Page Contents

• How This Office Communicates With Your Student
• Incoming Freshmen - Estimated Aid Eligibility
• General Eligibility for Financial Aid
  • How eligibility is calculated
  • How eligibility may be affected
  • Notice of ineligibility for financial aid
• Cost of Attendance (COA)
  • Standard Costs
  • Actual Expenses
  • Adjusting your student's standard costs
• Standard Costs for California Residents
  
  • Undergraduates Table
  • Graduate Students Table
  • Teaching Credential Students Table
• Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
  • Estimating your EFC and financial aid
• Change in Student's or Parent's Income
• Awarding Process
  • Requirements for financial aid awards
  • Adjustments to financial aid awards
• Declining A Financial Aid Award
  • Procedure for declining or reducing financial aid
  • How to decline an estimated Direct Loan

How This Office Communicates with Your Student

The Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships sends e-mail notifications to your student at the e-mail address he/she has on record through the SDSU WebPortal.

These messages direct your student to check AidLink for important information concerning his/her financial aid.  If for some reason our e-mail to your student is returned to us as undeliverable (perhaps because the mail box is full or because the WebPortal address is incorrect) we will use the U. S. Postal Service to send a notice to his/her physical mailing address.

Even if your student does not receive an e-mail message from us, he/she should check AidLink often.

Incoming Freshman - Estimated Aid Eligibility

If your student is a new incoming freshman, the OFAS will send him/her an e-mail (or paper) notice containing instructions on how to log on to AidLink to review the Estimated Financial Aid Eligibility.  We will send this e-mail alert only if he/she—

• are eligible for financial aid, and
• has been admitted to SDSU.

Estimated Financial Aid Eligibility is only an estimate based on information you and your student provided. 

• It is used to help your student make a decision about which college to attend. 
• The Estimated Financial Aid Eligibility is not an official award.

General Eligibility for Financial Aid

How eligibility is calculated:

Maximum eligibility (or financial need) is the amount remaining after the expected family contribution and all other types of financial assistance are subtracted from the cost of attendance.

The basic formula for calculating maximum eligibility or financial need is—

                    Cost of Attendance
    <minus>  Expected Family Contribution
    <minus>  Other Financial Assistance
    <equals> Maximum Eligibility (financial need)

How eligibility may be affected:

The actual amount of aid your student may receive could be less than the calculated eligibility for several reasons—

• Funds are not available
• Financial aid program regulations
• Your student is enrolled less than full time: Initial awards are based on full-time enrollment
  • Eligibility for some aid programs may be adjusted if enrollment is less than full time
• Your student is enrolled less than half time
  • The original award may be reduced or canceled because we are required to exclude food and housing, miscellaneous and personal expenses from the cost of attendance

Notice of ineligibility for financial aid:

We will send your student an e-mail notice to go to AidLink if he/she is not eligible for financial aid because he/she is —

• not making satisfactory academic progress, or
• in default on a student loan.

Cost of Attendance (COA)

The cost of attendance (see tables below) is the estimated amount that it will cost your student to attend SDSU during the nine-month academic year.

Standard costs: 

Standard costs reflect a modest, adequate living allowance. They include—

• registration fees
• an allowance for books and supplies
• average living expenses

They do not take into consideration all individual circumstances or discretionary expenses.

Actual expenses: 

Actual expenses may vary according to individual lifestyle, priorities, and obligations.

Adjusting your standard costs:

Certain expenses may be considered, including—

• childcare
• costs related to a disability
• extraordinary medical expenses

To request an increase to your standard costs, complete a Student's Request for a Budget Increase form.  Note: Most approved increases usually will be met with Federal Direct Student and/or Parent PLUS Loan programs.

Undergraduate Students 2009 - 2010 Standard Costs
for
California Residents
updated 7/22/2009

	Living with Parents	Living in University Housing	Living Off Campus
Fees*	$4,902*	$4,902*	$4,902*
Books, Supplies	$1,638	$1,638	$1,638
Food, Housing	$3,810	$11,485	$10,388
Transportation	$1,360	$1,320	$1,690
Misc/Personal	$2,856	$2,657	$2,772
Total Academic Year	$14,566 ($7,283 per semester)	$22,002 ($11,001 per semester)	$21,390 ($10,695 per semester)
Note:  The information in this table is subject to change without notice.            Amounts are for full-time enrollment for the nine-month academic            year. *Nonresident tuition: add $372 per unit to the fees listed above (not to exceed $11,160 for the fall/spring semesters). *Imperial Valley Campus students pay $642 less in campus fees each year.

Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

Most federal and state financial aid programs are based on the expectation that you and your student will contribute a specific amount to the cost of his/her education. 

This amount is determined by a federally approved need analysis.  Some of the items considered in determining the EFC are—

• your family's taxed and untaxed income
• assets (except for the family home)
• savings
• family size
• the number of people in your household who are enrolled in college

Estimating Your EFC and financial aid:

You can obtain an estimate of your family's contribution and how much financial aid you may be eligible to receive at a California State University. Simply complete the online form called PAIS (Preliminary Aid Information System) at the CSU Mentor Web site.

Get an early start on the information you'll need to complete the FAFSA, obtain an estimate of your family's contribution, and how much financial aid you may be eligible to receive. Complete the online form called FAFSA4caster on the Federal Student Aid Web site.

Change in Student's or Parent's Financial Situation

If you experience a change in resources, income, or special circumstances not addressed on the original financial aid application (FAFSA), a Student and/or Parent Request for Review form may be submitted to this office.

Special circumstances that may be reviewed

Changes in income or other special circumstances that may warrant review include, but are not limited to—

• loss of a job or a substantial reduction in earnings or other income,
• loss or reduction of child support, spousal support, or public assistance,
• death, divorce, or separation from a spouse since completing the original financial aid application,
• one-time income received last year that will not be received in the current or upcoming year,
• loss due to recent natural disasters (e.g., earthquake, flood, fire) not covered by insurance, or
• significant medical expenses not covered by insurance.

What to do

If you decide to submit a Request for Review—

1. Download and print a Request for Review form (parent or student).
2. Read the form carefully and closely follow the instructions for your situation.
3. Attach the appropriate documentation and a written, signed statement describing the change in income or resources.
4. Submit the completed form to this office.

Be detailed and specific and make sure you include documentation as appropriate.

Awarding Process

Awarding begins in February prior to the academic year for which the aid is being requested.

The OFAS will send an e-mail (or paper) notice instructing your student to log on to AidLink to review his/her award. 

Requirements for financial aid awards:

• You must be admitted to SDSU.
• You must be eligible for financial aid.
• You must maintain satisfactory academic progress.

Adjustments to financial aid awards:

The OFAS receives information from many sources that may affect your student's financial aid award.

If any of the information we receive changes the award, the OFAS will send an e-mail (or paper) notice instructing him/her to log on to AidLink to review the changes made to his/her financial aid award.

• We may send several notices as changes occur throughout the year.
• Information received may decrease his/her eligibility which will reduce the amount of the award accordingly. 
• If he/she received aid prior to an adjustment, he/she may have to repay federal or state funds that exceed the revised eligibility.
• Every effort is made to adjust aid before repayment is requested.

Declining a financial aid award

All financial aid awards are assumed accepted except Direct Loans and Perkins Loans. Your student has the right to decline any or all of the financial aid award.

Procedure for declining or reducing financial aid:

Your student must send a statement to the Office of Financial Aid Scholarships with his/her name and SDSU Red ID number, indicating the type and amount of aid he/she wish to decline.

How to decline estimated Direct Loan:

Do not activate the Direct Loan.

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