For survivors of child abuse, college isn’t just school – it’s a sanctuary

Abstract

Though child abuse and neglect are an epidemic in the United States, experts estimate that they are grossly underreported, leaving hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children and adolescents at risk for short- and long-term physical and mental health sequelae. Abuse victims may be able to find eventual relief in college, but costs can be prohibitive when colleges expect abusive parents to contribute tens of thousands of dollars to their children’s education. The current piece examines current policies in place for students to request dependency overrides in financial aid and barriers to appealing on the claim of abuse. This piece ends with a summary of recommendations intended to make the appeal process more equitable and favorable for victims.

Keywords:

• Child abuse
• child maltreatment
• college
• financial aid
• dependency override

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that theresearch presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States and received approval from the Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.