SUNY Plattsburgh Financial Aid Office - Information for Undergraduate Students

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Undergrads - We're here to help!

Learn About Financial Aid Resources

• The Financial Aid Award Letter
• Receiving Aid and Refunds
• Email and Postcard Notifications
• Dependency Status

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Financial Aid Resources

The Financial Aid Award Letter

Once your FAFSA is filed, processed and reviewed for completeness, you will be sent your financial aid award letter. The aid you are offered is based on your income and other household information as you reported on the FAFSA. We also use the enrollment status and housing plans you report on your FAFSA to determine your cost of attendance and financial need.

Should any of the above information change (i.e. you decide to live off-campus instead of on campus, etc.) contact our office. Your award letter provides instruction on how to accept or decline your financial aid offers. It also informs you of any other requirements that need to be completed to finalize your awards.

Receiving Aid and Refunds

Financial aid disbursements begin ten days prior to the start of a semester. There are many activities that must occur and requirements that must be met in order for your aid to be received. Your semester invoice (or bill) must be returned and processed by the Bursar's Office. You will receive your invoice at your home address about two months prior to the start of the semester.

Pay special attention to the instructions for completion and the due date. You must be registered for the enrollment status you were awarded aid. So, if your financial aid is based on fulltime enrollment, you must be registered fulltime before your aid can arrive. Your academic progress, outstanding requirements and matriculation status are also reviewed prior to disbursing your aid to your student account.

For your federal financial aid, you will receive an email notification when your disbursement(s) has occurred. If you are due a refund, it will be made available to you approximately three business days following disbursement. You will need to show a photo I.D. at the Bursar's Office before obtaining your refund. You can view the status of your student account including aid refunds on Banner Web.

Email and Postcard Notifications

Our office will regularly contact you via your Plattsburgh email account or postcard mailings regarding outstanding requirements and award letter status. It is important you check your Plattsburgh email often and if you forward your email to another account, be sure you maintain that account to ensure delivery of your emails. These notifications often advise you of items needed to finalize your awards or changes to your financial aid.

Dependency Status

Many undergraduate students do not rely on parental financial support. Some students may no longer reside with parents. Although we understand in some cases the burden of paying for college rests solely on the student, generally, financial aid eligibility is based on the student and parent financial information.

Certain guidelines must be met to be considered and independent student for financial aid purposes. This includes:

• being 24 years old
• studying at the graduate level
• having children or dependents
• being married, being a veteran or having the status of orphan or ward of the court

For New York State independence additional criteria must be met. Students who do not meet the automatic criteria must report parental information on the FAFSA. In some instances, a student may not meet the automatic criteria but have experienced an extreme circumstance, beyond his or her control, that caused the student to leave the parent's household for his or her own emotional or physical well-being. In such circumstances, our office may consider the student for a dependency override.

If you feel you should be considered for a dependency override, review our dependency override criteria form and contact our office to speak with a financial aid advisor.

Contact Information

For more information about Financial Aid at SUNY Plattsburgh, please contact:

Financial Aid Office
Phone: (518) 564-2072
Toll-Free Phone: (877) 768-5976
Fax: (518)564-4079
E-mail: finaid@plattsburgh.edu

Our mailing address: