New FAFSA Filing Guidance

Remember to file the 2012-13 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.FAFSA.gov to apply for grants and loans for the next year. In an effort to simplify the FAFSA process, filers can now upload their federal tax information directly into the FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool in the FAFSA.  The U.S. Department of Education strongly encourages families to utilize the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) imbedded in www. FAFSA.gov. The DRT will be available February 1. For more information on the DRT, please click here. IRS data will be available to upload approximately two weeks after filing taxes electronically or approximately 6-8 weeks after filing taxes via paper.  If you already completed your 2012-13 FAFSA, we encourage you to update your FAFSA using the Data Retrieval Tool after you file your taxes. 

   * Incoming freshman are still urged to File the FAFSA by February 15 if possible.

   * Currently enrolled students are encouraged to file the FAFSA “after” filing their federal tax return but definitely before May 1^st.

NEW Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Standards for Financial Aid

Each May, the Financial Aid Office must review the student’s GPA and their credits earned/attempted to determine if they meet requirements for future aid eligibility. A recent major change to federal aid regulations requires that students successfully complete at least 67% of credits attempted. In preparation for the annual review in May, the student can review his/her current academic record via the Student Self Service tab in their MySRU portal (click on Banner Self-Service; then Student; then Student Records; then Academic Transcript; the Transcript Totals can be found at the bottom of this link). To calculate completion rate, simply divide the overall credits earned by the overall credits attempted (example 31 earned divided by 37 attempted = 83.7% completion rate; so in this example the student meets the 67% requirement). We encourage students to review the entire SAP policy found at www.sru.edu/finaid (click on Applying for Aid on the left, and then click on Academic Progress Policy) for additional details about the GPA requirements and maximum timeframe for aid eligibility. Questions about SAP should be directed to the SRU Financial Aid Office.  

(Note: PA State Grant regulations still require that full-time grant recipients successfully complete at least 24 new credits per year of grant award.)

Please check back to this webpage regularly for updates.