There’s something strange about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid when a student who is financially independent must document parental income, though none of this money will fund the student’s education.

Zach Biegun ’11 shocked us with his tale of living day to day without a home — camping out in tents, stashing some clean clothes in cubbies on campus — sacrificing any semblance of a “normal” college life in order to earn a degree.

But what really makes us angry is the unfair disadvantage Biegun faces due to FAFSA’s rigid regulations that qualify him as a “dependent,” requiring him to report his parent’s earnings despite the fact that not one penny of their income is supporting him.

Federal Student Aid states on its website that a student is independent if and only if he or she is 24 years of age or older, is applying for a master’s or doctoral degree, is married upon applying, has children or other dependents that depend on half of said student’s income, is the child of deceased parents, is currently on active duty for the Armed Forces or is a veteran of the Armed Forces.

Additionally, according to FAFSA Online, “The FAFSA does not take into account unusual family circumstances or situations like legally emancipated minors.”

These qualifications unjustly exclude a number of students like Biegun, who cannot afford to pay for college on their own and are provided with less-than adequate aid due to one arbitrary and inaccurate word on their FAFSA: dependent.

Although creating guidelines, rules and regulations is fundamental in creating an efficient and successful government program like federal financial aid, there is a disconnect that lies between FAFSA standards and the reality of students’ needs.

It is curious why the Internal Revenue Service does not consider a full-time student who provides more than half of his or her own support to be a dependent on his or her parent’s tax forms. In other words, someone like Biegun, who cannot be acknowledged as a dependent on federal tax forms, can be defined as a dependent by Federal Student Aid.

The Obama Administration has been talking about simplifying the daunting FAFSA for some time. We hope the government acknowledges these discrepancies and works to define what “dependence” really means when it comes to administering aid.