Of all the many, many, many questions students have about completing the FAFSA, one of the first to be asked is often about their parents. Do they really need to provide their parents’ financial info on the FAFSA? Of course, the answer is usually yes—but there are some students who would be considered “independent” in the eyes of the financial-aid-providing powers-that-be. The trick is figuring out who would actually fit into that category. 

Happily, the Federal Student Aid office has taken the guesswork out of the equation by creating an easy-to-follow infograph that uses a series of questions to route the student to the appropriate “dependent” or “independent” qualification. Use it with kids embarking on the FAFSA journey—or keep it on hand for a cheat sheet of your own. Either way, it’s one more tool to help access that financial aid that turns high school students into college students. 

Click the image above to view the full infograph.