Office Of Financial Aid

Steps to Apply for Financial Aid

1. Obtain your Federal PIN....

All new students and parents of dependent students should request a Personal Identification Number (PIN) online at www.pin.ed.gov. Your PIN remains the same from year to year, so keep it in a safe place and never give it to anyone. Individual PINs make it possible for the online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to be signed electronically making the application process faster and simpler. If you do not remember your Federal PIN - Request a Duplicate PIN for immediate display.

2. *Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to be considered for the following financial aid programs:

*Items needed to complete the FAFSA

Can I be considered independent?

3. FAFSA Follow-up:

If you provide your email address on the FAFSA, you'll receive an email link to your processed FAFSA information on the web in approximately 2-4 weeks. Otherwise, your Student Aid report will arrive in the mail in 6-8 weeks. Review carefully. Corrections may be made using your PIN at www.fafsa.ed.gov

4. Respond Promptly

Read all communications received from the Financial Aid Office and provide any requested documentation. These communication will be via email with all student for whom the University has a valid email address. E-mails can be updated through the student's MyISU.
Respond promptly to any additional request for information from the ISU Office of Financial Aid.

5. Review Your Award Letter

Review your Award Letter when sent to you by email or by postal mail if no email address is available. It will indicate the types and amounts of aid you are eligible to receive. Review your awards. There is no need to manually "accept" your award as it is assumed "accepted". You will only need to decline/lower awards (loans) you do not want as indicated in your award letter.

If you are a first time Direct Loan borrower at ISU, you will need to complete:

  1. Entrance Counseling at www.dl.ed.gov and a
  2. Master Promissory Note (MPN) at http://dlenote.ed.gov.
    1. First time Graduate PLUS Loan borrowers at ISU will also need to complete the Graduate PLUS MPN.

The MPN is a promissory note that can be used to make one or more loans for one or more academic years (up to 10 years.)

If you are receiving a Perkins loan, additional information will be sent to you by the Financial Services Office or call 282-2292.

6. Pay Fees/Refund Checks....

Finalize fee payment by signing your TranPay and returning it to the Financial Services Office prior to each semester.

All Financial aid awards, except Work Study, are applied to your university account.

You will get your money if ALL of the following are true...

*It takes some time to process the FAFSA information received from the government. Please watch your e-mail for additional documentation needed for the Financial Aid Office to award you. If you do not have an email the request will be sent to you through postal mail.

What you will need to complete the 2009/2010 FAFSA....

For the 2009-2010 school year you will need financial information from 2008. You will need to refer to:

Dependency Questions

These questions appear in Step 2 of the online application for
FAFSA on the Web or in Step Three of the PDF or paper FAFSA.

Purpose: These questions are used to determine, according to law, whether you are a dependent or an independent student for purposes of calculating an EFC. If you answer "No" to all of these questions, you are a dependent student, even if you do not live with your parents. On a case-by-case basis, a financial aid administrator (FAA) may make an otherwise dependent student independent if he or she can document in the student's file that the student's individual circumstances warrant the decision. The reason must relate to that individual student and not to an entire class of students. The FAA's decision is final and cannot be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education.

2009-2010 - Review Dependency Questions 48-60 of the FAFSA

Need help? FAFSA Application assistance is available
in the Financial Aid Office Computer Lab.