Apply for financial aid NOW

Hi,
I just had one other question in regards to the FAFSA. When filling it out should we be using the information from our own tax information or from our parents tax information?

Thank you

Patricia,

Good question. I’m going to ask you to contact Financial Aid for the answer. As I said, I’m not an expert in this area. It’s complex and there are numerous rules and regulations that I do not fully understand, so I’ll restrict my advice to urging students to complete the FAFSA.

I can’t help, but Illinois and also your current college certainly are happy to. Below is our Financial Aid Office contact information.

If you experience any difficulty getting the answer(s) you need, let me know and I’ll follow up with them or do whatever I can to help you get the information you need.

Contact Information:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Office of Student Financial Aid
620 E. John Street
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217.333.0100
Fax: 217.265.5516
E-mail: finaid@uiuc.edu
Federal School Code: 001775

Office Hours:
Monday – Friday
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Hi,
I am an international student from India and I have been admitted to UC campus but I am doubtful whether I can fill FAFSA. Moreover I haven’t received the acceptance letter yet and I have no information about my scholarships if I have received.Additionally,I have another achievement that,I think,can be helpful to me for obtaining scholarship.How can convey this to the scholarship department.

Thankyou

Gaurav,

Congratulations on being admitted to Illinois.

I am not going to try to answer a FAFSA question–I simply do not have the expertise and would not want to lead people astray. The people with that expertise are the Financial Aid staff. I urge you to contact them to get the best information.

That office does have a special page with information for international students that you might find useful:

http://www.osfa.uiuc.edu/aid/international/index.html

As far as scholarships are concerned, we use the application for college admission to double as the application for scholarships.

For additional information about scholarships, you can see this page:

http://www.osfa.uiuc.edu/aid/scholarships/index.html

I hope that’s helpful. I know I’m not really answering your questions, but hopefully I am pointing you to the experts who will be able to give you better information than I would be able to provide.

Dan

I was wondering… If I do get accepted to UIUC is it hard to secure a job on campus. I work here on campus at NIU, however if I am accepted I will need a source of income to help with the expenses, so I was wondering how hard it is to obtain campus employment.

Thank you

Patricia,

There is a wide range of employment opportunities on campus. If you wish to take advantage of the Federal Work Study program, please make sure you have completed the FAFSA. There are lots of jobs on campus and off campus–I don’t think you will have too much trouble finding something.

Dan

What if we did not file by March 15th?

Natalie,

I am not the best person to answer questions about Financial Aid–it’s not my area of specialization and not an Admissions function. I urge anyone with Fin Aid questions to contact our Office of Student Financial Aid (see above for contact information).

That said, I think (stress the word “think”) that the March 15 deadline was for priority consideration, that it was best to have filed by then, but not that it was essential. You may (stress the word “may”) still have time to complete the FAFSA and receive aid.

Please contact Fin Aid as soon as possible to learn about your options at this time.

Dan

I am an international student and I am 17 years old. At the moment my mother (the co-signer) has not obtained the U.S.Citizenship yet. For all the loans that I have looked at the requirements are either for me to be 18 or for my co-signer to be a citizen. Are there any loans that I would be able to apply for in my situation?

Anya,

You have good questions. I don’t feel qualified to answer them, though. I really don’t have the expertise to address the complexities of financial aid and loans.

I am comfortable urging students to complete the FAFSA, but for questions like yours the best advice I can give is to direct you to our Office of Student Financial Aid. Contact information is below. They are the experts who will be able to work with you on what your options are.

Contact Information:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Office of Student Financial Aid
620 E. John Street
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217.333.0100
Fax: 217.265.5516
E-mail: finaid@uiuc.edu
Federal School Code: 001775

Office Hours:
Monday – Friday
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Also see:
http://www.osfa.uiuc.edu/aid/international/index.html
Dan

Hi Dan!
I’ve been admitted into the undergraduate engineering program. I just wanted to clarify a doubt. I didn’t apply for financial aid this year but if i ever require it during the course of my college education, will i be eligible for it? Also, is it necessary for the cosigner of a loan from the US to be a citizen or a resident?

Nishit,

I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to tell you what I’ve told others–I’m not a financial aid expert. You have good questions, but you’d be better off directing them elsewhere. The Office of Student Financial Aid, see above for contact information, can help you.

Dan

How poor do I have to be to get financial aid?

Wang Dong,

I cannot possibly answer that question.

My advice is the following:

1. Complete the FAFSA. It takes some time, it may be tedious, and you need to gather family information… but IT’S FREE. Complete the form, and you may be surprised. Even if all you qualify for is in the form of loans, they are likely to be at low interest rates and perhaps with very favorable pay-off plans (this is certainly true of subsidized loans!), which could save you A LOT of money in the long run compared to getting loans from private sources.

2. Work with the Office of Student Financial Aid (see above for contact information). They are the experts who can provide the best assistance.

Dan