Financial Aid

Accepting Or Declining Your PSU Financial Aid

Your financial aid award will be considered automatically accepted. If you wish to decline any or all of your financial aid, please  email or write the PSU Financial Aid Team. You may decline or reduce any or all aid as long as you notify us in writing.

Your Responsibility

As a condition for receiving federal financial aid funds, you must notify us in writing of any of the situations or conditions listed below. Changes in your aid may be required due to these conditions. Failure to report these conditions may result in cancellation of aid.

1. Advise us if you plan to change your enrollment status(i.e. from full-time to part-time, or vice-versa).  Generally, only students enrolled at least six hours or more are eligible for financial aid. Federal financial aid is only available to pay for classes which meet your degree requirements.  Should you choose to enroll in a course(s) which cannot be used to meet your degree requirements, we are unable to provide you with any federal assistance for those classes. Please note that students who enroll for three hours (or more) may be eligible for Federal Pell Grants, limited to high need students only.
2. Advise us if you plan to graduate mid-year. Aid awards are based on each term a student normally would enroll during the academic year.
3. Students are required to notify Student Account Services  of all non-PSU scholarships received.  These are awards which were not part of your original PSU financial aid package but have since been awarded to you.  Please click here for forms and instructions on how to report these scholarships.
4. 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:
   • adjustment to Federal College Work-Study eligibility,
   • adjustment to Federal Direct Unsubsidized and Subsidized Loans, and finally,
   • adjustment to any need-based institutional grants
5. Any resources which become available to a student after their original award may require an adjustment to those programs originally identified.

Loans

Federal Direct Loans

Two (2) Steps Are Required:  For Federal Direct Loan borrowers, students are required to complete:

1. ENTRANCE COUNSELING SESSION – NEW borrowers to Federal Direct Loan are required to complete an Entrance Counseling session.
2. Master Promissory Notes (MPN) will be needed for NEW Federal Direct Loan borrowers.

For more information about Federal Direct Loans and loan limits, please see our Federal Direct Loan webpage.

Federal Perkins Loan

Borrowers will receive an email from ACS (PSU’s Federal Perkins Loan servicer) with instructions on how to complete the Perkins Master Promissory Note (MPN) online.  A separate Entrance Counseling Session is also required for new Perkins Loan borrowers.

Federal Parent PLUS

If your parents wish to obtain a Federal Direct PLUS Loan, they must complete a loan request and a Master Promissory Note (MPN); this loan is NOT an automatic award.  The PLUS loan application will be submitted for a credit review and approval of the loan will be based upon Department of Education PLUS loan criteria.

NOTE: If you intend to either reduce or decline your Federal Work Study so that you may apply for a higher Federal Direct PLUS loan amount, please submit your request at least a day prior to applying for the loan.

Federal Work Study

Federal Work Study awards allow you to participate actively in meeting the cost of your education while gaining valuable work experience. You receive work study money directly; it is not applied to your bill. Work study earnings are paid every two weeks and are adjusted for federal taxes.  It is the student’s responsibility to find a job on campus.  See the Student Employment website for more information.

Gift Aid

Federal Pell, Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants (SEOG), state grants, and PSU Grants make up need-based gift aid.  Federal and state grants are based on current year funding from state and federal governments and are subject to change.  If any awards change due to funding availability, PSU will notify you after we receive official notification from the appropriate agency(ies).

Before Federal Pell Grants are able to disburse, PSU may need to receive an updated FAFSA transaction with all changes recorded and accepted.

State Grants will be finalized once we receive an award roster from the appropriate state agency. However, if you receive an award notification from your state agency, please send us a copy of the award notification. Our fax is (603)535-2627.

Estimated Awards

Financial Aid awards are based upon estimated costs. Actual billed rates are approved by the University System of New Hampshire’s Board of Trustees each year and are reflected on your PSU semester bill which is available online at the beginning of each semester. For specific information about billing, please visit the Student Account Services website .

A Quick Guide to Financial Aid terms is available from the from FastWeb!.