Each year, more than a million young people in the United States experience homelessness; some of these young people, known as unaccompanied homeless youth, will face the challenges of homelessness while living on their own without the support of a caring adult. Unaccompanied homeless youth face the same struggles as other young people: trying to…

Explores the effects of redefining independent students' status in determining eligibility for Pell grants to college and university students. Recent proposals by the American Council on Education and the College Board would undercut parental responsibility and significantly increase the numbers of self-supporting students and demand on student…

Reports on a study to determine whether the proportions of self-supporting students are rising. Results indicate their proportions are increasing and administrative policy concerning these student must be formulated. (PG)

Examines whether undergraduate students are incurring excessive debt to finance college attendance. Using data on debt levels for 1982-83 full-time college seniors in California, the study concludes that no more than four percent of dependent students and five percent of independent students have excessive debt. Includes six tables, seven notes,…

In their deliberations leading to the basic conclusions and recommendations reported in "Financing Postsecondary Education in the United States." Commissioners of the National Commission on the Financing of Postsecondary Education used staff prepared supplementary materials. This report is one of a series of staff reports prepared to make these…

A number of alternative definitions of the independent student were tested to determine what percentage of change would occur in the present distribution of dependent/independent students according to the Basic Education Opportunity Grant (BEOG) definition. Findings are analyzed and implications of possible change in the federal definition…

The lowering of the age of majority has raised doubts concerning the legality of regulations that restrict students over 18 from declaring themselves financially independent of their parents. This paper briefly examines the argument concerning the assumption that parents are responsible for financing the education of their children. With these…

Four interrelated yet distinct variables, economic independence, separate residence, personal control, and emotional attachment to parents, were highly significant predictors of both ego identity and college adjustment. The results confirm earlier preliminary investigations and support a broader definition of leaving home than those typically…

The types of health insurance coverage desired by students and their current coverage were studied at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, (UMBC), and implications of the findings for selecting a new university insurance plan were evaluated. A total of 340 questionnaire respondents provided information on their current coverage, their…

The impact of changing the definition of independent student status on demand for student financial aid funds is assessed. The current definition of independent students is based on: the amount of money received from parents, living separate from parents, and not being claimed as a dependent on the parents' federal income tax form. Two proposals…

Problems in defining the independent student are reviewed and the promise of California's Assembly Bill 4027 is described. It modifies the definition and focuses on establishing a different basis for distributing grant aid. (LBH)

A study analyzing the impact of a recently proposed Department of Education independent student definition on Illinois Pell Grant applicants, identifying those program applicants who changed their status from dependent to independent in 1981-82 and 1982-83, and analyzing the effect of their status change on their eligibility is reported. (MSE)

The need for the Ohio Instructional Grants (OIG) Program was significant at its creation and has grown in the initial five years of the program. The report provides background on the need for the program that has been responding to the need of students from low and moderate income families, but has been serving proportionately and absolutely fewer…

What is an independent or "self-supporting" student? This question formed the basis of the National Invitational Conference on the Independent Student, March 1974. Speeches concerned the financial implications of student independence, legal implications of student independence, the social and psychological implications of student independence,…

Summarizes a Michigan Student Financial Aid Association survey regarding the size of the independent student population in Michigan, institutional policies regarding independent or self-supporting students, budget allotments for them, and perceived ideal as opposed to actual policies. The range of responses and incompleteness of data showed need…