Financial Aid Applications
Just a reminder, our Daily Deacs this week are pre-posts as I recuperate from surgery. Fear not, though: should there be any breaking news, my colleagues will add those details to the pre-scheduled posts.
Our Weekly Message for First Year Families this week is about Grade Expectations. And a reminder that ’26 students received their Letters So Dear; view the archive.
Yom Kippur begins this evening at sundown. For our families who are observing, may you and your family have an easy fast.
Today we want to talk about an important topic: financial aid applications. This is something that students/families have to apply for every year, not just as incoming first-year or transfer students.
You should know that the FAFSA and CSS Profile are available beginning October 1, 2022. There is nothing wrong with trying to complete those as quickly as is convenient for your family.
Here are some of the details from the Financial Aid website that may be important to your family:
Returning students (e.g., Class of 2024, 2025, and 2026) must reapply for need-based financial aid by completing the 2023-2024 Renewal FAFSA (for federal aid) and the 2023-2024 CSS Profile (required in addition to the FAFSA for Wake Forest need-based scholarship funds) between October 1, 2022 and February 1, 2023..
Use 2021 federal income tax return data to complete the FAFSA. We strongly encourage using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool when completing the FAFSA.
To inquire about the status of your FAFSA, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800-433-3243.
(Students applying for federal financial aid only should notify the Office of Student Financial Aid and should not submit the CSS Profile.)
Students who submit the 2023-2024 CSS Profile should submit 2021 tax documentation (federal tax return with all schedules and W-2 forms) to the College Board’s IDOC service by February 1, 2023. Submission to IDOC is required even when the IRS Data Retrieval Tool was used to complete or correct the FAFSA.
To inquire about the status of your CSS Profile, call CSS at 844-202-0524.
Returning students with completed applications receive aid notifications before July 1.
You should know that Wake Forest makes every effort to maintain a similar level of financial assistance throughout all four years as long as a student’s family’s financial situation remains relatively unchanged. Significant changes in a family’s financial circumstances will result in an adjustment of a student’s award. Factors that can significantly reduce or eliminate aid eligibility include: a decrease in the number of family members simultaneously enrolled as undergraduate students, and increases in family income and/or assets.
I also want to encourage families to complete the FAFSA even if they think it is unlikely that they would qualify for aid. One thing we learned during the early days of the COVID pandemic is that some of the federal COVID grants were only open to students who had submitted a financial aid application. There were students whose family financial circumstances changed drastically due to COVID, but because they did not have a financial aid application on file, they were ineligible for some of the grants. While I hope no one experiences unforeseen financial reversals, having completed financial aid applications is helpful for assessing eligibility for additional support.
— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)
October 4, 2022