Financial Aid Award Guide
- Understanding your Financial Aid Award
- Accepting or declining the financial aid being offered
- Finalizing your Federal student loans
- Federal Verification of your financial aid application
- Under what conditions your financial aid could change; and what you need to do in order to keep receiving financial aid in future years
Read & review your financial aid award letter thoroughly. A financial aid award consists of gift aid (such as scholarships and grants which do not have to be repaid) and self-help aid (such as student loans and work study which must be borrowed or earned). While financial aid is meant to assist students in making college more affordable, students may not receive financial aid in excess of their cost of attendance.
- If you have been selected for Verification as indicated on both your Student Aid Report and your award letter, please see below
- List on your award letter all educational funding from outside resources (e.g. employer, CAEL, Veterans Administration, military assistance, Vocational Rehabilitation, Health and Human Services, outside scholarships, etc.)
- Want to decline any part of your award? Simply draw a line through the award source(s) that you wish to decline or write in the lesser amount
- Sign, date and return both front and back of the original copy of your Award Letter to the Office of Financial Aid
- Keep the copy that is marked Student Copy for your records
- Complete federally required Entrance Loan Counseling to understand your rights and responsibilities as a borrower.
- If you plan to use Federal Student loans for the current Financial Aid year (July 1, 2009 - June 31, 2010) you will need to select a Stafford Loan Lender and sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN) with the chosen lender
- If you plan to use Federal Student loans for next Financial Aid year (July 1, 2010 - June 21, 2011 - Including CE term 6) see Direct Loan information
A student’s FAFSA may be selected by the U.S. Department of Education for a process called federal verification.
Students who are selected for federal verification will be asked to provide additional documents to the Office of Financial Aid. Historically, 30% of all FAFSA applicants are selected for this process.
If you filed the FAFSA as an dependent student, you will be required to provide the following documents:
- A signed copy of (student and parents) 2008 Federal Income Tax Return (s). (1040, 1040A, 1040EZ)
- 2009-2010 Dependent Verification Worksheet
- 2008 W-2 Forms (all) from student and parents
- All applicable schedules to a 2008 1040 tax return (student and parent) especially the schedule “C”
If you filed the FAFSA as an independent student, you will be required to provide the following documents:
- A signed copy of (student and spouse) 2008 Federal Income Tax Return (s). (1040, 1040A, 1040EZ)
- 2009-2010 Independent Verification Worksheet
- 2008 W-2 (all) Forms from Student/Spouse
- All applicable schedules to a 2008 1040 tax return (student and parent) especially the schedule “C”
These documents will be used to either confirm or correct information submitted by the student and/or parent on the FAFSA. Since a student’s financial aid eligibility is based on information provided on the FAFSA, any changes in the data may affect a student’s financial aid award. For this reason, awards will not be finalized until verification has been confirmed. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.
If you filed the FAFSA as an dependent student, you will be required to provide the following documents:
- A signed copy of (student and parents) 2009 Federal Income Tax Return (s). (1040, 1040A, 1040EZ)
- 2010-2011 Dependent Verification Worksheet
- 2009 W-2 forms (all) from student and parents
- All applicable schedules to a 2009 1040 tax return (student and parent) especially the schedule “C”
If you filed the FAFSA as an independent student, you will be required to provide the following documents:
- A signed copy of (student and spouse) 2008 Federal Income Tax Return (s). (1040, 1040A, 1040EZ)
- 2010-2011 Independent Verification Worksheet
- 2009 W-2 (all) forms from student and spouse
- All applicable schedules to a 2009 1040 tax return (student and parent) especially the schedule “C”
These documents will be used to either confirm or correct information submitted by the student and/or parent on the FAFSA. Since a student’s financial aid eligibility is based on information provided on the FAFSA, any changes in the data may affect a student’s financial aid award. For this reason, awards will not be finalized until verification has been confirmed. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.
Your financial aid award is determined on the basis of the information you, your spouse, and/or parents provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). We rely on the accuracy of this information in determining your eligibility and in making this aid offer. Your original award is subject to change at any point during the academic year for any of the following reasons:
- Updated information from the U.S. Department of Education
- Information supplied through the appeal or verification process
- A change to your program of study
- Changes in enrollment status (i.e., full-time to part-time, withdrawing or dropping classes).
- Receipt of additional assistance (within or from outside the university)
- Housing changes
- Satisfactory academic progress deficiencies.
In the event that an award must be modified, you will receive a revised award letter.