Step 1
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Make sure you use the proper Title IV School Code of 003051 for all students at Kent State University. If you will be attending one of our
Regional Campuses, include the 003051 school code as well as the code from the chart that
corresponds to the Regional Campus you wish to attend.
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Step 2 (for entering students)
| Phone | 1-800-988-KENT or 330-672-2444 |
| kentadm@kent.edu | |
| Web | www.admissions.kent.edu |
Step 3 (for students taking summer classes)
That's it! Once you have been admitted to Kent State
University and Kent receives your application information from the Federal Government, you
will receive a Notification of Financial Aid (Award Letter) in March or April from the
Student Financial Aid Office notifying you of your aid.
September - December
Start a Scholarship Search. First, start with the Kent State University Scholarship Search Qualifier. This program will help you determine which scholarships you may qualify for at Kent State. Next you will want to utilize some of the top Online external scholarship search engines. Try sites like FastWeb.com, Scholarships.com, BrokeScholar.com and more. Click here to go to our overview of the top external scholarship search sites. You may also try; your guidance counselor, local community, church organizations, library, and parents’ place of employment are also good places to find scholarships. Click here to go to our scholarship page to find out more how to successfully search for scholarships oppontunities.
Early January - Mid February
File the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year during this time period in order to meet the priority processing deadline of March 1. Important Note: Students may use estimated tax information if tax returns are not completed (submit the FAFSA to the federal processor by February 1).
When you receive your Student Aid Report (SAR) from the federal processor, read it carefully and check it over for any items that may need to be corrected. If you must make corrections, please update Part II of your SAR and mail it back to the address provided for you on your SAR. Corrections can also be made on the Web by going back to the FAFSA Web site and select "Make Corrections to a Processed FAFSA" under the "FAFSA Follow-Up" section..
March - April
Respond immediately to any requests for additional information from the federal processor or the Kent State University Student Financial Aid Office.
Initial Financial Aid Award Letters are mailed to admitted first-year students who have completed all necessary paperwork. If you need additional funding after you are notified of your financial aid award, contact the Student Financial Aid Office for alternative sources of funding.
April - June
Initial Financial Aid Award notifications begin to arrive for continuing students.
July - August
Master Promissory Notes for Direct Loans need to be signed. This can be done electronically by following the directions from the electronic signature page on our Web site. Note: A Master Promissory note is a ten year loan note, so once signed, the student will not need to sign another for 10 years. Therefore, future loan awards will be automatically accepted once offered, unless you reject it on the award letter of notify the Student Financial Aid office. If you would like to take the loan, complete the servicer copy of the promissory notes as soon as possible over the Web using your electronic PIN number to sign your note.
All students must logon to Flashline (via the Kent State homepage) to accept, decline or reduce the offered loan amount.
Payment is due to the Bursar’s Office in August for the fall semester.
Q. What is financial aid?
Financial aid is funding to assist paying for your
college education that comes from sources outside of your family. Gift aid and self-help
aid are two categories of financial aid. Gift aid comes in the form of grants and
scholarships and does not have to be repaid. Self-help comes in the form of loans and
employment. Financial aid at Kent State University is awarded to students based on
financial need and/or merit. A student may have a combination of grants, loans,
scholarships and employment for a financial aid award.
There is some type of financial aid available regardless of your income.
Q. Who is eligible to receive financial aid?
A person must be officially admitted and enrolled as a regular student in an eligible program to receive federal aid funds. A regular student is someone who is officially accepted for enrollment for the purpose of obtaining a degree or approved certificate. If the student is merely allowed to take some courses before being officially admitted to the program (for example, a Guest student), the student is not considered to be a regular student and will not be eligible to receive federal financial aid until they are officially admitted to a degree or certificate program.
Q. How do I apply?
Obtain a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from your high school guidance
counselor or from the Student Financial Aid Office. File as soon as possible after January
1 (mail by February 1) of each year in order to meet Kent State University's priority
processing deadline of March 1.
Students may apply for financial aid through the World Wide Web. The federal government's FAFSA website can be linked to by clicking here. In addition, this Student Financial Aid Office website provides links to the federal government website here which allow students to file the FAFSA as well as calculate financial aid estimates.
The federal government's "Frequently Asked Questions" on the FAFSA, can be accessed by clicking here.
Q. What happens after I
apply?
Once Kent State University receives your
financial aid application results from the federal processors, we determine your
eligibility based on your financial need. At that point the student's
record runs through our automated processing programs and an Initial Financial Aid Award Notification letter
is mailed to the student. As subsequent adjustments are made to your
financial aid notification, an email will be sent notifying you of any changes.
Web for Students is always the most up-to-date information about your student
aid and we encourage you to view that often. Web for Students can be
accessed by clicking here.
Q. What if I plan on
attending a summer session?
Those students who wish
to apply for financial aid over the summer terms should file the FAFSA early
enough to meet the March 1 priority processing deadline. In addition, you
must complete the Summer Financial Aid Application available here. Many financial aid
programs have yearly maximums, so any aid you choose to use in the summer may
lessen the amounts you receive for fall and spring semesters.
Q. How is my financial aid
award determined?
The federal government has established a formula which
determines your expected family contribution, or EFC, and can be found on the
top-right corner of your Student Aid
Report (SAR). This formula, which is used by colleges and universities throughout the
country, estimates your family’s financial strength in order to determine the amount
your family should be able to contribute to the cost of education for the academic year.
Family income, assets, size of the family, number in college, as well as an allowance for
retirement are among a few of the items evaluated by this formula. The expected family contribution
(EFC) is subtracted from the cost of attendance to determine your financial need.
Once this is determined, the student financial aid office is able to determine the
types and amounts of federal, state, local and institutional aid you are
entitled to receive. These include both need and non-need based aid.
Once the award(s) have been determined the student is mailed an official
financial aid notification, often called an "award letter".
Example: |
|
| Cost of Attendance | $12,000 |
| - Expected Family Contribution | 3,500 |
| = Financial Need | 8,500 |
Q. What is a Student Aid Report
(SAR)?
A Student Aid Report is the analysis of the data you
reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The Student Aid Report
has your calculated Expected Family Contribution (EFC) on it, and that number is used to
determine your eligibility for financial aid.
You should receive your Student Aid Report from the federal processor four to six weeks after filing the FAFSA. Around the same time, Kent State University will receive an electronic version of this report from the federal processor which we use to determine your financial aid award. If you do not receive your SAR within six weeks after filing the FAFSA, you should contact the Federal Student Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 to check the status.
Q. If I receive my Student Aid Report and it says I am selected for verification, what do I need to do?
Verification is a process that confirms, or verifies, data reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Kent State University participates in a Department of Education program called the Quality Assurance Program. As a member of this program, the Student Financial Aid Office (and not the federal government) determines which students will be selected for verification and requests the appropriate documentation directly from the student and/or parents. If your Student Aid Report indicates you were selected for Verification and you plan to attend Kent State University, you can disregard that message.
If the student is selected for Verification based on Kent State University's verification guidelines, the Student Financial Aid Office will contact the student and request the appropriate documentation.
Participation in the Verification process is not optional. If the student does not submit the requested documentation, the student will not be eligible to receive federal financial aid as a Kent State University student and parents of dependent students will not be eligible to receive a PLUS loan.
Q. What if my family has a special circumstance that will affect how much we can pay?
Students who have special circumstances (i.e. loss of income, high medical expenses, etc.) should contact their personal financial aid counselor. Each inquiry at Kent State University will be reviewed for any allowable changes that may help you and your family afford the cost of education.
Q. What if I never attend
or need to exit in the middle of a semester?
Kent State University is required by federal
law to review the enrollment activity of its federal (Title IV) financial aid
recipients. A student is considered a Title IV financial aid recipient if
he/she has received any of the following federal awards: Federal Pell Grant,
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Perkins
Loan, William D. Ford Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and Federal PLUS
(Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) loans.
Federal financial aid eligibility is based upon student attendance. Therefore,
if a student stops attending the University and does not complete the official
withdrawal process through the Registrar’s
Office, he/she is considered to have unofficially withdrawn from the
University and is subject to the Title IV refund policies based upon the last
date of attendance at an academically-related event. If the last date of
attendance is not known, then the midpoint of the semester will be used as the
withdrawal date.
If a student never attends the courses registered for in a given semester, the
student is considered to be an unofficial withdrawal. In this case, all Title
IV, state and institutional aid will be returned to the appropriate programs.
Students are notified within 30 days of the end of each semester as to their
appeal process and date at which aid will be returned to the federal programs.
If a student is a recipient of federal financial aid, a change in enrollment,
never attending classes, or withdrawing from the University may result in the
student having to repay programs from which financial assistance was received.
A student is not eligible for a refund until all Federal Title IV programs and
other grants and scholarships are reimbursed as required and all outstanding
balances with the University has been cleared.
Q. What is a Federal PLUS
loan and how can I get one?
A Federal PLUS loan is a federally
regulated loan that a parent/step-parent may borrow to help cover the cost of their
child's education. A FAFSA must be completed and on file at the Student Financial
Aid Office (SFAO). The SFAO will determine the eligibility amount. A Financial
Aid Award Letter will be sent to the student indicating that an estimated PLUS loan has
been awarded. The parent needs to complete a PLUS Pre-application on the
back of the financial aid award letter or online here and return
it to the SFAO. A credit check will be processed by the Loan Origination Center
(LOC). The SFAO (and the parent) will receive notification
of the credit decision . If you passed the credit review, a promissory note needs to be assigned. The promissory note can be signed by going to the electronic signature section of our Web site by clicking here.
If the student has maintained the eligibility requirements, the net amount of the loan (loan amount borrowed minus 3 percent origination fee) will be applied to the student's account. A refund check will be mailed to the parent, which may then be used to aid in the cost of the student's educational expenses. Repayment on PLUS loans begin immediately.
If the parents are denied a PLUS loan after the credit check, the family has the option to resolve the credit problems, obtain a co-signer (endorser) or allow the student to receive additional unsubsidized loan funds in the Direct Loan Program. A Denial Form will be mailed to you to review and to make a choice from the alternatives. Contact your personal financial aid counselor if you have any questions.
Q. Will I receive the same
amount of financial aid next year?
If your family situation remains the same with regard to
income, number in the family, and number in college, and assets, and as long as we receive
the results of your FAFSA data by March 1, then you can expect that your financial aid
should be approximately the same amount. However, your loan limits will change depending
on your grade level and your dependency status. In addition, you must re-apply for
financial aid every year you wish to be considered for financial aid.
Q. When will I receive my financial aid?
Financial aid cannot be disbursed to your Bursar Account until you complete all processing requirments, including promissory notes, Verification, etc. Provided all steps have been completed, financial aid will disburse 10 days prior to the start of each semester. The Bursar's Office processes refunds for students who have financial aid awards that exceed their bill for the semester. For more information, please visit the Bursar's Office web site at www.kent.edu/bursar.
Q. Will my financial aid be used to pay a prior term balance or institutional charges, such as parking tickets, library fines, etc.?
Yes. If you have a prior term balance or institutional charges on your account at the Bursar's Office, your financial aid will be used to help pay those costs. Therefore, these types of charges may reduce the amount you will receive in a refund. You may decline the crediting of your financial aid to prior term balances or institutional charges by contacting the Bursar's Office.
Contact the Student Financial Aid Office for further information.
The federal government requires each college or university to verify, or confirm, the data reported by students and their parent(s) on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Kent State University’s Student Financial Aid Office is a member of the Department of Education’s Quality Assurance Program. Therefore, the Student Financial Aid Office selects approximately 15% of its students for the Verification process based on our own pre-determined criteria. The Verification process ensures that eligible students receive all the financial aid they are entitled to and it prevents ineligible students from receiving aid they are not entitled to.
If I receive my Student Aid Report and it says I am selected for verification, what do I need to do?
Because Kent State University participates in the Quality Assurance Program, the Student Financial Aid Office (and not the federal government) determines which students will be selected for verification and requests the appropriate documentation directly from the student and/or parents. If your Student Aid Report indicates you were selected for Verification and you plan to attend Kent State University, you can disregard that message.
How can I tell if I have been selected for Kent State University's Verification process?
If the student is selected for Verification based on Kent State University's verification guidelines, the Student Financial Aid Office will contact the student
and request the appropriate documentation. Required documentation usually includes, but is not limited to, the Verification form, the student's Federal Income Tax
Return and W-2 form, and the parent's Federal Income Tax Return and W-2 forms (if necessary). Additional documentation may be requested depending on the student's
specific situation. Typically, students can expect to receive notification that they were selected for Verification within 10-14 business days after the Student
Financial Aid Office receives the student's FAFSA results from the federal processors.
Federal regulations require that Kent State University review the academic progress of students who apply for and /or receive federal financial aid (see the Schedule of Classes for more detailed information), whether they are a previous aid recipient or not. State Grant programs such as the Ohio Instructional Grant and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Authority Assistance Grant are governed by the Standards of Academic Progress established by the respective state. All undergraduate students must maintain a minimum of 2.0 grade point average (GPA) and satisfactorily complete a minimum of 75% (60% if 0-29 hours earned) of the total hours attempted each awarding year to be eligible for federal student aid. Undergraduate students pursuing a bachelor's degree may be considered for financial aid to a maximum of 150 attempted hours. Undergraduate students pursuing an associate degree may be considered for federal financial aid to a maximum of 80 attempted hours.
The following programs are affected by this policy:
Satisfactory academic progress will be checked prior to the initial receipt of financial aid at the end of each spring semester before aid transfers for the next academic year. An evaluation may also be conducted after each semester prior to disbursement of federal aid.
Note: For complete information on the academic requirements necessary to maintain satisfactory academic progress, students should:
Click here to go to the page where you can download the Kent State University Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress PolicyClick here to go to the page where you can download information on the Combined Program.
Click here to go to the page where you can download Academic Progress forms.