Information for Newly Admitted Students

Congratulations on your Admission to the University of Virginia!!!
We know that this is an exciting, yet potentially stressful time for students and their parents as you take the next step toward college.
Our goal in Student Financial Services is to provide you with your Financial Aid Award as timely as possible so that you have the best information available as you are trying to decide which school you would like to attend. 

This page is intended to help you through the financial aid piece of your decision making. 

Why is there a delay?  What if I don’t see my aid even after April 1st?
Financial Aid is typically available within a week of the Admissions decisions being posted.  It takes us time to ensure that all admitted students who have applied for financial aid have been properly awarded.  Therefore, we typically begin posting awards to the Student Information System within 5 business days of the Admissions decision announcement. 

The date by which we can provide your Financial Aid Award information assumes that you submitted your FAFSA AND your University Financial Aid Application by the March 1st Priority Filing Date

If you submitted either of these forms after our Priority filing date, PLEASE REST ASSURED that we will process a financial aid package for you.  The AMOUNT of your award will not change if you apply on March 15th (or later) compared to March 1st; however, the TIMING of when you receive notification could be affected by when we receive your information.  As we mentioned before, it takes time for us to process these awards, and given the volume of applications we receive at this time of year, the earlier you get us your information, the more likely we will have an award available by April 1st.

In addition to these two forms, we may need other information.  For example, to verify the information in conformance with federal regulations, we will sometimes request Parent and Student tax forms and W-2s, along with all appropriate schedules.  How will you know?  The student will see items on their “To Do” list in the Student Information System (SIS) that will indicate those items that we need. 

We will still process a PRELIMINARY financial aid award without these extra documents.  However, the accuracy of our Preliminary Award will depend on the accuracy of the information that you provided on the FAFSA and the University Financial Aid application.  Amounts could change once we review the other documents, if there are large discrepancies. 

WHAT TO DO IF YOU DON’T KNOW

• Check your Student Center often for Financial Aid Award information

• Check your “To Do” List in the Student Center to see if there is anything else we need

• If you do not see a Financial Aid award by April 20th, and your decision to come to UVA is dependent on your Financial Aid:

• Verify that you submitted the FAFSA

• Verify that you submitted the Financial Aid application

• Check your “To Do” list for outstanding items
  

WHAT IF I HAVEN’T APPLIED YET?
It’s not too late to apply for Financial Aid; however, it is too late for you to have an Award before the May 1st date by which you need to inform The Office of Undergraduate Admission of your decision.  But if you know UVA is where you want to go, by all means, submit your application now!  For detailed instructions, go to http://www.virginia.edu/financialaid/enter09.php.

Who do I contact if I need HELP?
You can call our office or e-mail us (please pick one method to eliminate duplication of effort).  Our phone number is 434-982-6000 and our e-mail is faid@virginia.edu.  Because our financial aid counselors are busy processing financial aid, please allow 48 business hours for us to answer your questions. 

Good luck in your college choice.  We hope that you will choose UVA and become a member of the Wahoo Class of 2013!!!!