2011-2012 Academic Year (Comprised of Fall 2011, January Term 2012, Spring 2012, and Summer 2012)
How To Apply
Student Financial Services recognizes that need-based financial aid eligibility will have an impact on your college choice. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to submit your application early so that we can provide you with an estimate of your eligibility for the upcoming academic year. Please be aware that our estimate will be based on the information that you and your parents provide on the CSS/PROFILE application and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The more accurate the information is that you provide, the better our estimate will be. Even if you are applying after the priority filing date of March 1st, please follow the instructions below.
NOTE: Complete the PROFILE only if you are an entering undergraduate or transfer undergraduate student for Fall 2011. Returning students should complete only the FAFSA and should not complete the PROFILE.
To submit your Financial Aid application:
Between October 1st, 2010, and March 1st, 2011:
- Submit your PROFILE application for 2011-2012 by our priority filing date of March 1st. Failure to meet the March 1st priority filing date will likely delay your receiving a preliminary financial aid award prior to the Admission deposit deadline of May 1, 2011.
The University of Virginia's CSS code is 5820.
Complete the PROFILE, available here. You must use 2010 estimated tax information when completing your worksheet if completing prior to submitting your 2010 tax returns. If you submit the PROFILE before completing your 2010 tax returns, you may choose to estimate based on your 2009 tax return. The PROFILE can be completed any time after October 1, 2010. There is a $9 charge to complete an online PROFILE, and there is a cost of $16 per school to have that completed PROFILE sent. Applicants who submit the PROFILE only to U.Va. would pay $25 total, therefore.
Fee waivers are available for certain students who qualify. The logic for determining who is eligible for a waiver is built in to the application for first-time students. You will know you are eiligible for a waiver when you get to the end of the application and see that there is no payment due. The fee waiver will allow you to submit the information to a maximum of 6 schools free of charge.
Between January 1st, 2011, and March 1st, 2011:
- Apply for a U.S. Department of Education personal identification number (PIN). Your PIN will allow you to electronically "sign" financial aid applications and federal loan promissory notes. Parents of dependent students need their own PIN. Apply for a PIN online at pin.ed.gov.
- Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by our priority filing date of March 1st. Failure to meet the March 1st priority filing date will likely delay your receiving a preliminary financial aid award prior to the Admission deposit deadline of May 1, 2011.
For the quickest and most accurate processing, students are encouraged to complete the FAFSA online.
The University of Virginia's school code for the FAFSA is 003745.
Once you have completed your 2010 Tax Returns:
Submit SIGNED copies of your and your parents’ (or spouse’s if you are married) 2010 tax documents as soon as possible. The required forms are:
- Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ for parents
- Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ for students, if student is a filer
- All attached schedules
- W-2 forms for parents
- W-2 form for student
The forms should be faxed to (434) 924-7636 or (434) 982-5203. Both of these numbers connect to our secure electronic server. PLEASE NOTE: You must ensure that your outgoing fax number is not "masked". If our server cannot see the number from which you are faxing, we will not accept your inbound submission. Masked numbers are most common at workplaces, not from home fax machines or from retail establishments, such as Kinko's.
If you or your parents filed IRS form 1065 (Partnership Tax Return) or either IRS form 1120 (U.S. Corporate Tax Return) or 1120S (U.S. S Corporation Tax Return), please submit a signed copy of these forms to our office.
If you or your parents filed a foreign tax return, we require a signed copy of the tax return, translated into English. Please state the non-U.S. currency indicated on the foreign tax return.
If you filed your U.S. tax return electronically, print out the entire return, sign and date the signature page, and fax a copy of the compete form, making sure to include the student's name and SIS id number. The University does not participate in the Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC) and so does not have ready access to tax forms that were filed electronically.
Dependent students are required to submit both their parents' and their own income tax documents. Independent students are required to submit both their and their spouse's (if applicable) income tax documents.
If you or your parents or spouse will not file an income tax return please indicate that on your PROFILE application.
Can I Still Apply After March 1, 2011?
Applications received after March 1, 2011 will still be reviewed and a financial aid award made. However, for students whose application is received after the March 1 priority filing date, there may not be a preliminary financial aid award available by the time the applicant must make a decision on their offer of admission.
If an application for financial aid is received after August 15, 2011, the student should not expect to receive institutional grant aid from the University. In order for a student to be considered for institutional aid, our office must have on file before August 15, 2011, the FAFSA, the CSS/PROFILE, a signed copy of the parent 2010 tax returns, schedules, and W-2 form(s), a signed copy of the student 2010 tax return, and the Parent Signature page, which is found here.
What Happens Next?
We will review your application information, and if necessary, request additional documentation to verify what you have provided. Once we receive and review all of your information, a preliminary award showing the student’s estimated financial aid eligibility will be created. You should also receive an email at the time your award is made available. This information will be made available to the student online in the Student Information System after Admissions notifies the student of their admission decision, usually around April 1st. Make sure that you continue to check your Student Center for additional information and for required items needed that have been added to your To Do List.
Please realize that your initial Financial Aid award notification will be a preliminary award, based on the unverified information you provided. If you are offered Admission and accept the offer, we will verify your need-based financial aid eligibility and make adjustments if necessary. After this review, an Official Financial Aid Award will be posted to the Student Information System. This process occurs throughout the spring and summer. Official awards are typically available by the end of June. Please note that an Official award may still change at a later date based upon additional information our office may receive (for example, in the event a non-University award is received by the student).
While the CSS/PROFILE offers a field to enter special circumstances that you believe merit consideration, please know that the University of Virginia has a separate process for appealing financial aid awards. We do not, therefore, review any of the special circumstances that are described in the CSS/PROFILE. Instead, if you believe your situation requires extraordinary review, please go here and complete the Appeal for Reconsideration form for the 2011-2012 academic year, which will be available after February 15, 2011.
Appeals will not be reviewed sooner than September, 2011, so your decision whether or not to attend the University of Virginia must be based upon your official award notification.
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