Appeal Process

You may appeal your dependency status, Satisfactory Academic Progress Suspension status, and evaluation of income and assets, based on unusual circumstances. The following guidelines will assist you in preparing an appeal that provides us with the required information to make a decision on your individual situation. Always include your name, address, phone number, student id or social security number, and semester for which you are appealing. Incomplete appeals will delay processing.

I. Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals

We understand that students sometimes have unusual and unexpected situations that arise during a semester, which affect academic performance. However, in most cases you were previously on financial aid probation, so this is the second semester you have not met the standards. If you had extenuating circumstances, write a letter of appeal to the Director of Financial Aid that includes the following information:

• Explain in detail why you were unable to meet the policy's standards.
• What has changed since then to assure us that you will be able to meet the standards in the next semester?
• Attach supporting documentation, which may include letters from doctors, instructors, advisors, counselors, etc. This documentation should also verify that your circumstances have changed sufficiently to assure your success in the future.

II. Dependency Status Appeals

The federal and state government, which provides our financial aid funds, are very clear in their expectation that the student and their family have the primary responsibility for paying for higher education, to the extent they are able. Students are only considered independent for financial aid purposes if they meet one of the criteria established by Congress (see Step 3 on the FAFSA). The Director of Financial Aid may override the requirement to include parent information in cases where the student is unable to provide parent information due to extraordinary circumstances. Overrides will not be approved in cases where your parents are merely unwilling to complete the FAFSA. Appeals will also not be considered simply because you support yourself financially. There must be an unusual situation that makes it impossible for you to obtain your parent's information.

If you feel you have extenuating circumstances, write a letter of appeal, which includes the following information:

• What are your current family circumstances that prevent you from obtaining your parent’s information on the FAFSA
• Do you have contact with your parents at all? If not, when was the last time you had contact with them?
• How do you support yourself? If you are not supporting yourself, who is supporting you? Who pays for your room and board, utilities, medical insurance, car payments and car insurance if you have a car?
• Attach supporting documentation of your circumstances. This is required! Ideal documentation includes letters from doctors, counselors, social workers, clergy, teachers, guidance counselors, lawyers, court papers, etc. The person writing this letter must identify their relationship to you.

III. Re-evaluation of Income and/or Assets Reported on the FAFSA

We recognize that since you are required to report income and assets from the previous year, sometimes circumstances change. In other cases there are circumstances that are not reflected on the FAFSA. The most common situations are a change to income due to a job loss or reduction in work hours, significant medical expenses, significant child care expenses, assets that had to be used to pay for an unexpected expense.

In these cases, write a detailed letter explaining the circumstances. You must also include supporting documentation. Examples of supporting documentation includes:

• Job loss or change in hours - documentation from employer, on employer's letterhead, verifying the change of work status along with earnings to date and expected earnings in the current year. Also a statement regarding unemployment benefits and any severance pay. We need documentation that supports all earned and expected income for the current year, for the student and spouse if married, or if this is for a change to parent income, documentation of the parents whose income was reported on the FAFSA. If the job has ended, a final pay stub showing cumulative annual earnings will verify earnings to date.
• Medical expenses - documentation of expenses not covered by insurance.
• Child care expenses - bill or statement from child care provider.
• Unexpected expenses - bills or other statements verifying these costs.