Special Condition

A student's calculated financial need is based on the family's prior year income. Sometimes there is a major drop in income due to no fault of the student or family. If this happens, you should contact the Financial Aid Office at the college to see if they will review your special circumstances then complete a  08/09 Special Condition Form. The Financial Aid Office must have the original results of your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) already on file before the special circumstances evaluation can be made. The first Award Letter the student receives will be based on results of the original FAFSA.

Examples of special circumstances include: a major change in employment or a layoff/ unemployment, a separation or divorce after the original application was filed, the death or disability of a wage earner, a loss of benefits, unusually high medical bills not covered by insurance, and substantial elementary/secondary tuition expenses.

Special conditions are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. It is time-consuming, so families should expect a wait of 4 -6 weeks for a decision on how aid awards are affected. The Financial Aid Office will send corrections electronically to the Federal processor. Families will receive a copy of the results, a one-page SAR Information Acknowledgement from the Central Processor. They will also receive a revised Award Letter from the Financial Aid Office at the school. This re-evaluation is applicable only to the school that made a judgment on adjusting the data; another school cannot automatically accept this adjustment and instead must document their own decision in the case.