Questions Frequently Asked by Prospective Undergraduate Students
Applying for Financial Aid
- How and when do I apply for financial aid?
- Will I receive more financial aid if I apply for admission in the early action or in the regular decision cycle?
- Why do you ask on the admission application if I am interested in financial aid?
- Will I know about the financial aid decision at the same time that I find out if I have been admitted?
- What grades or activities do I need to be eligible for Georgetown scholarship assistance?
- What is the income cutoff for financial aid eligibility?
- What does it cost to attend Georgetown?
- How is financial aid eligibility determined?
- What if my family financial circumstances change after I receive my financial aid award?
- Will I get the same financial aid award in future years?
- What is Georgetown's policy regarding the treatment of outside-sponsored scholarships?
Completing Financial Aid Forms
- What is Georgetown University's Title IV code and CSS PROFILE code?
- Can I still apply for financial aid after the priority deadline?
- My parents are divorced (or are separated or were never married) and one parent is unwilling to submit any information to the financial aid office or to contribute towards my Georgetown expenses. What can I do?
- Should I wait until my parents federal tax forms are finished before I complete my financial aid forms?
- Why must I submit a copy of my W-2 forms in addition to my federal tax returns?
- My parents will not be claiming me as a dependent on their tax returns. Can I file my financial aid applications as an independent student?
1. How and when do I apply for financial aid?
For federal student aid (Pell grant, loans, Work-Study, etc.) students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year. To be considered for Georgetown scholarship, students must also complete the College Scholarship Services PROFILE. Copies of parent and student federal income tax returns are also required. In cases of divorce or other circumstances, such as business ownership, other forms may be requested. First year students should submit their financial aid applications by February 1 (Transfer students by March 1).
2. Will I receive more financial aid if I apply for admission in the early action or in the regular decision cycle?
Your financial aid award is based only on your family's demonstrated need. Timing of admission is not a factor. Thus, any financial aid decision we make would be the same regardless of whether you apply early action or regular admission.
3. Why do you ask on the admission application if I am interested in financial aid?
At Georgetown our admission decisions and financial aid decisions are made separately -- a process called "need-blind" admission. Checking "yes" to the question about your interest in financial aid merely allows us to know which students to remind about incomplete financial aid applications and which students need financial aid decision letters mailed at the time of their admission decision letter.
4. Will I know about the financial aid decision at the same time that I find out if I have been admitted?
Yes, if your financial aid application is complete by the February 1 priority deadline. (March 1 for transfer students).
5. What grades or activities do I need to be eligible for Georgetown scholarship assistance?
Grades and activities will affect Georgetown's admission decision but will not influence our financial aid decision. The financial aid decision will be based solely on your family's financial situation. If your family demonstrates financial need, Georgetown will offer a package of financial assistance to meet that need.
6. What is the income cutoff for financial aid eligibility?
There is no income cutoff since income alone is not the only consideration. We consider income, tax liability, family size, medical expenses, standard living expenses, where you live in the country (some areas are more expensive than others), your parents' assets, their ages, and whether they have protection for their retirement years. So many factors make each family's financial situation unique that we cannot make our judgments on income alone. In recent years, many families with incomes above $100,000 have been aided and a few with incomes below $60,000 have not--again, income is not the only factor we consider.
7. What does it cost to attend Georgetown?
Tuition and other educational expenses are included in the financial aid budgets we use to determine your total cost of attendance.
8. How is financial aid eligibility determined?
Each student's eligibility for financial aid is determined by a Georgetown
financial aid officer who conducts a thorough review of each student's financial circumstances. This
review employs formulas and guidelines that have been carefully developed and are widely used by most of the country's leading colleges. With these formulas and guidelines,
Georgetown's financial aid officers are able to determine a family's ability to absorb college expenses over time. Once the assessment is complete, an "expected family contribution" is established.
9. What if my family financial circumstances change after I receive my financial aid award?
You and your family are obligated to notify our office if you have a change in your family circumstances which affects the calculation of the expected family contribution. These are changes such as an increase in income, a decrease in the number of family members in the household or being supported by parents, or a decrease in the number of family members attending college. For this reason it is important to keep a copy of your completed financial aid applications as a record of what was reported. Other changes such as a loss or reduction of income provide a basis on which you may want to ask for a review of an earlier award. This process requires families to submit in writing a specific explanation of their situation, including an itemization of any reduction in income.
Send us a Report of Special Circumstances.
10. Will I get the same financial aid award in future years?
Georgetown is committed to meeting your full financial need throughout your undergraduate years. However, your need may change from year to year. Financial aid awards are based on need. Since each year's award will reflect any changes in circumstances, such as an increase or decrease in the parents' and student's income, assets, family size, or number of family members attending college, the financial aid award will change to reflect these changes. If the family's circumstances remain relatively constant over the four years of attendance, the total financial aid received should not change significantly. Self-help expectations (that is, the amount earned through campus employment and the amount of federal loan expected) do increase each year.
11. What is Georgetown's policy regarding the treatment of outside-sponsored scholarships?
If you will receive an outside grant or scholarship or a third party payment
you must report the type and amount to the GU Office of Student Financial
Services. Under federal law and University policy Georgetown must consider
these payments as resources that are available to help meet your financial need.
The outside awards you report will be used to reduce or eliminate your loan or
student employment before any adjustment in your need-based GU scholarship award
will be made. Entitlement payments like Federal Pell grants, GU tuition
benefits, or VA benefits replace GU scholarship on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Students can
contact their counselor in the GU Office of Student Financial Services to
discuss how outside or entitlement awards would impact their need-based GU financial aid
package. Total aid including outside resources cannot exceed
your demonstrated financial need and cost of attendance.
12. What is Georgetown University's Title IV code and CSS PROFILE code?
Georgetown University's Main Campus Title IV code to be used on the FAFSA is 001445. The school code to be used on the CSS PROFILE form is 5244.
13. I'm having trouble getting my forms in on time for the February 1 deadline. Can I still apply for financial aid?
We ask that your application be complete by February 1 (March 1 for transfer students) so that you will have a financial aid decision along with your admission decision. We will consider your application if it is late, but please remember that you may not know of your aid before you have to make an enrollment decision.
14. My parents are divorced (or are separated or were never married) and one parent is unwilling to submit any information to the financial aid office or to contribute towards my Georgetown expenses. What can I do?
In fairness to all, Georgetown must expect that parents will pay all they are able, and we must assess each parent's ability
to contribute to college costs by reviewing complete financial documents from each household. Georgetown cannot
award financial aid funds based only on what a parent is willing to provide; in
fairness to all we must consider both parents ability to contribute. You might explain to the parent
unwilling to submit financial information to us that we will not share his/her information. Further, by providing information, he/she is in no way obligated to contribute to your Georgetown education. Rather the information is used merely to measure the amount the University can offer you in aid. Although we cannot increase our scholarship aid to fill the gap if a parent declines responsibility, you may be able to borrow more. If yours is a special situation, please write us a detailed letter of explanation.
15. Should I wait until my parents finish their tax forms before I complete my financial aid forms?
No. You can complete the FAFSA and PROFILE financial aid applications based on reasonable estimates of your family's prior year income. However, you will later need to submit copies of your and your parents' (if dependent) federal tax returns to the
College Board so that we can verify that the information you reported on your aid applications was accurate and recalculate your eligibility if necessary.
16. Why must I submit a copy of my W-2 forms in addition to my federal tax returns?
The information on W-2 forms is used to verify total tax-deferred income.
17. My parents will not be claiming me as a dependent on their tax returns. Can I file my financial aid applications as an independent student?
Probably not if you are an undergraduate student. To determine if you meet the federal definition of an independent student, review the questions in Step Three of the FAFSA. However, except in rare cases, even if you meet the federal definition of an independent student, you still must provide your parents' financial information on the FAFSA and CSS PROFILE to be considered for Georgetown scholarship assistance.
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