Special Populations

Your age, family situation, housing, foster care history, or immigration status may affect how you apply for financial aid or what assistance is available to you.

Some students can complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) without parent information. Others may qualify for tuition waivers, CCC programs, or other financial support. If one of the situations below applies to you, Financial Aid can help you understand your options and any documents you may need.

Arizona residents who are 65 or older may qualify for CCC’s Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver.

The waiver:

• Reduces tuition by 50%
• Can be used for up to 6 credit hours
• Does not cover non-credit classes, fees, books, or course materials

Complete the Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver available through Financial Aid. Under CCC’s current financial aid requirements, students receiving the waiver must also have a valid FAFSA on file.

If you are or were in foster care, you may have several options to help pay for college.

Your FAFSA May Be Different

You are considered an independent student for federal financial aid if you were in foster care at any time after you turned 13. This means you generally do not need to provide parent information on the FAFSA.

Arizona Foster Care Tuition Waiver

CCC participates in the Arizona Foster Care Tuition Waiver. Eligible current or former foster youth may receive help with tuition and mandatory fees after other qualifying aid is applied.

Arizona eligibility requirements include being an Arizona resident, having been in foster care at or after age 14 or adopted from foster care after age 14, being under age 23, meeting citizenship or lawful-presence requirements, completing the FAFSA, and meeting other program requirements.

To apply at CCC:

1. Complete the application for admission.
2. Complete the FAFSA.
3. Complete the Arizona Foster Care/Education and Training Voucher application through Foster Care to Success.
4. Watch your CCC email and financial aid account for additional requirements.

CCC identifies the Arizona Foster Care Tuition Waiver as one of its available types of financial aid.

Comet Promise

Former foster youth may also qualify for Comet Promise. Former foster youth up to age 26 do not need to meet the household-income requirement. Other Comet Promise requirements still apply.

You may be able to complete the FAFSA without parent information if you are an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

For FAFSA purposes:

• Unaccompanied means you are not living in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.
• Homeless generally means you do not have fixed, regular, and adequate housing. This can include staying in a shelter, car, motel, temporary housing, or temporarily staying with other people because you have nowhere else to live.

If you already received a homeless-youth determination from an eligible school or community official, report that information on your FAFSA. If you have not received a determination, complete the FAFSA based on your circumstances and contact CCC Financial Aid. A financial aid administrator can review your situation.

CCC may ask you to complete the Unaccompanied or Homeless Youth Verification form.

Students experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity are also listed as automatic qualifiers for CCC’s Comet Promise, as long as the other program requirements are met.

You may be considered an independent student on the FAFSA if, at any time after you turned 13:

• Both of your parents were deceased, or
• You were a dependent or ward of the court.

If you meet one of these conditions, you generally do not need to provide parent financial information on your FAFSA. CCC may ask for documents to confirm your status.

If you are unsure whether your situation qualifies, complete the FAFSA as accurately as you can and contact Financial Aid.

Some dependent students cannot safely contact a parent or obtain parent information for the FAFSA.

These are called unusual circumstances and may include situations such as:

• Abuse or a threatening home environment
• Abandonment or estrangement
• Being unable to locate your parents
• Human trafficking
• Refugee or asylee circumstances that have separated you from your parents
• Parent incarceration when contacting the parent would put you at risk

If this applies to you, the FAFSA allows you to submit your application without parent information. You may initially be considered provisionally independent. CCC Financial Aid must then review your situation and determine whether you qualify for a dependency override.

CCC has a Request for Dependency Override form for students whose unusual circumstances prevent them from providing parent information. You may be asked for documents or statements that help explain your situation. If approved, only your financial information will be used to decide your financial aid eligibility.

Parent refusal is different from being unable to safely contact a parent.

If your parent is available but refuses to provide FAFSA information, that alone does not make you an independent student. You may be able to qualify for a Direct Unsubsidized Loan only under federal rules. CCC has a Parent Refusal to Complete the FAFSA form to review these situations.

Students with documented parent refusal may also qualify for CCC’s Comet Promise if they meet the program’s other requirements.

You do not necessarily have to be a U.S. citizen to receive financial aid.

Eligible Noncitizens

Some non-citizens are considered eligible non-citizens for federal student aid. This can include certain permanent residents, refugees, people granted asylum, certain parolees, Cuban-Haitian entrants, T-visa holders, and certain victims of human trafficking.

If you are an eligible noncitizen, complete the FAFSA and provide the immigration information requested on the application. Federal Student Aid will use this information to determine your eligibility.

DACA, Dreamer, and Undocumented Students

Students who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or are undocumented are generally not eligible for federal student aid. However, that does not mean you have no options for help paying for CCC.

Under Arizona Proposition 308, some undocumented students and DACA recipients may qualify for Arizona resident tuition and certain state or college financial aid. At CCC, eligibility is based in part on meeting Arizona high school attendance and graduation requirements.

Who Qualifies for Resident Tuition Under Proposition 308?

You may qualify if you meet both of these requirements:

1. You attended an Arizona public, private, or homeschool high school option while physically living in Arizona for at least two years, and
2. You either:
   • Graduated from an Arizona public, private, or homeschool high school option, or
   • Earned a high school equivalency diploma, such as a GED, in Arizona.

You may also qualify for the Comet Promise. CCC allows students who cannot complete the FAFSA to use the CCC Alternative Aid Application for the Comet Promise. 

Because immigration categories and financial aid eligibility can be complicated, contact Financial Aid if you are unsure which application to complete.

You do not need to figure everything out before contacting CCC.

Financial Aid can help you determine:

• Whether you should complete the FAFSA or another aid application
• Whether parent information is required
• Whether you may qualify as an independent student
• Which CCC forms you need
• Whether a tuition waiver or Comet Promise may apply to you
• What documentation, if any, you need to provide

Contact Financial Aid
(928) 226-4219
financial.aid@coconino.edu