Applying for Financial Aid

How Do I apply?

Applying for Financial Aid can be a very simple and easy process. Everything begins with your filing of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is the only application that the University of Delaware requires. Before getting started there are a couple of items that the you should gather together before beginning the process of filling a FAFSA.

  • Parent and Student taxes from the most recent tax year. For example if you are applying for aid for the academic year Fall 2010/Spring 2011 you need your 2009 taxes.
  • Parent and Student W-2's from the most recent tax year.
  • Parent and Student Pin Numbers, which can be obtained by going to www.pin.ed.gov

Now that you have gathered all the necessary materials you are ready to apply. There are two options for applying. The first is to file a Paper FAFSA. However, this process can take several weeks to process. A much faster process that takes about a week is to go out to www.fafsa.ed.gov and file your FAFSA, for the upcoming aid year, online. During the course of your online application or on your paper application you will need to input our Federal School Code. This code is necessary for our school to receive you application. The University of Delaware's School Code is 001431.

There are a few requirements that you must meet to be eligible to receive Federal Funding, they include:

  • You must be a matriculated student in a degree granting program at the University of Delaware
  • You must be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen
  • You must have a valid Social Security Card on file with the Social Security Administration (SSA)

Additional Tips

Pay special attention not to make any errors when filing your FAFSA. Please verify all personal information you input, including the Social Security number and date of birth. If this information does not match up with the Social Security Administration, this can cause delays in Financial Aid Awarding. Please also keep in mind that you you must file a FAFSA each academic aid year.

One last question, when should I file?

For all incoming Freshman we suggest that you file by February 15th so that as soon as admissions has made their decisions admitted students can be notified of Financial Aid Offers. For returning students we suggest having your FAFSA in by April 15th. Having your FAFSA in early will only help your chances of receiving the max amount of Financial Aid available.

 

Announcements

Winter Session 2010

Scholarship and Grant Funding is limited to outside sources; however, you may have remaining Federal Direct Loan eligibility.

If you're a dependent undergraduate student (excluding students whose parents cannot borrow PLUS Loans), each year you can borrow up to:

  • $5,500 if you're a first-year student enrolled. No more than $3,500 of this amount can be subsidized loans.

  • $6,500 if you're a second-year student enrolled. No more than $4,500 of this amount can be subsidized loans.

  • $7,500 if you're a third or fourth-year student enrolled. No more than $5,500 of this amount can be subsidized loans.

You can check your loan eligibility at: http://www.udel.edu/checkfinaid