Income

• The U.S. Department of Education will place heavy emphasis on your income as a dependent in determining your eligibility for financial aid. According to FAFSAOnline.com, the government will exempt the first $2,440 of your personal income before determining that you are responsible for paying 50 percent of the remaining income toward your own education. On the other hand, if you are an independent student, the FAFSA does not consider your parents' income and does not place such heavy emphasis on your income, which could lead to a larger Pell Grant award than if you were a dependent.
  
  

Dependent vs. Independent

• According to EducationGrant.com, students may incorrectly assume that dependency status for purposes of the FAFSA is the same as those for tax purposes. However, because the government assumes that most parents contribute in some capacity to their children's' post-secondary education, this is a false assumption. The U.S. Department of Education has specific rules regarding whether you are a dependent or independent with regard to Pell Grant eligibility. Even if you have a job working full-time and live alone, you may still have to apply as a dependent on the FAFSA. To qualify as an independent student, you must be 24 years old, married, a parent with dependents, currently serving or a veteran of the U.S. military, an orphan, an emancipated minor, a homeless minor or a self-supporting minor.
  
  

Assets

• In addition to income, assets are another important variable in determining your federal Pell Grant eligibility. Like income, if you complete the FAFSA as a dependent student, your assets weigh much more heavily on your financial aid eligibility than your parents' assets do. According to FAFSAOnline.com, student assets have a 20 percent assessment on the FAFSA, while parental assets are only assessed at six percent. For this reason, your parents should avoid saving for your college education in your name, and instead do so in their own accounts.
  
  

Considerations

• If you believe that your or your parents' income is too high to qualify you for a federal Pell Grant, try lowering your adjusted gross income for the tax year. To start, you can make contributions to a retirement account, deduct your moving expenses and alimony payments, make contributions to a health savings account or deduct any self-employment health insurance you paid for your family throughout the year.