Independent Status:
Applicants who are unmarried and at least 30 years old by December 31, 2020 are said to be independent by the financial aid office for consideration of Stanford institutional grant and loan funds. Independent students are not required to complete CSS Profile or provide parent tax returns. Married students who are at least 30 years old by December 31, 2020 should complete CSS Profile but the parent tax return requirement is waived.
There is an exception to this policy for students under consideration for the LEADER award from the Office of MD Program Admissions. Parent tax documentation is required for all LEADERs. Also, please be aware that independent status on the federal application is defined differently - see below.
1. 2019-2020 FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid - www.fafsa.gov
U.S. citizens and permanent residents must complete FAFSA to be considered for Direct Loans and/or Stanford grants and loans. On the FAFSA applicants should list Stanford University School of Medicine and our school code, G24552.
All MD applicants are considered independent on the FAFSA. Because of this Stanford School of Medicine does not require parent data to be entered on the FAFSA.
Note: the definition of 'independent' is different for federal and institutional aid- For federal aid all MD students are independent and for institutional aid students are considered independent by meeting the age requirement described above.
Applicants are required to use the FAFSA Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) - The DRT allows FAFSA to populate tax information directly from the IRS so that you do not need to submit your tax return to the financial aid office.
If you were not required to file a 2018 federal income tax return please indicate this on the FAFSA (Item #32) and submit all 2018 W-2s (if applicable) to the financial aid office.
- Parental income and asset information must be reported on this application. If your parents are separated or divorced each natural parent must report their financial information. When completing the CSS Profile parent email addresses are requested, then parents are sent an email invitation to securely enter their information on the CSS Profile. If your parents are remarried stepparent data is removed so that our need analysis reflects income and asset data from only biological or adoptive parents.
- If you are estranged from one or both parents you may petition to bypass the parent information requirement by submitting an estrangement waiver. Evidence of estrangement, including 3rd party verification, will be required for the petition to be approved. Please contact the financial aid office for additional information.
- 3. Stanford Supplemental Application
This free application allows you to share enrollment plans, declare outside resources, describe special circumstances to the financial aid office, as well as certify that you will abide by the rules and regulations of our financial aid programs. A link to the electronic application may be found in AXESS (see link at the bottom of this page for location).
- 4. 2018 Federal Tax Returns for Parents:
- Copies of federal tax returns from both biological parents are required unless the applicant is independent as described above. Please note we are not able to accept FAFSA DRT data for parents as we do for student applicants.
- You should submit signed parent 1040s, W-2s, 1099s, and all tax schedules (e.g. Schedule A, Schedule C) as well as partnership or corporate returns if applicable (e.g. Schedule K-1, Form 1120 & 1065). If your parents are not required to file a 2018 federal income tax return please complete the Non-Tax Filing Statement form available on the forms page of our website. All parent W-2s for 2018 should be submitted to the financial aid office regardless of whether parents are required to file a tax return or not.
