Securing the Aid You Were Offered

The financial aid award notification provides information about the source and amount of financial aid funds that a student has been awarded. The College assumes that students will accept all merit-based scholarships and need-based grants offered and no further action is required to secure these funds. However, there are additional steps required to secure some financial aid resources. 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.

Note: 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 web site.

• Calculate the actual cost.
  Use the Student Account Worksheet to determine the amount of educational costs to be covered by the family for the academic year. If the student or the family needs to access loan funding beyond what is listed on the award notification, please refer to the Loan page for information about Federal PLUS and private loan options.

• Were you selected for Verification?
  If the statement “Estimated Award – Verification Required” appears in red on the financial aid award notification, further processing will not take place on the funding offered 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 these 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.