Financial Aid

PSU PRIORITY FAFSA FILING DEADLINE: MARCH 1

 

FAFSA4caster will help you get an early start on the financial aid process by providing you with an early estimate of your eligibility for federal student aid. If you use FAFSA4caster, when you’re ready to officially apply for aid, FAFSA4caster will transfer all of your data to the FAFSA on the Web application, making the experience of applying for federal student aid (beginning January 1 and by PSU’s priority deadline of March 1) a lot easier for you.

Have questions?

Visit FAFSA On The Web to help identify what you need to do before, during and after filling out FAFSA. It will also help you with any questions you might have as you complete your application.

Use the 2012-2013 FAFSA on The Web Worksheet as a guide by completing the worksheet before entering data on the FAFSA.

You may also be interested in watching 7 Easy Steps to the FAFSA or reading Mark Kantrowitz’s Answers on the FAFSA for more information about the process.

 

For information on who is eligible for federal aid, click here.

 

Step 1

Apply for a Personal Identification Number (PIN) for the student and one of the custodial parent(s) (if dependent student) from the Department of Education.

Your custodial parent is defined as the parent you lived with most (if parents are divorced) during the past twelve (12) months. The PIN will then be used by you and a custodial parent to electronically sign (E-sign) your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Please keep your PIN in a secure place as the PIN will be used throughout your educational career.

If a student would like us to be able to discuss his or her financial aid account with a parent not listed on the FAFSA, or with any other third party, we must receive a permission form signed by both the student and the parent(s) listed on the FAFSA. Please note: Student Account Services requires a separate form to speak with parents and other parties. Please contact them for more information.

Step 2

Beginning January 1, annually complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) prior to PSU’s March 1 priority deadline.  We suggest that returning students use the FAFSA Renewal section of the FAFSA. The FAFSA Renewal uses information provided on your prior year’s FAFSA. To use this feature, select “Start Here” to log in and you will be given the option to complete a FAFSA Renewal. You only need to confirm and provide updated financial data.  To assure that the priority deadline of March 1 is met, the FAFSA allows you to provide estimated information.   If using estimated income, you must update your FAFSA data once your tax forms are complete. We recommend using the IRS Data Retrieval tool.

The FAFSA is the only application required by PSU (School Code 002591) and must be completed annually.  Print and save copies of your FAFSA submission for your records. Once the data is submitted, the Department of Education will forward your FAFSA information electronically to all schools you authorize to receive your data. PSU draws in FAFSA data weekly. We recommend that you file your FAFSA on the Web.  Tip: Use your and, if requested, your parent’s PINs to electronically sign the FAFSA.

Once your FAFSA has been submitted, you will receive an electronic Student Aid Report (SAR) that will provide you with a copy of your FAFSA data. Should revisions to your FAFSA be required, please make these changes directly online. The FAFSA ensures fair and equitable determination of family resources for each applicant by using Federal Methodology in computing an expected family contribution (EFC). The Department of Education Central Processing System (CPS) provides the needs analysis calculation to PSU where trained personnel review and verify the information to determine student aid eligibility. The Financial Aid Team assumes that a student and family will contribute toward the cost of education according to their means. Eligibility for financial aid is determined based upon:

Student Earnings: Each student should work and save for educational expenses.

Student Savings and Other Resources: A portion of the student assets are expected to help offset educational expenses.

Parent Resources: A reasonable contribution toward expenses is expected each year from the income and assets of parents. This expected contribution is based on annual income, number of dependents, number of children in college, and family assets and liabilities.

Step 3

PSU’s Priority filing deadline for the FAFSA is March 1 for the following school year.

All applicants should adhere to the March 1 deadline or they may be considered LATE and will only receive financial aid pending availability of funds. Normally only Federal Pell Grants, Federal Direct Loans, and State Scholarships/Grants are available for late applicants.

Only students admitted to a degree-seeking program (i.e. Bachelor’s degree) will receive a financial aid award.

PSU’s award notification process starts in March for NEW incoming accepted students and mid-spring for returning students. Once all requirements requested by the Financial Aid Team (posted in myPlymouth) have been satisfied, your application will be considered complete. PSU is committed to a paperless process as our contribution to “Go Green”.  Our applications are reviewed and financial aid awarded (packaged) on a weekly basis.

Step 4

The federal government or PSU may select your FAFSA application for a process called Verification.

The FAFSA Verification process has significantly changed starting with the 2012-2013 academic year. If selected for Verification, you will receive an email from the PSU Financial Aid Team indicating the need for additional documentation.  Any FAFSA selected for Verification will require use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool  or an official IRS Tax Return Transcript to satisfy federal FAFSA requirements.  Therefore, when completing your FAFSA form, if your family’s taxes have been filed with the IRS, we strongly encourage you to select the “IRS Data Retrieval” option.  If you submit your IRS tax return after completing the FAFSA form, please log back into your FAFSA and use the “IRS Data Retrieval” option approximately 1-2 weeks after submitting your IRS return.

If you amended your tax return, you must submit both an IRS Tax RETURN Transcript and an IRS Tax ACCOUNT Transcript.

Only after the Verification process has been completed, will PSU be able to complete your financial aid award (package). Be sure you (and parent, if dependent) immediately return any requested forms to avoid delays.

Note: Please allow adequate time for staff to review your documents and understand we may need to ask for additional documentation if further clarification is needed.

Step 5

PSU will notify you electronically regarding your aid eligibility.  Your actual award will be posted in myPlymouth.  Emails will be sent notifying you that your financial aid award is available and directing you to myPlymouth for specific information. For NEW incoming students, we will use the parent and student email addresses listed on the most current FAFSA. For RETURNING undergraduate students, we will use the students’ PSU email address and the parents’ FAFSA email address.

Step 6

All financial aid awards will be considered accepted unless the student notifies the PSU Financial Aid Team of his or her wish to decline the entire award, or a portion of the award.

Step 7

Students are required to notify PSU Student Account Services of all non-PSU scholarships received.

Please be advised that outside scholarships may or may not affect your current financial aid award. PSU’s policy for treatment of outside scholarships is that they will first be used to meet “unmet” need, then any adjustments will be made in the following order:

1.       adjustment to Federal College Work-Study eligibility,
2.       adjustment to Federal Direct Unsubsidized and Subsidized Loans,
3.       adjustment to any need-based institutional grants

 

Step 8

New Federal Direct Loan borrowers are required to sign in to the Department of Education’s Direct Loan site to Complete Entrance Counseling. PSU will be notified once you have completed and submitted this requirement.

Federal Perkins Loan borrowers wishing to accept this loan are required to visit Mapping Your Future to complete the Online Federal Perkins Student Counseling requirement.  PSU will be notified once you have completed this requirement.

Step 9

Once financial aid awards are identified, students who choose to access DL loans must complete the Master Promissory Note (MPN) process for the Federal Direct Loan (DL).

If Parent(s) plan to apply for the Optional Parent PLUS Loan identified with each student’s award, a Parent Request and a Master Promissory Note (MPN) are both required.  (The Parent Request form replaces the “Complete PLUS Request Process” link found on the StudentLoans.ed.gov website.)

Please note: Your MPN is not considered complete until you reach the screen with the following message – “Thank you for submitting the MPN. You may view/download the PDF version of your completed MPN.”

Student who have been awarded the Federal Perkins Loan must also complete a separate Federal Perkins Master Promissory Note.

If a student is interested in applying for non-Federal loans (use as a last resort!), assistance can be found through PSU’s Alternative Loan page.  Loan amounts should be requested to cover expenses for the entire school year instead of on a semester basis.  Visit the 2012-2013 Estimate Costs page to assist you in determining the amount of loan needed.

Step 10

If families have special financial circumstances which they were unable to report on the FAFSA, they may request that PSU review these circumstances.  The PSU Financial Aid Team will review and, if possible, adjust awards based on documented circumstances.

Once the PSU team receives your request, we will notify you of needed documentation. All appeals require that PSU first Verify all information that was reported on the original FAFSA.  After all documentation is received, a review will be completed to see if additional eligibility can be identified.  Caution:  Previously awarded aid may be lost if inaccurate information was reported on the original FAFSA.  This may occur when families have reported “estimated” income which would have been used to identify eligibility for aid and, subsequently, actual income (as reported to the IRS) changes eligibility and/or when families fail to report untaxed income (i.e. retirement funds not taxed for a current year). Changes for which we will review include situations such as: illness, loss of job, reemployment, loss of a parent, or changes in number of children in college

PSU in accordance with Federal and State laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, veterans status, sexual preference or handicap in admission or access to, treatment of, or employment in its programs or activities. Inquiries regarding this policy should be made to the Vice President for Student Affairs, PSU, Plymouth, NH 03264 or Office for Civil Rights, Washington, DC 20201.