Discretion of student financial aid administrators

A financial aid administrator shall have the authority to, on the basis of adequate documentation, make adjustments to any or all of the following on a case-by-case basis: For an applicant with special circumstances under subsection (b) to— No institution of higher education or financial aid administrator shall maintain a policy of denying all requests for adjustments under this section. No student or parent shall be charged a fee for a documented interview of the student by the financial aid administrator or for the review of a student or parent’s request for adjustments under this section including the review of any supplementary information or documentation of a student or parent’s special circumstances or a student’s unusual circumstances. The authority to make adjustments under paragraph (1)(A) shall not be construed to permit financial aid administrators to deviate from the cost of attendance, the values of data used to calculate the student aid index or the values of data used to calculate the Federal Pell Grant award (or both) for awarding aid under this subchapter in the absence of special circumstances. Adequate documentation for adjustments under this section must substantiate the special circumstances or unusual circumstances of an individual student, and may include, to the extent relevant and appropriate— for the purposes of determining that a student qualifies for an adjustment under paragraph (1)(B)— a documented phone call or a written statement, which confirms the specific unusual circumstances with— In making adjustments under paragraph (1), a financial aid administrator may offer a dependent student financial assistance under a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan without requiring the parents of such student to provide their parent information on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid if the student does not qualify for, or does not choose to use, the unusual circumstance option described in section 1087vv(d)(9) of this title, and the financial aid administrator determines that the parents of such student ended financial support of such student or refuse to file such form. Each institution of higher education shall make publicly available information that students applying for aid under this subchapter have the opportunity to pursue adjustments under this section. Special circumstances for adjustments to calculate a Federal Pell Grant award— may include— Special circumstances for adjustments to the cost of attendance or the values of the data used to calculate the student aid index— may include— Unusual circumstances for adjustments to the dependency status of an applicant shall be— The Secretary shall— With respect to a student accepted for admission who completes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as an independent student under subparagraph (A), a financial aid administrator shall— presume that any student who has obtained an adjustment under this section and section 1087vv(d)(9) of this title and a final determination of independence for any preceding award year at an institution of higher education to be independent for each subsequent award year at the same institution unless— If a student pursues provisional independent student status and is not determined to be an independent student by a financial aid administrator, such student shall only be eligible for a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan for that award year unless such student subsequently completes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as a dependent student. A financial aid administrator shall be considered to be making a necessary adjustment in accordance with this section if— On a case-by-case basis, an eligible institution may refuse to use the authority provided under this section, certify a statement that permits a student to receive a loan under part D, certify a loan amount, or make a loan that is less than the student’s determination of need (as determined under this part), if the reason for the action is documented and provided in writing to the student. No eligible institution shall discriminate against any borrower or applicant in obtaining a loan on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, age, or disability status. For the purposes of making a professional judgment under this section, financial aid administrators may, during a qualifying emergency— For the purposes of documenting unemployment under paragraph (1), documentation shall be accepted if such documentation is submitted not more than 90 days from the date on which such documentation was issued, except if a financial aid administrator knows that the student, parent, or spouse, as applicable, has already obtained other employment. The Secretary shall make adjustments to the model used to select institutions of higher education participating under this subchapter for program reviews in order to account for any rise in the use of professional judgment under this section during the award years applicable to the qualifying emergency, as determined by the Secretary. In this subsection, the term “qualifying emergency” means—