Securing the Aid You Were Offered

Students are encouraged to use the checklist below to ensure that they have completed all the necessary steps to secure the aid offered to them.

In order to ensure that financial aid funds are available on the first day of fall semester, all steps for securing aid should be completed no later than August 1.

• Review your award. Review the financial aid award notification and carefully read the information on this website.
• Calculate the actual cost. Use the Student Account Worksheet to determine the amount of educational costs you will need to cover for the academic year. Completing this worksheet may help you determine exactly how much of your student loan eligibility will need to be borrowed. Remember that you are not required to borrow the full amount of your loan eligibility, even though many students will need to.
• Were you selected for Verification? If the statement “Estimated Award – Verification Required” appears in red on your financial aid award notification, your loan funds will not be released until the verification process is complete. Please see the Verification page for information about verification and to identify the documentation that must be submitted in order to comply with this requirement.
• Process your loans. Students who wish to borrow any loan funds offered on the award notification should go to the Loan page. Students can then follow the instructions to process the particular loan(s) listed on the award notification. Please read the information on the Loans page to learn more about the specific loan programs and procedures for securing those funds.
• Report your outside scholarship winnings to SFS. Use the “External Resources” form found on the Forms page to report any external resources the student will receive that are not already listed on the award notification.