My adult daughter (19 years old) is renewing her financial aid documents (FAFSA) and they want more information on me than they do on her! I'm not applying for financial aid, but they want my SSN (and my wife's), my income, if I filed my taxes, how much I paid, if I have any other income... It's ridiculous. I am not paying on her school loan in any way, I didn't co-sign. She lives with me, but pays me rent because her mother has real problems and abandoned her.

I attached two images showing just HOW MUCH information they're requesting, and my wife is telling me "don't worry. It's because she's under 23." She's over 18. I don't really care if she's under 23, she's her own woman. Why should I feed all this information to anyone? Why are they going after the information of the relatives of an adult?

Why is the financial aid of an adult person who is legally allowed to vote and stand on her own in any other way based on my income? That would be like basing my financial aid on the income of my adult neighbor. And my daughter has the drive of a wet cardboard box, unfortunately. I won't co-sign on anything until she shows me the ability to work hard and overcome some adversity. Too much quit in her right now.

Don't know about the USA, but in Germany that's a normal thing. As long as a child is studying or learning a job for the first time, the parents have to pay for it. The state will only help when the parents can't afford it (that's why the information is needed).
In many cases you are even financial responsible as a first grade relative after that. For example children have to support their parents when they are old and need care.

Guarantors are generally limited to immediate family members. Normally, this would be a parent but guarantors can include siblings and grandparents. Some lenders will allow extended family members and even ex-spouses to be a guarantor to a loan, but this varies depending on the lender.

If you're unable to pay back the loan according to the terms of your contract, the lender can take legal action against you, and in some circumstances, your guarantor. Your guarantor will be liable for the amount specified in the guarantee. Anyone who is considering being a guarantor for a property loan should seek independent legal and financial advice before accepting the role. Most lenders will insist on this, prior to accepting a guarantee.

How exactly does a 19 year old asses his/her networth? ;P When I was 19 I had a Ford Escort and a pack of chewing gum to my name.

It makes sense. For all they know you could be hiding money, that is why they want your information so as not to waste it on people who don't really need it but those that they can prove they desperately need it. And your neigbour analogy doesn't really fit since the state (or whoever is behind that aid) just assumes that parents want to help out their children however they can, neighbours statistically speaking likely seldom do that.

Sounds about right for here (and Ireland too from what I remember), even over 18 it is the parent's income that would be taken into account for these kind of things.

For example you could have an unemployed 18 or 19 year old whose parents are millionaires, why should they get aid when their parents can clearly afford to put them through it?
Whereas you could have someone who worked but whose parents are broke / unemployed and would therefore struggle to afford the fees etc. without aid despite their income.

On the other hand you could have parents that didn't spend anything by saving responsibly versus parents that spent it all on garbage.

And now your all out of gum...

The Escort is gone too.

That's why he has to make do with kicking ass these days...

Whats up did you run out of cash for her?

Traded her in for a Focus.

Did they lower it to 23? When I went to school you had to provide parents' proof of income through age 25. It's normal, has been like this at least since the 90's.

The reason being is it's unfair for a wealthy "kid" to get financial aid over a poor "kid" - it's based primarily on income, as you've seen. There's really nothing you can do except comply, unless you don't want your daughter going to school. Depending on the state, she may not even get any financial aid at all if you don't provide your info.

It was like that in California when I went to a local college. Even though I was 23, I had to have my mother who was 3 thousand miles away fax tax documents and provide proof her husband wasn't financially responsible for me.

Sucks, but that's the way it is. Education is a money maker these days, and they want to be sure that no one's getting anything at a discount that doesn't deserve to.