legal guardianship, homeless, in a graduate program. All others fall in to the professional judgement category. Meaning the financial aid administrators are given leeway to change information on the FAFSA if certain conditions are met. If there was a significant income shift from 2015 to 2016 you can request a professional judgement. As others have stated youre going to be asked to provide supporting documentation and possibly written statements. This is mainly due to the fact that if your file came up in an audit we need to be able to prove the rationale used for adjusting your EFC or other cost of attendance numbers from what was originally calculated by the Department of Education. Hope that helps. 