Special Circumstances/SAI Appeal

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What If I Have Special Circumstances regarding my income or my parent's income (if dependent)?

The process of determining eligibility for financial aid uses standard formulas. The Financial Aid Office recognizes that some students have unusual, special circumstances that are not considered in the standard process of determining eligibility, which may increase financial aid eligibility if considered.

If you or your family have experienced a significant drop in recent income compared to the income that was required to be reported on your FAFSA, you may be considered for a ‘Special Circumstances/SAI Appeal’.

The Special Circumstances/ SAI Appeal allows revisions, based on professional judgment by the Financial Aid Office, to the FAFSA income for an individual student based on loss of parent's (if dependent) or a student's employment or reduction in work hours, loss of untaxed income or benefit such as child support or social security, student's or parent's separation or divorce, death of a parent since FAFSA was filed, one-time income reported on the base year taxes which is no longer available, or other special circumstances which affect a student's (or his/her family's) ability to contribute toward his/her education. Documentation to support the claim of unusual circumstances must be provided when submitting the actual appeal form, but not when submitting the SAI Appeal Request form.

Students who believe they have special circumstances are encouraged to contact the Financial Aid Office to discuss their situation, or they may submit the SAI Appeal Request Form (SEE BELOW) after all requirements indicated on Class-Web are submitted. A financial aid advisor will review the SAI Appeal Request form and determine if it appears to be beneficial for the student to proceed with submitting an appeal.  If so, the student will be contacted to complete the SAI Appeal process, which includes submitting documentation of the circumstances.

Once the actual Special Circumstances/SAI Appeal is completed by the student (and parent, if student is dependent) and submitted, a Financial Aid Advisor will review the appeal and based on the individual circumstances documented, will make adjustments to the FAFSA which may result in increased eligibility for financial aid.

 

SAI Appeal Request Form 2024-2025 (for Fall 2024, Spring 2025 and Summer 2054): link to: Special Circumstances/SAI Appeal (September 05, 2025)