After You Apply

Review the status of your FAFSA 3–5 days after you submit it. Make any necessary corrections as soon as possible to make sure your financial aid is processed quickly and accurately.

Be sure to avoid these common mistakes:

• Switching two numbers (for example, “$1,200” instead of “$2,100”)
• Adding too many or too few zeroes to a number
• Listing your parents’ income as yours (and the other way around)
• Forgetting to have your parent electronically sign the application with their FSA ID

Your FAFSA will be processed with the information you provide, so make sure everything is correct.

In some cases, you may need to make specific changes to your FAFSA to meet eligibility requirements for awards from the state. Check ScholarTrack for details.

You may be asked to verify the information you provided on your FAFSA before you can be declared eligible to receive financial aid. If you’re selected for verification, we’ll contact you by email and your To Do List to tell you what you need to do.

The most common verification tasks are submitting a tax return transcript or a verification of nonfiling form.

Be sure to complete verification as quickly as you can and turn in all required documents at the same time to avoid delays with your financial aid. We’ll process your file within three weeks after we have all of your documentation.

Don’t wait too long. If you submit your documentation at the end of the semester, there is no guarantee that your verification will be completed before the last day of classes. This could affect your financial aid eligibility, and we may be required to cancel any existing awards you received.

Email is our primary way of communicating with you. Make a habit of checking your university email on a regular basis—if you miss a crucial message, it could delay your aid.

Once your eligibility has been reviewed, you’ll get a financial aid notification (FAN). Take time to review your FAN with your family. It gives the details about your financial eligibility, expected costs, and other important information.

Get familiar with your aid package and your cost of attendance (COA). If you receive more funding after your award package has been put together, and that funding causes your aid total to exceed your COA, your award package may change. In some cases, your aid can change even if it doesn’t exceed your COA.

Monitor your To Do List regularly to keep track of issues related to your financial aid. Anything that shows up on your list must be completed in order for you to receive your awards. Be sure to check the list regularly and turn in all requested documents as soon as possible—most forms take at least 10 business days to process.

Grants and scholarships are automatically accepted on your behalf since they represent money that you don’t have to earn or pay back. You must manually accept, reduce, or decline all other awards—otherwise, they won’t be applied to your bursar bill.

If you accept part or all of a Federal Direct Loan, you’ll need to go through entrance counseling and sign a master promissory note (MPN).

Signing a Title IV authorization allows your Title IV financial aid such as Federal Pell Grants and Federal Direct Loans to go toward charges other than tuition and fees (for example, your parking permit or meal plan). We strongly recommend that you complete this authorization.

If your financial aid is greater than your bursar bill, you’ll be sent a refund for the difference. With direct deposit, you’ll get that money faster.

If you want to let a parent, spouse, sponsor, or other person to be able to check on your financial aid, you can grant them access.