A change in laws regarding students’ independent status for receiving financial aid has caused a decline in the number of students who received aid in 1987-88.

Financial Aid Director Jerry Augsburger said under the new laws about 5 percent of NIU students are not considered independent.

About 15 percent of students receiving campus-based aid met the new requirement this year, while about 20 percent of the students were independent under the old definition, Augsburger said.

If students meet the requirements of the new independent/dependent status, they still will be evaluated as to their eligibility, he said.

The financial aid office will compute a student’s need, Augsburger said.

Even if a student proves to be independent, he also has to be finacially needy to receive state or federal aid, he said.

Nick Rengler, financial aid assistant director said the parameters of the independent student status is determining an individual’s financial strength.

A student’s salary intake is one factor in receiving aid.

However, there is not a “magic” cut-off dollar amount, Rengler said.

Other components are involved such as a student’s assets or business losses, he said.

Financial strength is measured by determining if one is dependent or independent of their parents, Rengler said.

The definitions of independency and dependency are complicated and involve many factors, he said.

Students automatically can be classified as independent if a student falls under one of four categories, Augsburger said.

Rengler said students 24 years old or older are automatically independent as are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Augsburger said individuals in the reserves or the National Guard do not meet the definition’s standards.

Last year, being a veteran had no bearing on defining independent students’ status, Augsburger said.

A student who is a ward of the court or whose parents are both deceased as well as a student who has a legal dependent other than a spouse are considered independent.

Married students or students in a Graduate Professional Studies program who are not claimed as a dependent by their parents also are automatically considered independent, Augsburger said.

Another factor that has changed concerns students who reside at their parents homes.

This is no longer a factor in determining whether or not an individual would receive aid, Rengler said.

An independence status is more difficult to obtain if a student does not fall under one of the four automatic categories, Augsburger said.

For example, he said a student who receives federal aid during 1987-88 and whose total resources equal more than $4,000 excluding parents’ support in 1985-86 would be independent.

Other factors are involed as well, Augsburger said. “It is complex.”

Students who are not considered independent by the definition but believe they are in a “unique” situation can write an appeal to the financial aid office for review, Ausgburger said, adding the circumstances must be unusual.

Augsburger said he reviews all appeals for “uniformity” and few appeals are granted.

The independency/dependency rules were changed to prevent people from abusing the system, not to have less people qualify for independency, Augsburger said.

A belief that parents should not have to continue supporting their child’s educational expense when he reaches the age of 24 or if he enters graduate school helped determine the new definition, Augsburger said.

Misrepresentation of information on a financial aid form can result “in a fine up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to five years or both under provisions of the United States Code,” he said.