Undergraduate Financial Aid

How Do I Apply for Financial Aid?

How do I apply for Federal Financial Aid?

The Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs are the largest source of student aid in the U.S. Last year, undergraduate and graduate students received more than $100 billion in financial aid. You should file the 2012-13 FAFSA as soon after January 1, 2012 as possible. Follow these seven steps outlined below:

Step 1: Apply for a PIN (Personal Identification Number). A PIN lets you apply, "sign" your online FAFSA, make corrections to your application information and more – all online. Go to www.pin.ed.gov to apply!

Step 2: Collect the documents including income tax returns, W-2 forms, and other records of income to apply. A complete list of what you need may be found at www.fafsa.gov.

Step 3: Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as early as possible, preferably in January, in order to meet school and state aid deadlines. Apply online at www.fafsa.gov. SUNY Fredonia’s school code is 002844. If you are a New York State resident, please complete and submit the TAP application at www.tapweb.org.

Step 4: We strongly encourage families to file their initial 2012-13 FAFSA by January 31, 2012 using estimated income information. Once tax information is submitted to the IRS, families should wait two weeks and then access their online FAFSA to import 2011 Federal tax return data via the FAFSA-IRS Data Retrieval process.

Step 5: Review your Student Aid Report (SAR).

Step 6: If you are selected for verification, the Financial Aid Office will ask you to submit tax return transcripts (if applicable) and W-2 copies and any other necessary documents. Be sure to hand in this information in a timely manner as your Federal financial aid will be on hold until verification is completed. Make sure the Financial Aid Office has the information needed to process your financial aid.

Step 7: Contact the Financial Aid Office at (716) 673-3253 with any questions. Review your award letter and make sure you accept/decline any Federal Loans and/or Federal Work Study that you have been offered in a timely manner. Be sure to submit any requested materials as soon as possible.

How Do I Apply for the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)?

It is also recommended that you apply for TAP online at www.tapweb.org. As mentioned above, you should start the application process with the online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.gov. The New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) will use the FAFSA data as part of your online TAP application. After completing your FAFSA, there will be a link to the online TAP application on your FAFSA Confirmation Page.

To apply for TAP online, you need a HESC PIN (Personal Identification Number). Use the HESC PIN to "sign" your TAP application, keep track of your application information, or make changes. Once you have the HESC PIN, complete your TAP application online and insert SUNY Fredonia's TAP School Code (0915 undergraduate). Information from your FAFSA and your family's calculated New York State net taxable income are pre-filled on your online TAP application. You will be able to check the status of your TAP application online at any time.

Please be alert to HESC e-mails and respond to any requests or instructions. If you received TAP the year before and your application information is unchanged, you may only have to file a FAFSA to get TAP. The TAP application deadline is May 1 of academic year for which aid is sought.

Early application is strongly encouraged for both federal and state financial aid. Applications cannot be submitted before January 1 prior to the award year, but you should be applying in January in order to meet SUNY Fredonia's FAFSA filing deadline. Since funds are limited, early applications are given first consideration.

When Will I Hear About My Financial Aid?

1. Both new and returning students will receive an initial Financial Aid Award Letter in mid-March that will list all federal, state, and institutional aid that the applicant is eligible to receive.
2. If you have been awarded a Federal Work Study position, a Federal Perkins Loan, the TEACH Grant, and/or a Federal Subsidized/Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, you must go to http://www.fredonia.edu and log in to YOUR CONNECTION to accept, decline or accept partial amounts of these awards. Federal Work Study and Perkins Loan must be accepted by August 1 or the award will be cancelled and offered to another student. Refer to your award letter wrapper or the Financial Aid Literacy Guide for instructions.
3. To move federal awards to an authorized status for billing purposes, applicants may be required to go through the federally mandated verification process. If requested, federal tax returns and W-2 forms for the student and parents, as well as a verification worksheet, must be submitted. This information is needed in order to verify the accuracy of the data reported on the original FAFSA application (see below).
4. Throughout the summer the Financial Aid Office processes student aid paper work with the intention of making aid authorized for credit on the university bill by mid-July. Students must submit paperwork on a timely (as early as possible) basis in order to ensure that this occurs.

How is Aid Awarded?

Applicants for aid are considered based on all of the following criteria:

1. Funds available to the university from governmental, institutional and private sources.
2. Financial eligibility as determined by the U.S. Department of Education's FAFSA processing.
3. Date of receipt of FAFSA results from the Federal Central Processor.

Verification

FAFSA Verification Process

Many financial aid applicants will be required to verify the information that is reported on the FAFSA/Renewal FAFSA completed each year. Financial data, such as income, child support paid, and non-financial data, such as family size and dependency status, will be verified. If you are selected for Verification by the Federal government, you will have to submit the following to the Office of Financial Aid:

• 2012-2013 Federal Verification worksheet
• Proof of Food Stamps – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2010 or 2011 (if applicable)
• Parent/Student tax filer income information either by the IRS Data Retrieval Process, 2011 IRS Federal Tax Transcript, or if you did not file, a signed statement saying so
• Parent/Student 2011 W-2(s)

To request an IRS Federal Tax Transcript, go to www.irs.gov and use Form 4506-T, or quickly request a transcript by using the "Tools" section on the website and then clicking on "Order a Transcript," or call 1-800-908-9946.

FAFSA applicants who are selected for Verification must complete this process in order to move their Federal financial aid towards their direct charges. The FAFSA Verification process takes a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks, so it is highly recommended that students file their 2012-13 FAFSA by January 31, 2012 and turn in all requested Verification paperwork by June 1, 2012.

Updating FAFSA Through The Mandated IRS Data Retrieval Process

Beginning in January 2012, all 2012-2013 FAFSA on the web applicants, and the parents of dependent applicants, who indicate that they have filed their Federal tax returns prior to completing their FAFSA and who are otherwise eligible will be directed to use the FAFSA-IRS Data Retrieval process to complete their FAFSA more easily and accurately. Applicants who choose not to use this process, or who retrieve IRS data but subsequently change it on their FAFSA, will be informed that they will be subject to being selected for the FAFSA Verification process and will be required to support their reported FAFSA data with information obtained directly from the IRS. We strongly encourage families to file their initial 2012-13 FAFSA by January 31, 2012 using estimated income information. Once tax information is submitted to the IRS, families should wait two weeks and then access their online FAFSA to import 2011 Federal tax return data via the FAFSA-IRS Data Retrieval process.

Good Academic Standing and Receipt of Undergraduate Financial Aid

Requirements

State and federal regulations require that all financial aid recipients maintain program pursuit and make satisfactory academic progress toward completion of degree program requirements. The Financial Aid Office at SUNY Fredonia evaluates student aid academic progress according to state requirements for TAP, SUSTA and APTS at the completion of each semester and according to federal requirements for SEOG, PELL, TEACH, Work Study, Perkins, Stafford and Parent loans at the completion of the academic year. All three criteria in the charts below must be met in order to retain financial aid for the following semester. If a student withdraws from a course, it may affect his/her aid for the next semester.

New York State Good Academic Standing Chart for Undergraduate Students who first received TAP in 2010-11 and thereafter (TAP, SUSTA, APTS)

 

Before receiving this TAP payment you must meet all 3 criteria below	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9*	10*
Receive passing/failing grade for this percent of credit hours attempted during last semester	0	50% ft=6 pt=3	50% ft=6 pt=3	75% ft=9 pt=6	75% ft=9 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6
Must have accrued at least this many total credits	0	6	15	27	39	51	66	81	96	111
Maintain at least this Grade Point Average	0	1.5	1.8	1.8	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0

ft = full-time pt = part-time

* Only students in approved five-year programs (EOP, Medical Technology and Public Accountancy) are eligible for 10 semesters of undergraduate TAP. All other students are limited to eight semesters of undergraduate TAP.

Repeated Courses. Courses in which the student has already received a passing grade cannot be included in meeting full-time study requirements for state-sponsored financial aid. Repeated courses may be counted toward full-time study requirements if a student repeats a failed course, if a student repeats the course for additional credit, if a student has received a grade that is passing at the institution but is unacceptable in a particular curriculum, or when a student repeats a previously withdrawn course.

New York State Good Academic Standing Chart for EOP Undergraduate Students and Students Whose First TAP Payment was 2006-07 through 2009-10 (TAP, SUSTA, APTS)

Before receiving this TAP payment you must meet all 3 criteria below	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9*	10*
Receive passing/failing grade for this percent of credit hours attempted during last semester	0	50% ft=6 pt=3	50% ft=6 pt=3	75% ft=9 pt=6	75% ft=9 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6	100% ft=12 pt=6
Must have accrued at least this many total credits	0	3	9	21	33	45	60	75	90	105
Maintain at least this Grade Point Average	0	1.10	1.20	1.30	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00

ft = full-time pt = part-time

* Only students in approved five-year programs (EOP, Medical Technology and Public Accountancy) are eligible for 10 semesters of undergraduate TAP. All other students are limited to eight semesters of undergraduate TAP.

Repeated Courses. Courses in which the student has already received a passing grade cannot be included in meeting full-time study requirements for state-sponsored financial aid. Repeated courses may be counted toward full-time study requirements if a student repeats a failed course, if a student repeats the course for additional credit, if a student has received a grade that is passing at the institution but is unacceptable in a particular curriculum, or when a student repeats a previously withdrawn course.

Examples of requirements at different TAP payment levels follow:

1. A student who has received seven payments of TAP must complete at least 12 credit hours during the fall semester, maintain at least a 2.00 cumulative GPA, and have accrued at least 75 total credit hours to receive his/her eighth TAP payment in the spring semester.
2. A student who has received four TAP payments must complete at least 9 credit hours during the fall semester, maintain at least a 2.00 cumulative GPA and have accrued at least 33 total credit hours to receive his/her fifth TAP payment in the spring semester.
3. A student who has received three TAP payments must complete at least 9 credit hours during the fall semester, maintain at least a 1.30 cumulative GPA, and accrue at least 21 total credit hours to receive his/her fourth TAP payment in the spring semester.

Notification procedure

The Financial Aid Office will notify the student within one month after the conclusion of the Fall semester if good academic standing requirements were not met while the student received State aid, and within one month after the Spring semester while the student received State aid. The letter will inform the student of loss of aid at SUNY Fredonia for the semester immediately following the one in which the program pursuit and satisfactory academic progress standards were not met and will also apprise the student of the waiver procedure to follow if the student feels financial aid should be reinstated.

Waiver procedure

A request to reinstate State aid for the next semester at Fredonia will be evaluated and granted only if exceptional circumstances (e.g., family illness or death, personal illness, personal emotional disturbances, changes in education objective) can be documented by the student. Waivers of the Good Academic Standing criteria and reinstatement of aid are not automatic. They are approved only if in the best interest of the student and only if unusual circumstances prevented the student from meeting the expected criteria. A waiver to reinstate State aid is available only once during undergraduate study (with the exception of "C" average waiver). The waiver request form is mailed with the notification of aid loss to the student by the Financial Aid Office. A student choosing to use the waiver process to reinstate aid the next semester at SUNY Fredonia should complete and submit the waiver form (with appropriate documentation) to the Office of Student Affairs for evaluation.

Good Academic Standing Chart for Federal Aid (PELL, Perkins, SEOG, TEACH, Work Study, Stafford, Parent Loan)

Before receiving Federal aid at this grade level, you must meet all 3 criteria below	Grade Level 1	Grade Level 2*	Grade Level 3	Grade Level 4	Grade Level 5	Grade Level 6
Receive passing/failing grades for this percent of credit hours attempted during the last two semesters	0 ft=0 pt=0	50% ft=12 pt=6	75% ft=18 pt=9	100% ft=24 pt=12	100% ft=24 pt=12
Must have accrued this many total credits	0	12	30	54	78	102
Maintain at least this cumulative Grade Point Average	0	1.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00

ft = full-time pt = part-time

Receipt of federal aid is limited to 12 semesters (for students enrolled full-time), according to Federal Regulation 34CFR PART 668.16.

* Example: A first semester sophomore this fall semester, must have completed a total of at least 12 credit hours during his/her first two semesters and have a total of at least 12 hours and have at least a 1.00 cumulative GPA to receive federal aid this semester. The student must also complete a total of 18 credit hours and have at least a 1.60 cumulative GPA at the end of the spring semester to continue receiving federal aid for the next fall semester.

Students should be aware that course repeats do not count as a completion in determining Good Academic Standing.

Example: Two years ago a student received a failing grade for a course and during the current semester repeated it as a junior. To meet progress standards, the student must complete 12 new credit hours during the current semester in addition to the repeated course credit hours.

Part-time students enrolled beyond 12 semesters (up to 24 semesters maximum) must continue to complete 100 percent of hours attempted and maintain a 2.0 GPA.

As a rule, students should always check with the Financial Aid office when considering a withdrawal from courses or the university.

Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Final regulations published in the Federal Register on October 29,2010 (668.16 and 668.34) by the U.S. Department of Education require institutions that participate in the student financial aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended to (the HEA), to implement new guidelines, effective July 1, 2011; tied to the annual Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) review for federal student aid. SUNY Fredonia conducts a review of Satisfactory Academic Progress tied to the receipt of federal student aid on an annual basis, at the completion of the Spring semester. If a student fails to achieve satisfactory academic progress at that time, the institution may not award and disburse federal Title IV program funds to the student.

Incompletes and WD’s – effective 7/1/11, GPA and pace of completion are affected by course incompletes and withdrawals. Transfer courses must count as both attempted and completed hours when measuring quantitative progress.

Financial Aid Probation – this will be a new status assigned to a student who fails to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress review at the completion of the Spring semester, who has appealed that determination via the institutional Waiver process, and has subsequently had eligibility for federal aid reinstated. This status will be assigned for a single consecutive payment period and the student will receive Title IV funding while in this status. At the end of that payment period, the student must meet the institution’s SAP standards or meet the requirements of the “academic plan” that may have previously been developed by the institution to qualify for further federal aid.

The institutional SAP Waiver Policy and Use of Academic Plans is based on the following set of procedures:

• A student will be notified within four weeks at the conclusion of the Spring semester if he/she fails to meet federal Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements.
• If the student chooses to appeal the loss of federal student aid for the subsequent semester, he/she must submit a letter and include supporting documentation with the Waiver Application that supports the reason for failing to meet federal Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements along with an academic plan for reestablishing eligibility.
• The basis on which a student may file an appeal are the death of an immediate family member, student illness, illness of a family member, and/or other personal and emotional difficulties.
• The Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Waiver Committee will review the documentation and either approve or deny the Federal Waiver request and will subsequently notify the student via written and electronic means.
• If the federal aid waiver is approved, the student is placed in a Financial Aid Probation status for the next semester.
• Once in a Financial Aid Probation status, a determination will be made as to whether or not a student could meet the required SAP standards after the subsequent payment period and if not, the Dean/Department Chair will develop an “academic plan” in collaboration with the student to ensure that the student meets Federal SAP standards by a specific point in time. The “academic plan” then becomes the students mandate to meeting federal Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements in place of the standard federal SAP Chart.

2012-2013 University Costs

	N.Y.S. Resident	Out-of-State Resident
Tuition	$5,570	$14,820
Fees	$1,488	1,488
Room	$6,550	6,550
Food	$4,240	$4,240
Totals	$17,848	$27,098

Although every effort is made to keep university costs as low as possible, the costs can change during the year. The above figures are subject to change but were accurate at the time of printing. Students should plan on other indirect expenses (books, transportation, and personal costs) which may range from $1,500 to $2,000 for an academic year.