Students whose families experience a change in financial circumstances are eligible for a review of those changed circumstances.
Special circumstances include, but are not limited to the following:
Loss of job or reduction in income of parent or student or spouse, if married)
Loss or reduction of some type of untaxed income or benefit
Separation, divorce or death of one of the student’s parents or student’s spouse
If you feel you have circumstances that will affect your eligibility to receive aid, please contact your counselor or submit a letter to our office explaining your situation.
We encourage every student to apply for financial aid. Remember, a student needs to apply every year; the fact that a student did or did not receive aid one year does not mean that the same will be true in a succeeding year.
The Financial Aid Office conducts a number of activities after the first of the year to assist students with completing the FAFSA. They will be notified of these activities through the Financial Aid Office newsletter and through this Web site.
To be considered for financial aid at Illinois State University a student must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which can be done two different ways.
NOTE: Paper FAFSAs will not be available at high schools or colleges for the 2008-2009 academic year.
A FAFSA cannot be completed until January 1. You and your student can, however, now go to Federal Student Aid Pin Web site and request a U.S. Department of Education PIN if you do not currently have one. Your PIN number(s) allow you to electronically “sign” your FAFSAs and eliminate the need for mailing a signature page.
Illinois State University’s preferential filing date for completing the FAFSA is March 1 each year. Students must complete and submit the FAFSA by that date in order to be considered for aid types, including the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the Student-to-Student Grant, the Perkins Loan and Federal Work-Study.
Students should also begin searching for private scholarships. Many free scholarship search programs can be found through our Scholarship Resource Office. You may also contact clubs, foundations, organizations, corporations, and churches from your hometown for additional information regarding possible scholarships.
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