[DSTCHAOS]

I worked financial aid for years and people over a certain age are considered independents. So, unless the person was legally a dependent, our federal and financial aid investigations would render you ineligible to officially claim that your parents are supporting a 30 year old. We would've thought you were lying for aid, too, but the outcome would be the same even if we thought you were telling the truth.

That sucks because there are different circumstances but the regulations exist for a reason. There are exceptions to the laws and regulations but a 30 year old brother who decided to go back to school, but would otherwise be an independent, doesn't qualify as one. If he was a medical student who had to report his parents' information for certain institutions there may have been a way around the regulation (at some insitutions).