Applying for Aid

Several financial aid programs have limited funding. By completing your application by the priority deadlines below, you will have the best opportunity to receive consideration for financial aid from all funding sources.

First-Year Students

Transfer Students

Graduate Students

Continuing Students

Summer Students

*The FAFSA priority deadline has been extended to January 31. We recommend giving yourself (and your family) plenty of time to complete the FAFSA. To that end, we suggest starting the FAFSA by January 15. Make sure you have your FSA ID and know how to log in. Take a look at the questions so you know what information you'll need to collect.

Confirm your registration by paying by the deadline

• If initial payment for the semester is not submitted by the payment deadline, you will be charged a nonrefundable $200 late fee.
• If payment arrangements not finalized by the first day of the semester, enrollment for the semester may be dropped. 
• Federal PLUS Loans and Federal Direct Loans are reduced by an annual loan origination fee. Your billing information will reflect an award amount less the origination fee.
• If your Private Educational Loan does not appear on your semester billing information, please be sure that you are approved for the loan prior to the payment deadline for the term.
• All prior term past-due student account balances must be paid in full before beginning the current semester.
• Complete and return all documents requested by our office. All requested documents must be returned before your financial aid can be applied to your student account.

Federal Stafford/Direct Loan Borrowers

• First-time Stafford/Direct Loan borrowers must complete an online loan entrance counseling session and sign a Master Promissory Note.

Work-Study Participants

• All work-study recipients need to complete and return the required Work-Study Employment Application to Career and Employment Services by July 15 to ensure participation.
• Students who work on campus need to complete the Federal I-9 and W-4 forms before beginning their employment. These forms can be completed at the Work-Study Employment table on check-in day of Orientation Week. To complete the I-9 form, you will need to bring to campus original documents. Most students will need a passport, Social Security card, or birth certificate to demonstrate their work eligibility. To enroll in direct deposit, bring a voided check, deposit slip, or a form from your financial institution listing the routing number and account number (online accounts).

Your Student Aid Index (SAI) is the value that's used to determine your eligibility for need-based financial aid. You can think of the SAI as an index that all colleges use to determine how much financial aid you are eligible for.

The SAI is calculated from the information you report on the FAFSA. The formula by which your SAI is derived considers such things as income, certain assets, family size, and number of children in college, among other factors. The SAI is a measure of your family's ability to pay for college over time.

Your financial aid eligibility, or financial need, is determined by subtracting your Student Aid Index (SAI) from the cost of attendance. The amount of your financial need is then used to determine eligibility for need-based grants, loans, and work-study.

Cost of Attendance - SAI = Financial Need

Your financial need does not necessarily represent the amount you receive in financial aid nor is it what you will pay each year to attend college. Student Financial Services strives to create a financial aid package that meets your demonstrated need, although funding limitations or other eligibility criteria prevent us from satisfying full need in all cases.

In order to remain eligible for need-based financial aid you must continue to demonstrate need by completing the FAFSA each year. The amount of need-based financial aid you are eligible to receive each year may vary depending on your level of financial need and/or other scholarship or grant assistance you may receive.

Did your family's circumstances change?

The FAFSA calculates an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) based on federal tax information from a previous year. Should you or your family’s circumstances be different from the information submitted on the FAFSA, or there are extraordinary circumstances that impact your ability to contribute to your educational expenses, please complete a Special Circumstances Form. Examples include: loss of employment, reduction in salary, medical/dental expenses paid out of pocket (not reimbursed), tuition expenses for siblings enrolled in K-12 schools, or Parent PLUS Loan payments or other parent educational loan payments.

Special Circumstances Forms

The request must provide sufficient detail for us to determine how the changed circumstances will affect your financial aid eligibility. The priority date for receipt of a Special Circumstances Form is April 30 prior to the corresponding school year. Please contact the Student Financial Services office at sfs@pugetsound.edu or call 253.879.3214 for more information on how to submit an appeal for Special Circumstances.

Unusual Circumstances

Unusual Circumstances refer to the conditions that justify an aid administrator making an adjustment to a student’s dependency status based on a unique situation (e.g., human trafficking, refugee or asylum status, parental abuse or abandonment, or incarceration), more commonly referred to as a dependency override. Please note: an unusual circumstance does not include the parent’s refusal to contribute to the student’s education, the parent’s unwillingness to provide information on the FAFSA, not claiming the student as dependent for tax purposes, or the student demonstrating total self-sufficiency.

Please contact the Student Financial Services office at sfs@pugetsound.edu or call 253.879.3214 for more information on how to submit an appeal for Unusual Circumstances.