Are You Eligible for Financial Aid?

The Financial Aid program is designed to help eligible students with educational expenses such as tuition and fees. The amount of financial aid a student receives is determined by the funding source and the student’s financial need.

Eligibility requirements include:

• Be a citizen or eligible non-citizen with valid Social Security number.
• Enroll in an eligible program.
• Qualify for financial need through FAFSA and iTECH process.
• Maintain satisfactory academic progress and attendance once enrolled.

For more information and applications, contact the Financial Aid Office.

How to Apply for Financial Aid (FAFSA)

Determine if you are an INDEPENDENT or DEPENDENT student.

You are an INDEPENDENT student if you…

• Are 24 years of age or older
• Are married as of today
• Have children you are financially supporting more than 50%
• Have dependents other than children whom you are financially supporting more than 50%
• Both parents are deceased or you are a ward of the court
• Are serving on active duty in the US Armed Forces
• Are a veteran of the Armed Forces
• Will be working on an MA, MBA, MD, JD, PHD, EDD or graduate certificate

If you answered “NO” to all the questions above, then you are DEPENDENT and MUST provide parental information.

Now that you have determined your dependency status you can proceed to completing your FAFSA application.

Step 1

Create an FSA ID. The FSA ID is your electronic signature. If you are a dependent student, your parent will need to create an FSA ID as well. To create an FSA ID, go to https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/personal-info

Step 2

Complete your FREE Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.ed.gov Read all instructions very carefully. A correct FAFSA will make the process very smooth. When completing your FAFSA application, you will need your tax return and W2’s for the request year on the FAFSA.

If you are a dependent student, you will need your parents’ tax return and W2’s for the request year on the FAFSA.

When completing the FAFSA application, the best way to report your income is by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT). If you use the IRS DRT, in most cases, no further documentation is needed to verify your income information that was transferred into the FAFSA if that information was not changed by the FAFSA filer after the retrieval. If you’re unable or you choose not to use the IRS DRT, then you will need to provide to the financial aid office a copy of income tax transcript AND your parents’ tax return transcript (if dependent) from the IRS.