Is there anything to do to get help with financial aid if I’m actually the one paying for school not my parents?

nancy

The federal student aid program is based on the premise that parents are responsible for paying for their child's education to the best of their ability. The purpose of the FAFSA is to determine that ability. It doesn't matter whether you are paying for your classes or not because the FAFSA isn't trying to determine what your parents actually do--it's trying to determine what they have the ability to do. If you think about it, that makes sense. If all a parent had to do to get grant aid for his child was to refuse to pay for college, then every parent in the country would do that and the system would be bankrupt overnight. That being said, there is a process called a dependency override that gives the school the right to change a student's dependency status from dependent to independent, so only student income is included on the FAFSA. However, this is only used in serious situations where it would be unsafe or impossible for a student to obtain parent information. For example, documented cases of abuse, abandonment, incarceration, or parents who are mentally or physically incapable of providing information. Schools are prohibited from using an override for cases where the parent simply refuses to provide information or to pay for college. Since you're living with your parents, it doesn't seem like you would qualify for an override, so most likely you will have to settle for the level of aid that is based on your parent's income.

Simply

there are limited circumstances when they won't count the parents income, but not likely in yours. i think you have to prove you are not a dependent. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/dependency