Childhood Information

In this subsection, you must answer questions related to your childhood, including questions about how you paid for college. To help you answer these questions, we define several important terms:

Immediate family: The federal government broadly defines immediate family as “spouse, parent, child, sibling, mother- or father-in-law, son- or daughter-in-law, or sister- or brother-in-law, including step and adoptive relationships.”

Medically underserved: Based on your experiences or the experiences of immediate family and friends, you may believe the area in which you grew up was “medically underserved” if there was an inadequate number of health care providers to meet the needs of the area; health care providers include physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and other health care services.

State and federal assistance programs: These programs are specifically defined as means-tested programs under which individual, family, or household income and assets must fall below specified thresholds. The sponsoring public agencies then provide cash and noncash assistance to eligible individuals, families, or households. Such programs include welfare benefit programs (federal, state, and local); Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); unemployment compensation; General Assistance (GA); Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Medicaid; and housing assistance.

Pell Grant: A Pell Grant is money the federal government provides to students who have, among other factors, demonstrated financial need. To determine whether you were ever a recipient, you may wish to review your past financial award letters or contact your graduating institution’s financial aid office.