Step 1
Step 1 - How to Apply
General Eligibility Criteria to Apply & Receive Aid
Part of Step 1 is to determine if you are eligible to apply for financial aid. To be considered for financial aid, you must meet all of the general eligibility criteria. To be considered for financial aid, you must meet all of the following criteria:
- You must formally to 麻豆网站列表.
- You must be a (FAFSA instructions). Also see (USCIS formerly INS) a Bureau of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
- You must possess a high school diploma or equivalent.
- You must be seeking a degree in an eligible program and making satisfactory progress toward that degree. Certification programs are not eligible for Federal Aid. As long as you are a transient student (not a degree seeking student) at 麻豆网站列表, we are unable to award you aid.
- You must not be in default on any federal education loan, and you must not owe a refund because of overpayment of a previous federal grant or loan at any college or university. You may check your status on the .
- You must have a . The data fields for your date of birth, name, and social security number reported on your FAFSA must match with those data elements at the Social Security Administration and at 麻豆网站列表. If these do not match you must correct any errors with the FAFSA processor; you can make changes (married name, etc.) to Social Security records by submitting proper documentation to the Social Security Administration & 麻豆网站列表. Additionally, if you are continuing to borrow student loans, you must also make sure your name at school, at the social security office, at your lender and at your guarantor all match.
Beginning the Process
麻豆网站列表requires students be admitted before FAFSA data is loaded into our system. After your FAFSA is received by the US Department of Education, the USDE may request you send us additional documents; there is usually indication of their request in the comments section of the Student Aid Report (SAR) which they send to you. If the financial aid office becomes aware of any issues regarding the General Eligibility Requirements (above) from the FAFSA application or from data within our computer system, we will follow up for you to resolve those issues.
- Create an FSA ID at .
- Go to FAFSA on the Web at to apply for financial aid.
- Be sure you are applying for the correct year using school code 001047.
- Just fill in the blanks when prompted.
- Errors are reduced because your answers are checked as you enter them.
- Your application reaches the federal processor immediately.
All students must fill out the (FAFSA) each year for the academic year covering their enrollment periods. Financial aid is NEVER renewed automatically.
- Students planning to attend Fall 2023, Spring 2024, or Summer 2024 would complete the 2023-2024 FAFSA available in October 2022.
- Students planning to attend Fall 2024, Spring 2025, or Summer 2025 would complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA available in October 2023.
Please list the Federal School code number for the 麻豆网站列表 001047 regardless of the campus you plan to attend: 麻豆网站列表Dothan, 麻豆网站列表Montgomery, and ALL other Troy University locations. Submitting the FAFSA over the internet is the fastest way to apply. In addition to being faster than paper your data is edited prior to submission so if you made any errors or leave out any information, you will have a chance to correct it. This will reduce the chances your information will be rejected and makes it less likely you will have to submit additional information at a later time.
E-Mail from the US Department of Education (ED)
- If you provided a valid e-mail address when you applied, you'll get an e-mail within
a few days after the submission of your FAFSA from the USDE. The e-mail will contain
a secure link so you can access your SAR on the Web. (If you have a "blocked" folder
in your e-mail files, check it. The e-mail from the US Department of Education might
go there instead of to your inbox.)
Please maintain your email accounts properly and accurately - safeguard against full mailboxes and account closures. This is true not only for e-mail from Department of Education (ED) in response to your FAFSA or for reminders for you to re-apply for financial aid but also for University e-mail once your FAFSA information has been received. Students are reminded to allow e-mails with extensions ed.gov to go to their mailbox rather than trash and to keep e-mail address used to apply for Federal Aid active and to keep their email and mailing addresses current on their Student Aid Report.
- The ED will send a reminder to all renewal eligible applicants with a valid e-mail address. If e-mail is undeliverable a paper reminder letter will be sent.
- If the student has not reapplied by April, the ED will send follow up e-mail reminders or paper mail reminders as appropriate.
- The ED will send reminders after April 15th to all those students who indicate estimated tax year information to update their information to indicate completed tax return information now that they have filed their taxes.
- As you are aware, the university has a single e-mail system that serves as the university's official link with students. Students may access the site by logging onto and following the instructions provided. Students who want to retain other e-mail systems need only "forward" campus e-mail to their favorite e-mail site. Once email is forwarded from the TROY account, the university does not store a local copy of the message. If the forward account is closed, or, full, you will not receive the email correspondence.
FAFSA results - the Student Aid Report (SAR)
Now the Department of Education will process your application and send you a Student Aid Report (SAR).
An electronic copy of your SAR is also made available to the schools you've listed on your FAFSA. 麻豆网站列表will not process this information unless you are an admitted degree seeking student.
Your SAR will contain your EFC, which is the Expected Family Contribution. The EFC is a preliminary estimate based on the information you provided on your application. It is subject to change based upon verification of information you provided. The EFC is used to determine your eligibility for federal student aid. You will receive an official EFC on your Student Aid Report (SAR) based on the processing results of your FAFSA. The EFC is discussed further in Step 4.
Review your submitted FAFSA (SAR) results:
- Review the comments or instructions to the student on the SAR. These will alert you to whether you may have to submit additional paperwork. You can find out whether or not you have been selected for the process called "Verification" or whether you have some conflicting information to resolve. The Student Aid Report (SAR) is your first notification of any additional documentation you must provide before your application will be processed by 麻豆网站列表.
- Check the status of your submitted FAFSA with USDE by selecting Check Status of a
Submitted FAFSA or print a Signature page, or by returning to the FAFSA on the Web
home page at and selecting "Check Status of a Submitted FAFSA or Print a Signature Page".
You may check the status of your application with USDE at any time, but we recommend you at least check the status at the following times:
1 week after submission - if you used an FSA ID to sign your application
2-3 weeks after submission - if you printed, signed and mailed a signature page.
- Once the US Department of Education has received all required signatures and processed your application or correction form, you can access your processed application information by selecting View and Print your Student Aid Report from the left navigation bar at the FAFSA web site.
- If you provided the USDE a valid e-mail address, and your application was processed successfully, they will send you an e-mail notification with instructions on how to access your electronic SAR (Student Aid Report). You will also have the option to print a copy. If they do not have a valid e-mail for you, you will receive a paper copy of your SAR.
- If you find you've made a mistake after submitting your application, you will have to wait until after your application has been processed by the USDE to make corrections. Corrections can be made through Corrections on the Web at . You must have an FSA ID to access your Corrections on the Web data.
- After you are awarded and enrolled you should not make changes yourself to your FAFSA data for the same award year in which you are enrolled. Always request (in writing with documentation) for the financial aid office to make changes to your FAFSA data (rather than doing them yourself) after you are awarded and enrolled; your disbursements could be cancelled or reversed. This is especially true if we have reviewed your data with a process called Verification. After you are enrolled, send a Student Loan Request (see Forms for the appropriate year) for the aid office to change your FAFSA data, when changing from undergraduate to graduate. If you make changes to FAFSA data altering your eligibility for assistance for the year in which you are currently enrolled, we will select you for Verification if the Department of Education failed to do so.
Record Keeping
Make a file and keep your FSA ID as well as copies of your financial aid applications, award letters, loan disclosure statements for future reference. After you receive your award letter, you may wish to complete a budget to make sure that your resources will be sufficient to get you through your period of enrollment. Additionally, you may wish to keep a signed copy of the appropriate IRS Tax return in this file in the event you are selected by the Department of Education by a process called Verification.