Confused about your financial aid? These are questions that are commonly asked by students and/or parents. 

If you have any questions that are not answered here, please contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance at 786-1480 or just stop by the University Center.

• What kinds of financial aid are available?
• How do I apply for financial aid?
• Okay I have my letter and I have accepted my award now what? 
• What does verification mean?
• What is the difference between a subsidized Stafford loan and an unsubsidized Stafford loan?
• What is an Entrance Loan Counseling Session?
• What is the difference between grants, scholarships, and loans?
• Where can I get information on scholarships?
• Do I qualify for financial aid?
• How or when is a student dependent or independent?
• If I drop a class, how will this affect my financial aid?
• What does it mean that I must complete my program in a 150% timeframe?
• What is the difference between financial aid probation and academic probation?
• How do I transfer financial aid from here to there?
• Why isn’t my financial aid here?.
• What lender should I pick?
• What if my income has been reduced due to life circumstances or I've lost my job?
  

The Office of Student Financial Aid participates in Federal TITLE IV programs. These are the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal College Work Study, Federal Stafford Loan, and Federal Parent Loan Programs. In addition we participate in the State of Alaska Supplemental Education Loan (ASEL, formerly Alaska State Student Loan) program. UAA also has a large number of scholarships and tuition waivers each having unique eligibility requirements.

The process of applying for financial aid begins with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This can be done online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.  You must be admitted to a degree or certificate program at the University in order to qualify for federal and state programs. Once you submit your FAFSA, the Department of Education will process your file and send you a Student Aid Report (SAR). All the schools you have listed on the application will receive the information electronically. Once we receive this we can determine if additional documentation is required. Additional documentation could be proof of citizenship, a copy of a social security card, signed copies of tax returns, or many other items. We will generate a financial aid award letter based upon your eligibility determined by the information submitted on the FAFSA.

Choose a lender. Check out the Lender List at the financial aid web page and do your research. Double check for fees, interest rates, and other requirements. If you need extra help understanding the lingo, go to our Loan Information webpage.

Verification is a process that the Department of Education uses to ensure that applications are accurate. Approximately 30% of all applications are selected for verification. When you are selected, we must collect a signed, completed verification worksheet, copies of your tax returns, information related to untaxed benefits such as social security or military housing, documentation of family size, or any other documents that may be needed for your specific situation. We compare this information with the data you reported on the FAFSA. If there are discrepancies, we must then correct the data and transmit it to the Department of Education. It generally takes 3 or 4 working days to get the corrected data back.

Both types of loans are federally guaranteed loans, but with a subsidized Stafford loan, the federal government pays the interest while you are in enrolled in school at least half-time or during other approved deferment periods. An unsubsidized loan is similar except that the student is responsible for interest from the time the loan is disbursed.

All first-time student loan borrowers at UAA are required to complete Loan Counseling before their loan can be disbursed. This is done on-line and takes about 20 minutes. It is a process designed to inform you of the rights and responsibilities associated with your student loan.

All students who drop below half-time status, withdraw or graduate, must complete an Exit Loan Counseling session.

There are three basic types of financial aid. Grants and scholarships are both “Gift Aid”–money that you do not have to earn by working and it generally does not need to be repaid. The difference is that grants are primarily based on financial need, while a scholarship is usually based, at least in part, on merit. A special type of scholarship is a tuition waiver. It is different because it only pays tuition and not fees or any other student expense. A loan on the other hand, is a type of financial aid that must be repaid with interest by the student. The repayment is usually after the student leaves school or drops below half-time enrollment.

The deadline to apply for UAA and UA Statewide Scholarships is February 15th.  The main scholarship application is available via UAOnline.  Visit the UAA Scholarship website for additional information and instructions.  You can also find information on "The University of Alaska Foundation" page. Other scholarship information can be found in a variety of places. If you are an Alaskan Native, check with your corporation. If you are Native American from outside Alaska, check with your Tribal Government. You can also look in the local areas such as your high school counselor, Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions Clubs.  Be aware of Deadlines when you are applying for scholarships.

The basic requirements are to:

1. Be a US citizen or permanent resident of the United States
2. Have a high school diploma from an accredited high school or GED
3. Be admitted as a degree or certificate seeking student at UAA. (There is an application fee, generally $40) 
4. Males over the age of 18 must register with the selective service.
5. Not be in default of a federal student loan or owe a repayment on a federal grant.

Students who meet these basic requirements should qualify for some type of financial aid regardless of income. The type cannot be determined until you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

This question is the cause for a great deal of confusion. To best answer this question you need to understand that this applies only in determining how to apply for student financial aid and has no bearing on IRS definition or Court decrees of Emancipation. The US Department of Education is using a definition as defined by the Congress of the United States to allocate finite funds to a large population of applicants.

Financial Aid recipients are required to make Satisfactory Academic Progress. The consequences of dropping a class vary and can only be determined by looking at the student’s current SAP standing and course load. Generally speaking, a student who is currently in good standing must complete at least 75% of his or her required credits and maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA (exceptions are students who are only half-time or less to start). So a student in good standing could drop from 12 to 9 credits and only receive probation assuming they pass all the other courses with satisfactory grades and maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA. A student who is already on probation must pass the minimum number of credits required in each category (12 for FT, 9 for 3/4, 6 for HT, and all for less than HT.)

Financial aid probation means that you have not made Satisfactory Academic Progress in the prior term and must do better in the current term to maintain eligibility. It is important to note that financial aid probation is a function of the percentage of credits earned compared to credits attempted. Academic probation deals only with a students cumulative GPA. The results of Academic Probation are removal from the degree program if the GPA is not improved.

Strictly speaking financial aid does not transfer from one school to another. Pell Grant eligibility should be fairly constant, but all other awards must be re-evaluated at the new school. The first step in the process is to have the information from your FAFSA sent to the new school. If you have your Student Aid Report (SAR) you can call 1-800-4-fed-aid and tell them where you want the information sent. You will need the Data Release Number (DRN) from the upper right corner of the SAR. Alternatively, we can add the school code to your application from our office or your new school can do it. After you have sent your information to them you must contact the new school and find out what other documents they need. Each school may have slightly different requirements and you may need to resubmit copies of the same information you gave to the first school. Make sure you disclose to both schools that you have attended elsewhere, especially if you were disbursed aid during that award year.

This can be a difficult question to answer. Some of the reasons are:

• Forgetting to list UAA’s Federal Title IV code 011462 on the FAFSA.
• Waiting to file for financial aid too close to the start of the semester. As a general rule it is best to file for financial aid 3 months prior to the start of classes.
• Not responding to requests for information. Generally all work stops on your file until the requested information is received.
• Outside agencies sending scholarship checks late. As a general rule scholarship checks need to be received 10 working days before the start of the semester.

While we have a list of lenders with whom we have had successful experience, a student may choose any participating lender. If you choose a lender not on the list, it may slow the process because we may not have electronic funds agreements or electronic processing capabilities for that lender. The basic terms of the loan are the same for all lenders. Many lenders presently offer discounts of fees or interest, but be aware these are not guaranteed and many times unredeemable by the student depending on their specific circumstances.

• If you have already completed the FAFSA and your income has been reduced due to life circumstances or you lost your job; you can complete the Professional Judgment: Request for Income Override Form.

• Make sure  you complete the FAFSA and answer ALL the questions prior to submitting your Professional Judgment (PJ).  Remember BLANK is never considered 0 when entering dollar amounts of your FAFSA.