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Marriage Changes for Financial Aid

The FAFSA is a “snapshot” of your status, as of the day you submit your application. Students who have a change in their marital status after the filing of the FAFSA may find that their ability to pay for school has changed. The financial aid office can review your current status to determine if updating your marital status on your FAFSA will better reflect your ability to pay for school or if updating your marital status will better address an inequity. These decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis and our office must document the reasons for it. It is important that you first meet with a Financial Aid Counselor before you make any changes to your FAFSA application. If the Financial Aid Counselor deems it necessary and approves the marital status change, we will provide you with instructions on how to make these updates on your FAFSA application and what documentation we will require to proceed with the update.

Who is Eligible to Change their Marital Status

Current Academic Year

Students may only petition to change their marital status on the FAFSA if they were married by December 31 of the current academic year. Any student married after December 31, will not qualify to change their marital status for the current academic year.

Next Academic Year

It is recommended that students wait to complete their FAFSA until after they are married if possible. Boise State’s priority deadline is February 15, and we do recommend you still complete your FAFSA on time. If you get married after the priority deadline and you have already completed your FAFSA, you will want to meet with a Financial Aid Counselor.

Deadlines

You must be married or divorced/separated by December 31st and documents fully submitted by April 1 if enrolled in Spring semester. We cannot process your change if you are not continuing to enroll in courses for the term.


Decisions to update marital status are made on a case-by-case basis and are based on the documentation you provide. We advise that you still submit your FAFSA before the February 15 priority date. Once married, separated, or divorced we recommend making an appointment with the Financial Aid Office to talk about options regarding your dependency status.

Dependent Students Getting Married

The FAFSA is a snapshot of your status on the day you submit it. Therefore, report your marital status as of the day you submit the FAFSA. This is significant if you are a dependent student and plan to be married after the filing of the FAFSA but during the current award year. 

You are still considered dependent unless you wait until after the marriage to complete your FAFSA application. You are NOT required to update your FAFSA if you just got married since it is a snapshot of the day you submitted. If updating your FAFSA better reflects your ability to pay or addresses an inequity, a Financial Aid Counselor may approve the change.

How to Change the Marital Status on your FAFSA

Make an appointment with the Financial Aid Office by calling, emailing, or coming to our office in-person. Be prepared to talk about you and your spouse’s income, taxes paid, assets, and family size. You likely will also discuss current financial and living situations to get the best picture of your current situation. If it’s determined that the marital status change addresses an inequity or it more accurately reflects your ability to pay to pay for college. The Financial Aid Counselor will direct you to update your marital status on your FAFSA application on www.studentaid.gov to add your spouse as a FAFSA contributor and import your spouse’s tax information onto your FAFSA by using the Direct Data Exchange. All other pertinent information should be updated to be consistent with the new marital status. Once you have made the appropriate updates to your application, the Financial Aid Counselor will assign additional document requests for you to complete to verify your update. You will be able to find these on your myBoiseState Student Center.

Dependent Student – Marital Status Update Steps

  1. Meet with your school’s Financial Aid Counselor by scheduling an appointment by emailing, calling, or coming in-person to our office. 
  2. If deemed appropriate by the Financial Aid Counselor. Log on to your FAFSA application to update your marital status and all other pertinent financial aid information to be consistent with your new marital status.
  3. Import your spouse’s tax information to your FAFSA by using the Direct Data Exchange. 
  4. Submit and complete a Marital Status Change Form to our office. 
  5. Submit and complete your Marriage Certificate to our office. 
  6. Submit and complete an Unreported Asset Information Form (reflecting the new marital status) to our office. 
  7. Submit and complete a Family Size Form (reflecting the new marital status) to our office. 
  8. (Non-tax filers only) Submit a Verification of Income Information Form to our office. 
  9. (Non-tax filers only) Submit all Federal W-2 Form(s) or equivalent documents (non-tax filers) to our office. 

After you have made the appropriate updates to your FAFSA application and after all documents are reviewed. You will receive an email that your FAFSA has been updated. Within 2-3 weeks you will then receive an updated financial aid offer. Please keep an eye on your email. We often have to reach out to students for additional information.

Independent Student Marriage Change

Updating a student’s marriage status for an independent student is not guaranteed. A Financial Aid Counselor will work with the student to determine if an update will address an inequity or better reflect the applicant’s ability to pay. If you have already completed a FAFSA, you are NOT required to update your FAFSA as it is a snapshot in time. 

For students who were unmarried at the time of filing their FAFSA and are getting married who are already considered independent, in most cases the marital status update will not benefit you. You may come to the Financial Aid Office to discuss the changes, but you are NOT required to update your FAFSA to reflect the changes to your marital status. 

Students who are independent and have a change in their marital status from married to separation or divorced should set up an appointment with a Financial Aid Counselor to discuss potential inequities. During this meeting the Financial Counselor will determine what documentation you will need to proceed with the marital status change. Students who would still be considered independent, will be selected for verification. To verify the separation, Boise State may collect separation agreements, copies of utility bills and leases to show the student and their spouse are living separately, or other documentation as necessary.

Students who are under the age of 24 and who become unmarried due to separation or divorce after the filing of the FAFSA and that makes them dependent (because they were independent only due to marriage), will be required to provide parental information on the FAFSA and the student’s FAFSA form must be updated with their parents’ information.

How to Change the Marital Status on your FAFSA

Make an appointment with the Financial Aid Office by calling, emailing, or coming to our office in-person. Be prepared to talk about you and your spouse’s income, taxes paid, assets, and family size. You likely will also discuss current financial and living situations to get the best picture of your current situation. If it appears that the marital status change will benefit you, a Financial Aid Counselor will initiate verification checklists and document requests for you to complete and submit to our office. Depending on your circumstance we may instruct you to update your marital status on your FAFSA application on www.studentaid.gov and update all other pertinent information to be consistent with the new marital status. You will be able to find your document checklists on your myBoiseState Student Center. Independent students who have approved marital status changes will be selected for verification and be required to submit documentation to our office for the change in marital status. In some instances, the Financial Aid Counselor will through the verification process update all pertinent information to reflect the new marital status.

Independent – Marital Status Update Steps

  1. Meet with your school’s Financial Aid Counselor by scheduling an appointment by calling, emailing, or coming to our office in-person. 
  2. If changing from married to separated or divorced status and if the marital status update is deemed appropriate by the Financial Aid Counselor. Your file will be selected for verification and we will request documentation to confirm your new marital status. 
  3. Depending on your circumstance we may instruct you to update your marital status on your FAFSA application on www.studentaid.gov and update all other pertinent information to be consistent with the new marital status.
  4. Submit and complete a Marital Status Change Form to our office. 
  5. Submit and complete an Unreported Asset Information Form (reflecting the new marital status) to our office. 
  6. Submit and complete a Family Size Form (reflecting the new marital status) to our office. 
  7. If your marital status is changing from married to separated or divorced and you filed a joint return with your ex spouse, you will be asked to submit a signed copy of your signed Form 1040 with applicable schedules and/or your IRS Tax Return Transcript.
  8. If your marital status is changing from married to separated or divorced and you filed a joint return with your ex spouse, we will request a Separate Tax Line Items Form that is pre-filled by the Financial Aid Counselor to separate your income from the joint tax return. 
  9. (Non-tax filers only) Submit and complete a Verification of Income Information Form to our office. 
  10. (Non-tax filers only) Submit all Federal W-2 Form(s) or equivalent documents to our office. 

After you have made the appropriate updates to your FAFSA application and after all documents are reviewed. You will receive an email that your FAFSA has been updated. Within 2-3 weeks you will then receive an updated financial aid offer. Please keep an eye on your email. We often have to reach out to students for additional information.

Getting Married FAQ

Are you changing your name?

We recommend that you not change your name on the FAFSA yet (if you have legally changed your name) unless you have a Social Security card in your possession that has your new name on it.

Will the financial aid office verify my spouse’s and my income?

All students that go through this process will be selected for verification. Please visit our verification web page for more information on this process. You may be required to submit all income information to the financial aid office for review.

If approved for a marriage change on the FAFSA, how will the financial aid office assess the information?

These decisions are assessed on a case-by-case basis and our office is required to document the reasons for the marital status update. If the marriage change is approved, all other pertinent FAFSA information would be updated to be consistent with the new marital status.

My partner is a student, how does that work?

If your spouse is also considered a FAFSA dependent after the filing of their FAFSA application.  Your spouse should schedule a meeting with a Financial Aid Counselor and follow a similar process with updating their FAFSA information to reflect the new martial status.

Can I still get the Parent Plus Loan if approved?

If you are a FAFSA Independent student due to the marital status change. No, You cannot continue to receive a Parent Plus Loan if approved. 

If you were previously considered Independent and are now a FAFSA dependent due to the marital status change, your parents would be able to apply for a Parent Plus Loan.

I am already independent, can I do a marriage change?

In most cases, students who are changing from an unmarried status to a married status do not benefit from a change of marriage if already independent. Students who are changing from married to separated or divorced should schedule an appointment with a Financial Aid Counselor. If the marital status change is approved and reflects an inequity you will be selected for verification to exercise our discretion to update your marital status and all other associated information.

I already updated my FAFSA, what happens now?

You will automatically be selected for verification. This may mean we have to pull back aid that you have already received until the verification process is completed. Please contact the financial aid office for more information.