Parental information on the FAFSA Forum

[lawpuppy]

I'm sure this gets asked a lot, but I'm unclear on the answer and reasoning. Some schools, such as Berkeley, request parent information on the FAFSA. Other schools do not. I see people often suggesting not to put parental information if possible, or to amend and remove it. What is the purpose of this? Does FAFSA actually use this parental information to derive your loan eligibility, even though graduate students are considered independent? If not, why remove this parental information?

Thanks!

[Perch]

+1, but more wondering if it is possible to submit the form to all of your schools that don't require it, then ammend and add the info and submit to the ones that do.

[lawpuppy]

+1, but more wondering if it is possible to submit the form to all of your schools who don't require it, then ammend and add the info and submit to the ones who do.

People have suggested that you can do this, but I don't understand why you would. If the school requires parental information, they will already get it elsewhere. If they don't require it, what would it matter if they have it? If they don't require it that would mean they only give merit scholarships, not need-based, so the parental information would just be ignored, right?