Professional Judgement

It is the intent of San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC) to aid those students who require a professional judgment ruling regarding their individual circumstances.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) does not provide families with a place to explain extenuating circumstances outside of the students control affecting their ability to pay for their education. The Federal Need Analysis Methodology (FM) is likewise a rigid formula, with no provisions for exceptions. To remedy this, Congress has delegated to the school's financial aid administrator the authority to compensate for special circumstances on case-by-case basis with adequate documentation.

Professional Judgment refers to the authority of a school's financial aid administrator to adjust the data elements on the FAFSA and to override a student's dependency status (Unusual Circumstance). The school does not have the authority to change the need analysis formula itself or to make direct adjustments to the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Instead, the school may adjust the inputs to the formula. The changes to the inputs are dictated by the impact of the special circumstances on the family's income and assets. The standard formula is then applied to the new data elements, yielding a new EFC figure (Special Circumstance).

  • Special Circumstances refer to the financial situations (loss of a job, etc.) that justify an aid administrator adjusting data elements in the COA or in the EFC calculation.
  • Unusual Circumstances refer to the conditions that justify an aid administrator making an adjustment to a student’s dependency status based on a unique situation (e.g., human trafficking, refugee or asylee status, parental abandonment, abusive home environment, incarceration), more commonly referred to as a dependency override.

Examples: These are just a few, but not limited to;

  • EFC Adjustments
    • Financial changes between base year and current year
    • One-time Disbursement of 401K or investment funds
    • Recent Unemployment of parent
    • Recent Unemployment of student/spouse
  • Cost of Attendance Adjustments
    • Unusually High Medical and/or Dental expenses NOT covered by insurance
    • Elementary or Secondary school expenses (Private School Tuition)
    • Half Time Enrollment of a dependent student’s parent in College
    • Unusually high dependent care costs
  • Dependency override due to;
    • Parent is incarcerated
    • Left home due to an Abusive (Either Mentally or physically) environment
    • Asylee/Refugee Status
    • Parental Abandonment
    • No communication with parents or no knowledge of whereabouts

The decision of the financial aid administrator is final. A secondary appeal review is available by student request only, and will be reviewed by either the Director or Assistant Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships. By law, neither the school's president nor the US Department of Education can override the financial aid administrator's decision.

Dependency Override Appeal

The following circumstances—on their own—do not merit a dependency override:

  • Parents refuse to contribute to the student's educational / financial costs;
  • Parents are unwilling to provide information on the FAFSA or for verification purposes;
  • Parents residing in another country;
  • Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes; or
  • ​​​​​​​Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency (Financially support yourself, live on your own).

Please provide a detailed statement that includes all of the following:

  1. An explanation of the unusual circumstances that led to the estrangement with your parents.
  2. Your past relationship with both of your parents.
  3. Your present relationship with both of your parents.
  4. ​​​​​​​How you are supporting yourself.
  5. ​​​​​​​The date you last had contact with your parents or the date you were last supported/left your parents' household

Acceptable documentation may include:

  • A public or private agency, facility, or program servicing the victims of abuse, neglect, assault, or violence; or
  • Submission of a court order or official Federal or State documentation that the students’ parents or legal guardian are incarcerated; or
  • A documented phone call or written statement from an attorney, guardian ad litem, a court-appointed special advocate (or similar), or a representative of a TRIO or GEAR UP program that confirms the circumstances and the person’s relationship to the student; or
  • A documented determination of independence made by a financial aid administrator at another institution in the same or a prior award year; or
  • Utility bills, health insurance, or other documents that demonstrate a separation from parents or legal guardians; or
  • A State, county, or Tribal welfare agency; or
  • ​​​​​​​An independent living case worker who supports current and former foster youth with the transition to adulthood.

Income Adjustment Appeal

Please provide a detailed statement that includes all of the following:

  1. The reason you are requesting a professional judgment. ​​​​​​​
  2. Extenuating circumstances that qualify you to request a professional judgment.
  3. Dates that the extenuating circumstance occurred including the date or the expected date the extenuating circumstance ended.
  4. Any additional information that would substantiate your extenuating circumstance.

Examples of special circumstances under PJ may include but are not limited to:

  • Student/Spouse/Parent of the dependent student has been receiving unemployment benefit for the past 90 days.
  • Other changes to a family's status or a Parent's or family's income or assets.
  • 401K or other income or assets accessed for a 1-time use.
  • Death of parent
  • ​​​​​​​Death of a spouse

Acceptable documentation may include:

  • Prior Year Income Tax Information for Parent (IRS Return Transcript)
  • Prior Year Income Tax Information for Student/Spouse (IRS Return Transcript)
  • Wage & Income Statement for Parent 1 and/or Parent 2 (For separation of income purposes)
  • ​​​​​​​Wage & Income Statement for Student/Spouse

A Financial Aid Administrator may choose to use the prior year tax return, instead of the prior, prior year (2 years back) tax information for your EFC Appeal. A Financial Aid Administrator may also use a projected income amount for any 12 months of our choosing, such as a Calendar year, Academic year, or 12-month period from the time the special circumstance took effect.

Financial aid administrators may, but are not required to, take the Income Protection Allowance (IPA) into account as a best practice when adjusting COA data elements. If increased expenses are still within the IPA for basic living expenses normally incurred by a family, then your request may be denied once all the documentation is reviewed.

Additional Expenses Appeal

Please provide a detailed statement that includes all of the following:

  1. The reason you are requesting a professional judgment.
  2. Extenuating circumstances that qualify you to request a professional judgment.
  3. Dates that the extenuating circumstance occurred including the date or expected date the extenuating circumstance ended.
  4. Any additional information that would substantiate your extenuating circumstance.

Examples of special circumstances under PJ may include but are not limited to:

  • Special needs educational expenses;
  • Medical and dental expenses not covered by insurance;
  • Unusually high dependent care costs;
  • ​​​​​​​At least half-time enrollment of a dependent student's parent as a regular student in a degree, certificate, or other program leading to recognized educational credentials at an institution participating in the Title IV programs.

Acceptable documentation may include:

  • Supplementary information, as necessary, about the financial status or personal circumstances of eligible applicants as it relates to the special circumstances, or
  • A documented interview between the student and the financial aid administrator (Case-by-case), or
  • ​​​​​​​Utility bills, health insurance, tuition statements, dependent care costs, or other documents showing additional financial burden

Financial aid administrators may, but are not required to, take the Income Protection Allowance (IPA) into account as a best practice when adjusting COA data elements. If increased expenses are still within the IPA for basic living expenses normally incurred by a family, then your request may be denied once all the documentation is reviewed.

Determination Time frame

All professional Judgment (PJ) reviews will take 2-3 weeks (up to 6 weeks during peak time) to review before a decision is reached. You will be notified if any additional documentation is needed and where your PJ is at in the Process.

Financial Aid may use a dependency override determination made by a financial aid administrator at another institution in the same or a prior award year.

Financial Aid will review all requests as quickly as practicable, but no later than 60 days after the student enrolls, or from the date the request is made, whichever is later.

Failure to submit the requested documentation will result in your appeal being rescinded. If you wish to reopen your request, you must submit a new appeal.

Legislative Authority

The authority to conduct professional judgment reviews is granted by sections 479A and 480(d)(7) of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Section 479A is concerned with the authority to adjust data elements of the FAFSA application and the authority to refuse to certify a student loan. Section 480(d)(7) is concerned with the authority to override a student's dependency status. It is worth noting that the term unusual circumstances are used only in connection with dependency overrides. In the section dealing with adjustments to data elements, the term special circumstances is used instead, with the word unusual only being used in connection with "unusually high child care costs". The word unusual means uncommon or rare. Although the word special is sometimes used as a synonym for unusual, it also includes qualities that readily distinguish an item from among others of the same category. An item need not be rare in order to be special. (Note also the use of the word other in Section 480(d)(7) of the Higher Education Act, as in "other unusual circumstances", is an indication that the six automatic methods of achieving independent student status are exemplars of unusual circumstances. This means that even with dependency overrides, the word unusual does not require extreme extenuating circumstances.)  Congress's choice of language appears to have been quite deliberate, to allow for conditions that distinguish a student from among a class of students but which are not necessarily rare.