The expenses of attending colleges or universities such as Kean University may be difficult to afford for some undergraduate or graduate students and their families. Though some students work to pay for these costs, others find assistance through the financial aid department, which is located on the first floor of the Administration Building and are motivated towards making these costs more affordable for students and their families. This goal is made possible through knowledge of various types of time sensitive financial assistance such as need-based grants, scholarships, loans, and work-study programs and helping students invest in their college education with assigned counselors. It is essential to complete the forms for the assistance and submit the applications to the financial aid office by the deadline. Some of the deadlines for these forms of assistance are next month!The new year means a new FAFSA application must be filled out, for many students. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is an application for need-based financial aid in state and federal programs. To be considered eligible for federal and state assistance, students must demonstrate financial need, with the exception of some loan programs, have a valid social security number, meet enrollment status requirements, make satisfactory academic progress (SAP), and fill out a FAFSA from. It is important that students, whom need financial assistance, reapply for the FAFSA every school year, regardless of whether or not aid was received the previous year. The priority deadline for the 2010-2011 full academic year at Kean is March 15; it is November 1 if just applying for the spring 2011 term. More information about the FASFA can be found at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.
Grants and loans application deadlines are approaching as well. Students, with financial need assistance and planning to attend summer sessions at Kean University for summer 2010, must submit the Pell and Loan Grant application by the March 30, 2010 and the students planning apply for the Spring TAG for the spring 2010 semester, the deadline is March 1. Grants are commonly needed just for financial assistance, and the money from the grant does not need to be paid back. Loans on the other hand, must be paid back over a period of time, as this form of financial assistance is borrowed money. The loan is paid back after the student is no longer enrolled in the college or university. Other deadlines for loans, grants and work study programs can be found on the Kean University Financial Aid Website calendar located at http://www.kean.edu/sfs/calendar.html. Students who have applied for financial aid, and are currently enrolled at Kean, will be seeing awards for financial aid on their KeanWISE accounts around late-June. Students who wish to apply for financial aid must request a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from the Federal Student Aid PIN Website located at http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp before filling out an application. If the student is a dependent, than that student's parents must request one, too. For more information on how to apply for financial aid and to schedule an appointment to see a financial aid counselor, visit the financial aid website at http://www.kean.edu/sfs/fa_home.html. Submitting the application now is beneficial because the applications that are submitted before the deadline will receive the maximum consideration for all aid programs for which they are eligible.
