Education
Asking a school to reassess after circumstances change
Aid is calculated from a past tax year, so a recent change is invisible to it unless somebody tells the school.
Financial aid calculations use information from a prior tax year. A job loss, a reduction in hours, a separation, a death in the household or large unreimbursed medical costs since then are simply not in the figures the school is working from.
Aid offices have a process for exactly this. It goes by several names — professional judgement, special circumstances review, appeal — and the name differs between institutions, which is why asking what theirs is called is the fastest way to find it.
Decisions are made case by case by the aid administrator, and the outcome cannot be predicted by anyone outside that office. What improves a request is documentation: a termination letter, benefit statements, medical bills, and a short factual letter explaining what changed and when.
There is no penalty for asking, the request is free, and a refusal leaves you where you already were.
What to do next. Ask the aid office what its special circumstances process is called, then submit a short factual letter with documentation.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
Still have a question?
Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.