Application Process

FAFSA

Each applicant requesting federal financial aid must have a current and valid Institutional Student Information Report (ISIR) on file with the University and the U.S. Department of Education. The FAFSA must be completed on-line at: www.fafsa.ed.gov.

From the application data, the SFS department obtains the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and makes a preliminary determination of Federal Pell Grant eligibility. The application data is also used to determine the amount of a student’s Federal Stafford Loan eligibility.

A FAFSA is required for each award year in which a student wishes to receive aid, but in some cases, an ISIR may be used for multiple award years. Students starting courses before June 21, 2022 may complete the 2021/2022 FAFSA. New students starting courses after June 21, 2022 must complete the 2022/2023 FAFSA.

Verification

Students selected for Verification must complete a Verification Worksheet. In most cases, a completed Verification Worksheet is sufficient to complete Verification when students use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool available when completing the FAFSA online.

Additional information may be needed to be verified depending on which verification group a student is placed in. 

Master Promissory Note (MPN)

In order to be eligible to receive a Stafford loan, a student must sign an MPN. The MPN will be completed by the student on the MPN web site, which will include the Borrower’s Rights and Responsibilities.

Under the multi-year feature of the MPN for Stafford loans, students are able to obtain additional loans without having to sign a new MPN for each academic year. However, a new MPN will be required at the University in the following situations:

• No disbursements were made on the MPN within 12 months of the date the borrower signed the MPN or
• Ten years have passed since the date the student signed the MPN; if a portion of the loan is made on or before the ten-year limit on the signature date, remaining disbursements of that loan can be made

The Financial Aid Office can refuse to certify a student’s loan application on a case-by-case basis, if the reason is documented for its action and the office provides the reason to the student in writing.

Entrance Counseling

Entrance counseling is required before students can receive a first Direct Loan as an undergraduate student, or a first Direct Graduate PLUS Loan as a graduate student. Student access entrance counseling by logging in to www.StudentLoans.gov using their FSA ID. Additional Loan counseling is required for students borrowing Graduate PLUS loans with endorsers or adverse credit history.

Financial Aid History

Prior to disbursing FSA program funds, the University will check the financial aid history for a student who has received aid at another institution. This will be done by reviewing the financial aid history from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).