How Aid Works

Financial need is determined using information 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.

Each college or university determines an estimate

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.

There is some flexibility for specific circumstances 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.

Receiving Your Financial 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.

Financial aid is awarded on a yearly basis.

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.