Apply for Aid

Getting Started

The most important process in applying for financial aid is filing the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) each year. This is the fastest and most accurate way to apply. At ASU, the FAFSA is the only application required for Federal and State Aid for fall and spring semesters.

ASU’s FAFSA school code is 001005

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for any form of federal, state, or institutional financial aid, you must fulfill the following requirements:

1. You must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
2. You must have a valid social security number.
3. You must be admitted into a degree-seeking program. You may apply for aid before you are admitted but you must be admitted before aid can be awarded or disbursed to you.
4. If you are a male of at least 18 years of age, you must be registered with selective service.
5. To retain eligibility you must maintain satisfactory academic progress.
6. To receive most types of aid at ASU, you must be a full-time student.
7. First time college students must have a high school diploma, a General Educational Development Certificate (GED), or home schooled.

Apply early for...

Financial Aid - The first day that you can submit the FAFSA for the new academic year is October 1. You must apply for financial aid every year. Some types of aid are limited in funding; therefore, you must apply early. It is recommended that all students complete the application as early as possible each year.

Admission - ASU cannot provide you with an estimated award offer until you are admitted. You can apply for financial aid before you are admitted, but we cannot tell you what you are eligible for until you are admitted.

Financial Aid Scholarship Fraud

Every year, millions of high school graduates seek creative ways to finance the markedly rising cost of a college education. In the process, they sometimes fall prey to scholarship and financial aid scams. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), perpetrators of financial aid fraud often use these telltale lines:

• The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back.
• You can't get this information anywhere else.
• I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship.
• We'll do all the work.
• You've been selected by a 'national foundation' to receive a scholarship or ' or 'You're a finalist', in a contest you never entered.

To file a complaint, or for free information, students or parents should visit the FTC Scholarship Scams Website or call 1-877-FTC-HELP(1-877-382-4357).

Keep up with your application for aid. Once the U. S. Department of Education processes your FAFSA, you will have access to a Student Aid Report (SAR), either through an online summary of the online application process, or through a printed document mailed to you if you apply using paper FAFSA.

It is important that you check your SAR for accuracy, and respond to any comments or notices posted by the federal central processor on the Student Aid Report. The Federal Center Processor sometimes needs additional data before the application can be considered complete – comments on the Student Aid Report will guide you through the process.

ASU will notify you if any additional documents are required for completion of your financial aid application. Keep copies of any documents that you submit. Make sure that the student’s name and social security number are on the top corner of all documents submitted.

The ASU Office of Financial Aid will provide you with online access to your financial aid file. To monitor the progress of your financial aid, you can log into your Hornet’s Web for students.

Financial Need/Award of Need Based Aid

The data provided by you to the federal central processor on the FAFSA form is put through a calculation established by the federal government. This calculation establishes an Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Your eligibility for need-based aid is calculated by subtracting your EFC, along with any outside resources (i.e. Veteran benefits, scholarships, tuition waivers, fellowships, etc.) from your Cost of Attendance (COA). This gives the financial aid office your financial need at ASU.

Examples

If your EFC and other resources are less than the COA, then you may have financial need, and every effort is made to meet that need with a package that may include grants, work-study, and subsidized loans. Apply early otherwise you may find that the only funds available are from loan programs.

The Award Notification

Once ASU has your official EFC from the Federal Central Processor and you have been officially admitted to the university, we will notify you of your eligibility for aid (generally starting in early May of each year) by posting an estimated award offer on the Hornet’s Web for student. This notification will specify all the aid for which you are eligible. Read the Terms and Conditions, as it will include information on how to accept, reduce or decline an award. If you are awarded a loan, you have the right to decide if and how much you want to borrow. You may accept a loan in full, refuse in full, or accept an amount less than offered.

If you have applied for scholarships or state financial aid programs, we may not be aware of those awards until you or the agencies notify us. If you know of additional awards that you will be receiving (awarded, not applied for), you will need to notify the Office of Financial Aid. If additional awards are not reported and recalculated in your financial aid eligibility, you may later have to repay federal, state or institutional aid awarded and disbursed to you.

The Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to revise awards based on new information (i.e. outside resources, data corrections due to the verification process, change in residency, etc.) If your eligibility changes, a revised award notification will posted on Hornet’s Web for students.  Your actual receipt of payment will depend on your continued eligibility and your enrollment in the required number of hours required for each award program.