How Aid Works
students and parents supply when they complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
The information provided on the FAFSA is processed using a Federal Methodology (FM), established by the United States Congress, which calculates your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
When you complete a FAFSA, renewal FAFSA, FAFSA Express, or FAFSA on the Web, the
federal processor will send you an acknowledgment that your application was processed.
This acknowledgment will contain your EFC. The federal processor electronically transmits
the analysis of the data you submitted to each institution you specified on the FAFSA.
of how much it will cost for you to attend school, including tuition and fees, books
and supplies, room and board, personal expenses, transportation, and miscellaneous
expenses. This is called your Cost of Attendance, and will vary from one institution to another. Take a look at our "cost of attendance"
example below for more information.
To determine your financial need, your expected family contribution is subtracted
from the cost of attendance:
EXAMPLE | |
Cost of Attendance | $23,850.00 |
Less Expected Family Contribution | -3,400 |
Determined Financial Need | $20,450 |
We will create a financial-aid package based on your financial need
once we receive the results of your FAFSA and other required forms. It is Wilkes University's
policy to award scholarships and grants first, followed by employment and loans for
which you qualify. You may receive some types of financial aid in excess of your need,
up to the Cost of Attendance.
We will send you a Financial Aid Award letter that will outline the financial aid
included in your package. This notice will include general information about each
award offered and instructions for accepting or rejecting each award. Some awards
(e.g., Federal Stafford & Federal PLUS loans) may require supplemental applications.
even though the process of determining financial aid eligibility is basically the
same for all applicants. Wilkes University uses standards recommended by the National
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
Situations that might merit special circumstances include...
- unemployment for a period of at least 10 weeks.
- loss of untaxed income for a period of at least 10 weeks.
- separation or divorce after the FAFSA has been processed.
- death or disability.
- a family situation which may affect dependency status for financial aid purposes.
If you feel you have any special circumstances that might affect the amount of your financial aid, contact the Wilkes University Student Services before you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Aid received from the Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, State Grant, Wilkes Grant
and Scholarship, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Nursing Student Loan, Gulf Oil Loan
and Rulison Evans Loan are credited directly to the student's account each semester.
Amounts awarded from these programs will be deducted from the student's accounts when
all required steps have been completed to verify eligibility for these funds.
Normally, all financial aid awards are divided equally for the Fall and Spring semesters;
consequently, one-half of the annual award is deducted from each term. Awards of work-study
funds are not deducted from the student's account. Stafford and PLUS Loan funds are
credited to the student's account directly through electronic fund transfer or when
the student/parent signs the loan check.
Your financial aid is applied directly to institutional charges (tuition, fees, room
and board). Any excess funds will be available to you within 14 days of the date the
credit balance occurs. The Financial Services Office will notify you when excess funds
create a credit balance. The notice will be mailed to the address you have on file
with the Student Services Office.
Students who continue to meet initial eligibility requirements must reapply each year to determine eligibility for ALL aid programs. The renewal of financial aid is never automatic and failure to submit renewal requests and updated financial information may result in the loss of financial aid.
Each year student records are selected for a review process called Verification.
These records may be selected by the Central Processor for the Department of Education
or by the University.
Students whose records are selected will be sent a notification from the Student
Services Office of their status and an indication of what documents must be submitted
to complete the process. Typically, students must complete the appropriate Verification
Form and either complete the IRS Data Retrieval or obtain a copy of their IRS Tax
Return Transcript.
Up to three requests for these documents will be sent to each student. If the appropriate
documents are not received after three requests, no further action will be taken on
a student’s request for financial aid until the documentation is received by the Student
Services Office. Once all the documents are received, a comparison of the original
data on the Free Application for Federal Student Financial Aid and the data on the
documents will be completed. If all of the information is correct, no change will
be necessary to the financial aid package and payment of funds to the student’s account
will occur.
If corrections are necessary and a student's eligibility for financial aid changes
as a result of those corrections, a new financial aid award notification will be sent
to the student.