Financial Aid Frequently Asked Questions

Before each year of college, apply for aid with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. BW uses your FAFSA data to determine your federal aid eligibility and to award institutional aid.

After submission, you'll receive your Student Aid Report via the email address you provide on your FAFSA. You will NOT receive a financial aid offer from BW unless you file a FAFSA.

You must add the BW school code, 003014, to your FAFSA for your aid to be reviewed at BW.

• First-Year Students and Transfer Students are eligible for specific types of aid based on their BW application, these include academic based merit scholarships (awarded at the time of admission) and other special awards all depending on the information provided during the admission process.
• Graduate Students financial aid will vary depending on your program. The primary source of funding will be through federal or private education loans.
• Veteran Students are eligible to receive financial aid through their VA benefits in addition to funds provided by the FAFSA for those who qualify.

• Grants are a type of financial aid that can be offered through federal, state or BW. They are considered gift aid and often do not need to be repaid. Grants are typically based on "need" and require a you to submit a FAFSA.
• Loans are money you borrow and must pay back with interest. If you decide to take out a loan, make sure you understand who is making the loan and the terms and conditions of the loan. Student loans can come from the federal government, from private sources such as a bank or financial institution or from other organizations. Learn about different loan types.
  
  The Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement, Entrance Counseling and Master Promissory Notes are all required to receive a federal student loan.

• Federal Work-Study is a unique type of financial aid that requires work to be performed in order to receive funds. If you are awarded Federal Work-Study, you can decide how you would like to apply your earnings. You can choose to receive your earnings as a direct deposit into your bank account which you can use for personal expenses or you can choose to have your earnings deposited directly into your student account. The amount of Federal Work-Study dollars listed on your award letter represents the maximum you can earn in an academic year.
• Scholarships are offered by both BW and outside sources. It is important to apply early and pay attention to application directions and deadlines to maximize your chances of earning aid. Scholarships do not need to be repaid.
• Special circumstances can arise for many students. If you find that your FAFSA or financial aid offer letter do not encompass your current circumstances, please reach out to our office for the opportunity for an additional review.

Your offer letter can be viewed on My Records by selecting Financial Aid > Financial Aid > Offer Letter. Be sure to select the award year you would like to view.

The charges shown on the BW offer letter are used to project aid eligibility based on an average student here at BW can expect to pay and is not an actual billing statement. Your billing statement will show your actual room and meal plan charges as well as any class fees, parking tickets, etc.

To view your BW billing statement, login to the payment portal. The amount you owe may also differ from the out-of-pocket costs shown on the offer letter if you have not accepted the available loans.

Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans

To reduce or cancel a Federal Direct Subsidized and/or Unsubsidized Loan, please complete the Federal Direct Loan Change Form, see form 4 on the forms page. When completing the form, enter the amount you would like to receive as the total for each term. Please note that subsidized and unsubsidized loans are automatically awarded at the maximum allowable amount.

Parent PLUS Loan

To cancel or adjust the amount of your requested Parent PLUS Loan, complete the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Change Form, see form 5 on the forms page. When completing the form, enter the amount you would like to receive as the total for each term.

Grad PLUS Loan

To cancel or adjust the amount of a Grad PLUS Loan, complete the Federal Direct Grad PLUS Loan Change Form, see form 6 on the forms page. When completing the form, enter the amount you would like to receive as the total for each term.

Private Loan

To adjust the amount of your private loan, please contact your lender directly.

Once you have registered for your next semester, the billing process starts. If you are unable to register due to a financial hold, visit our financial hold resolution roadmap to resolve the issue.

Typically, a month or two before the start of the semester, BW will begin creating and issuing student billing statements and make them available in MyRecords. Your bill will reflect both charges from the University (tuition, BW room, meal plan, etc.), as well as the aid we are able to disburse into your account. Aid can disburse at varying times depending on the type of aid:

• Institutional gift aid should be reflected immediately on your account.
• Federal aid should appear the week prior to the start of classes (the aid that has not yet posted should show as anticipated credits on your account).
• Federal Work-Study will either be directly deposited to the student's bank account or applied to the student's BW billing account, based on student preference. Learn more information about work-study employment.

Learn more information about understanding your billing statement.

Access MyRecords (log in using your BW username [omit @bw.edu] and password) for up-to-date information regarding your bill or the status of your financial aid. If you encounter issues when trying to log in, contact the IT Help Desk.

Once a term's add/drop period has passed, the tuition charges and aid eligibility are set. Adjustments in the tuition charge and financial aid eligibility may occur if a student decreases or increases the number of credit hours for which they are enrolled.

Your financial aid is based on the charges issued by BW. If your financial aid offer was based on you living on-campus, your financial aid eligibility was calculated based on charges of tuition, room and BW meal plan. If you move off-campus, you will only be charged for tuition and therefore your financial aid eligibility must be recalculated. Likewise, if your financial aid offer was based on you living off-campus, your offer would not include eligibility for your room and BW meal plan charges and therefore must be recalculated.

Contact a financial aid specialist through the One Stop if your financial aid offer letter does not correctly reflect your living situation.

There are several reasons why certain types of financial aid may not be credited to your student account.

Federal Verification
If your FAFSA was selected for federal verification, you will have been notified by email (and/or postal mail for incoming students) to visit your MyRecords portal for any required documentation. If you happen to miss the email notification, the phrase "Your FAFSA has been selected for Verification" will also appear on the paper version of your offer letter. Verification must be completed to have any federal or need based aid disburse to your account. Learn more about the verification process on our website.

Federal Direct Loan
Obtaining a Federal Direct Loan requires additional steps before funds can be credited to your student account. As a first-time Federal Direct Loan borrower, you need to complete an Entrance Interview statement and sign an electronic Master Promissory Note (eMPN). See detailed instructions.

Other Loans (Parent PLUS and Private Education Loans)
These funds can vary in their disbursement timeframes, depending on the lender, regulatory requirements and their transactional preferences. The funds are typically released to the University in the form of an electronic funds transfer (EFT), however, they are sometimes sent as a paper check, requiring endorsement from the borrower. If parents are required to sign a paper check, the One Stop will contact them.

Federal Work-Study
Federal Work-Study is a unique type of financial aid that requires work to be performed in order to receive funds. If you are offered Federal Work-Study, you can decide how you would like to apply your earnings. You can choose to receive your earnings as a direct deposit into your bank account which you can use for personal expenses or you can choose to have your earnings deposited directly into your student account. The amount of Federal Work-Study dollars listed on your offer represents the maximum you can earn in an academic year.

Other Types of Gift Assistance (Outside Scholarships)
If you notify the One Stop that you received a scholarship from an external source, it will be included as part of your financial aid offer letter. However, the funds will not be posted to your student account until the check is received by BW. In some cases, BW doesn't receive these funds until after the end of the semester.

Any balance due to BW is due regardless of the fact that outside funds are expected but not yet received. You may want to pay your balance due for any outside scholarship amounts to avoid any finance charges on an unpaid balance assessed by the University. For more information about finance charges or the policy, contact the One Stop at (440) 826-2121 or onestop@bw.edu.

Students who are approved to participate in BW's explorations/study abroad programs may be eligible to receive additional financial assistance when there are program costs above BW tuition, room and board. Depending on student financial need as determined by FAFSA results, 25 percent of a student's added explorations/study abroad formal charges may be offered in the form of additional BW gift assistance with a maximum possible offer of $2,500. Additionally, BW offers a no-interest loan option to further help with program costs above the BW costs for tuition, room and board.

Additional aid eligibility is determined during the semester prior to the study abroad travel, the explorations/study abroad office provides the FAO with a list of the students who are participating in approved study abroad programs, including any program costs above BW tuition, room and board.

Limited funds are available for students who participate in overseas study programs. However, if you plan on participating in more than one study abroad program, you may receive an added BW Explorations/Study Abroad Grant. This added assistance will be determined by the BW Center for Global Exploration. Students receiving student tuition remission assistance from BW are not eligible to receive additional BW gift support for participation in explorations/study abroad programs.

Many items many impact a student's aid eligibility, these items range from FAFSA changes or requirements, living on campus or off campus, their GPA or the number of credit hours they are enrolled in within a given semester. Contact a financial aid specialist through the One Stop if you anticipate a need to adjust your schedule or if your planning to move off campus to ensure your aid will not be adversely impacted.

For example, enrollment status impacts a student's financial aid eligibility when a student drops below full-time status. This change will lead to a loss in most BW grants and scholarships. You also must maintain at least half-time enrollment in order to receive your federal loans.

Credits Per Semester	Enrollment Status
Undergraduate: 12+ credits	Full-Time Student
Graduate: 6+ credits	Full-Time Student

Sometimes a student finds that they need to completely withdraw from BW. It is important to speak with the One Stop when considering a withdrawal to ensure that you understand any impacts to your financial aid. Sometimes the R2T4 (Return of Title IV Funds) process can result in the student owing a repayment of a portion of their aid.

Students must maintain federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards, which lead towards a successful completion of a student's program and is reviewed annually for financial aid purposes (see the following questions below for more information: CAN MY GRADES AFFECT MY FINANCIAL AID ELIGIBILITY (WHAT IS SAP)? And ARE THERE ANY OTHER CONSEQUENCES IF I FAIL TO ACHIEVE MINIMUM STANDARDS OF SAP?)

Yes. Your performance in the classroom can impact your federal financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).

You can lose eligibility for federal aid if:

• you are not maintaining the minimum cumulative grade point average (your mandatory GPA will depend on your credit hours earned and your program of study)
• you are not earning sufficient credits toward graduation (you must be completing at least 67% of your attempted hours and complete your academic program within 150% of the credit hours needed to graduate)

View details on the BW Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy.

Yes. If you're placed on BW's probation or suspension list, your BW Grant may be permanently reduced from your award. The penalty is a $250 loss for academic probation and a $500 loss for one of these categories: academic suspension, board of appeals classification and warning probation.

If you have not already done so, complete the FAFSA to see your full eligibility for all federal, state and BW aid.

If your family has experienced a financial hardship that is not reflected in the information reported on the FAFSA, you may benefit by completing a Special Circumstance Review request on our website, see form 2 on our forms page.

View outside scholarship resources.

View additional financing options.

An unusual circumstance is one in which a student cannot enter parental information on the FAFSA because they cannot contact a parent or it would be unsafe for them to do so.

Examples of circumstances that do not, on their own, qualify as an Unusual Circumstance:

• A student's parents do not want to fill out the FAFSA.
• A student has moved out and pays their own bills.
• A student's parents do not want to pay for a student's education.
• A student's parents do not claim the student as a dependent on their taxes.

Examples of unusual circumstances can include, but are not limited to the following:

• A student is a refugee or asylum seeker who has been separated from their parents.
• A student or their parents has experienced human trafficking.
• A student or their parents are incarcerated.
• A student's parents have abandoned them or a student is estranged from their parents.
• A student cannot locate their parents.
• A student's parents are physically or emotionally abusive.
• A student's parents are incapacitated and lack the physical or mental ability to support them.
• A student's parents say they would support the student, but only if the student stopped identifying as LGBTQ.

View all financial aid forms.

All forms are electronic, and most can be submitted directly to the financial aid office without printing. If you need to print a form or submit additional documentation to the financial aid office, you can scan and upload the information to us securely and directly by using form 15 on our forms page.

If you are unable to print or fill out the form online, you may stop by our office on the first floor of Bonds, located at 275 Eastland Road, Berea, OH 44017.

First you need to update your legal name with Registration and Records by filling out the Request for Change of Record form.

If you are receiving federal aid, you should update your legal name with the Social Security Administration, all loan servicers, and the Federal Student Aid website to ensure that you get tracked properly and don't go into repayment sooner than expected.

Use of Legal Name

BW is required to use your legal name in the following materials and departments:

• Transcripts
• Diplomas
• Financial Aid and Billing
• Federal, State or Municipal Documents (i9, W2, etc.)
• Other university official documents and communication