No. You can file a FAFSA starting October 1 of the year you are submitting your college applications. The financial aid staff will keep your application on file until we receive notice that you have been accepted. The FAFSA opens yearly on October 1st.
Yes, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) should be completed each year you attend college in order to be eligible for federal and state aid. The FAFSA is also used for determining eligibility for various types of institutional aid.
Financial need is determined by the following formula:
Cost of Attendance (COA) - Student Aid Index (SAI) = Financial Need
Once your financial need is determined, the Office of Financial Aid will work to meet it with various types of aid, including grants, scholarships, work study, and need-based loans. Given that some funding is limited, we may not be able to fully meet your financial need. You can cover any remaining amount through outside scholarships, payment plans, loans, and student employment.
Typically, your institutional financial aid remains consistent from year to year, although housing awards are only available while you live on-campus. Federal and state grants, however are determined by the results of your annual FAFSA, which may vary.
Scholarships, grants, and work study are automatically accepted for you. If you do not want to use this aid, contact the Office of Financial Aid to decline them.
When you have access to PilotsUP, you can accept or decline your loans in Self Serve.
Declining a loan or work study does not mean you will be reconsidered for additional institutional grant or scholarship aid, but it may make room in your cost of attendance for outside scholarships, or to increase a Parent PLUS loan, or to increase a private loan.
To view the Terms and Conditions of your financial aid package, please follow these instructions:
Yes, you can borrow money for your college living expenses. Loans can cover more than just tuition; they can also be used for books, housing, meals, transportation, and other personal expenses.
You can determine the specific amount allocated for living expenses in your Cost of Attendance by visiting Self Serve and viewing the "Offer" tab. Housing charges will only be billed through the Office of Student Accounts if you reside in a UP residence hall or a UP rental house.
Some off-campus students reside in privately owned rentals where each tenant pays their portion of rent directly to the landlord on a monthly basis. Students using loans to cover rent must carefully calculate their rent expenses for the semester and ensure they borrow sufficient loan funds to receive a refund after their billed charges are paid. It is the student's responsibility to budget their credit balance refund throughout the semester to pay rent on time each month. Additionally, leases are usually signed for 12 months at a time (often May to May). Financial aid, however, only covers the nine months a student is enrolled in fall and spring semester classes. If you have questions about your budget for off-campus living, please contact the Office of Financial Aid to speak with a financial aid counselor.
To abide by federal regulations, the Office of Student Accounts is unable to start the credit balance refund process until after classes begin. This means that refunds do not occur until early September for fall semester and mid-January for spring semester. Please keep this in mind when budgeting. You can contact Student Accounts by emailing stu-acct@up.edu or by calling 503-943-7347.
Once you are a matriculated student, you, the student, are the only person the Office of Financial Aid will release information to unless you give us permission to release your information to someone else through Proxy Access. This is in accordance with the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If you would like the Office of Financial Aid to be able to release your financial aid information to someone else, such as a parent, spouse, or scholarship organization, please go to Self Serve, select the Proxy Access tab and follow the instructions.
Most forms will be linked on students' Self-Serve requirements page, which can be accessed by logging in to Self-Serve, selecting the Financial Aid tab, then the Award Overview tab, and then Outstanding Requirements.
Financial Aid forms are also located on the Financial Aid page in Pilots Portal. Log in to Pilots Portal, go to Pages and select Financial Aid.
The best way to submit requested documentation to the Office of Financial Aid is by our secure Document Upload Form. Contact our office to request the link to our Document Upload Form.
Do not send documents containing sensitive or personally identifiable information via email. This includes tax documents, W2s or anything else that may compromise your identity.
Current UP Students: Check that you’re typing your UP network credentials correctly. If you need to reset a forgotten password, visit the UP Password Management Site and select Reset a Forgotten Password.
New UP Students: If you are logging in for the first time and need to activate your account, visit the UP Password Management Site and select Activate a New Account.
If you need to reset a forgotten password, go to the UP Password Management Site and select Reset a Forgotten Password. When prompted for your preferred delivery method, select Personal Email.
If you don't know your username, contact finaid@up.edu or (503) 943-7311 for assistance.
All forms requiring a parent co-signer must be initiated by the student. Once the student has completely filled out their portion, the parent will receive an email with a link to the partially completed form. Parents then create an account for themselves using the parent email address the student supplied on the FAFSA. Parents may then sign forms electronically.
Make sure when you return to the form, you are logging in to your Dynamic Forms account and selecting the Pending/ Draft Forms option, then find the draft of the form that you saved. If you click the direct link to a form again, you will start a new version of the form rather than continue your saved form.
Your cost of attendance can be increased to include the cost of health insurance. For most students, this will increase their eligibility for loans, but will not increase their gift aid. Contact the Office of Financial Aid for additional information or to make that request.
Federal loans have the following interest rates and loan origination fees:
Each spring, Congress sets federal student loan interest rates based on the high yield of the last 10-year Treasury note auction in May.
Loan fees can be calculated using our Loan Origination Fee Calculator.
In most circumstances, yes. There is some flexibility for reinstating and declining all or a portion of a loan. However, institutional Doucette and Eagin loans have limited funding. If you decline one of these loans, the funds may be awarded to another student, making them unavailable to you.
You can request a Loan Change Request Form to cancel, reinstate, or modify a loan by emailing finaid@up.edu.
Loan entrance counseling is required by federal regulation for all first-time borrowers. The on-line counseling session gives an overview of the federal loan program, including the types of loans available, interest rates, borrower rights and responsibilities, etc.
Loan exit counseling is required when borrowers graduate or leave college to make sure they understand their rights and responsibilities as a borrower, as well as learn about repayment options.
Entrance and exit counseling can be completed at studentaid.gov.
You can contact the Office of Financial Aid to request a Loan Change Request Form for requesting additional loan funds based on the higher grade level. You will not need to sign another MPN for the increased amount. When the loan is processed, your student account will be credited.
Financial aid recipients are required to maintain the following standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress. The entire policy can be found within the Financial Aid Handbook. Some critical parts of the policy include the following.
Financial aid warning is the result of a student not making Satisfactory Academic Progress for one semester. Students who are on warning may still receive financial aid. Students who successfully complete Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements in the next semester that aid is received from the University will have their warning status removed.
Financial Aid Suspension generally occurs when a student who is currently on Financial Aid Warning fails to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for a second consecutive semester. All financial aid is suspended. This includes all federal, state, and institutional aid, including tuition remission and tuition exchange. For the complete policy, please refer to the Financial Aid Handbook.
Students placed on Financial Aid Suspension status and have had their financial aid cancelled have the right to appeal their status. The appeal should include:
Students who successfully appeal their suspension status may have their aid reinstated for one semester. During this probationary semester, students must meet all Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements and/or follow their approved education plan in order to continue to receive aid beyond the probationary semester.
Merit scholarships are based on high school academic performance and will not increase while at UP. However, there are opportunities for undergraduate students throughout their four years of study to be awarded additional department or annual/endowed funds, should any become available. Funds are limited and based on specific awarding criteria, including major and GPA.
Report your outside scholarship to us using the Outside Scholarship Reporting Form. Then bring your scholarship check to the Office of Financial Aid. If the check was made out directly to you, endorse the check. We will apply it to your financial aid package.
We realize that the FAFSA does not always capture the true picture of a family’s financial situation. The federal government allows us to consider certain special circumstances and/or expenses when determining a student’s aid eligibility.
These include but are not limited to:
Call, email, or stop by the Office of Financial Aid to request a Special Circumstances Form. Forms will only be distributed after you have received your initial offer letter for the current aid year. You may also be required to submit current year tax returns and W2s along with other documentation. Your special circumstance will be considered once you have provided all requested documentation.
If your family has a situation that you feel is not accurately reported on the FAFSA, let us know. Each family's situation is unique and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by a counselor.
We will review your special circumstances after all requested documentation is submitted. Files are reviewed in the order in which they are received. The review process can vary and can take longer during peak processing times, such as spring and summer. Students can help speed up the process by submitting all requested documentation in a timely manner.
Yes. If special circumstances continue, they have to be reaffirmed and documented each year.
Federal and state financial aid is available for all study abroad programs. UP Institutional financial aid is available for UP-approved institutional study abroad programs only. French and German majors studying abroad with IES (to fulfill a major requirement) in Nantes, France and Freiburg, Germany during fall or spring semesters are eligible for institutional, federal, and state aid as long as their participation is approved by the Director of the Studies Abroad. Please refer to the Studies Abroad website for details on whether a specific program is eligible for financial aid.
Tuition remission may be used to cover a portion of study abroad charges for some study abroad programs. For information on which programs are eligible and what amount of coverage is provided, please visit https://www.up.edu/hr/benefits/tuition-remission.html.
Federal financial aid, such as federal loans and grants, are available for summer programs by eligible students. Institutional aid is not available for summer semesters. Contact the Study Abroad Office for questions about specific programs.
Students who want to study abroad with another university or program not affiliated with UP will be required to take a leave of absence and apply for financial aid with their host university. Financial Aid from UP will be forfeited for the duration of the leave of absence. Contact the Office of Financial Aid for the Non-UP Study Abroad Checklist and make an appointment to discuss your options with a Financial Aid counselor.
The verification process is required to receive all federal and state aid, as well as some institutional aid. While verification is not mandatory to attend classes, it is required to receive most forms of financial aid. Failure to complete the process will result in cancellation of a large portion of your offered financial aid.
The verification process ensures that students receive the aid for which they are eligible. Your aid may be adjusted, up or down, depending on the accuracy of the information reported on your FAFSA. If you are selected for verification, your aid offer is considered an estimate until verification is complete.
Once all forms have been completed and submitted to the Office of Financial Aid, verification can take two to four weeks to complete (or longer during peak processing times). Submitting incomplete or unsigned documents will delay the process.
Students and families who have been victims of tax related identity theft are not going to be able to follow the normal verification process. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid at 503-943-7311 or finaid@up.edu for alternative guidance for completing the Verification process.
If you were not required to file taxes for your earnings, you can indicate that on the Verification Worksheet. You will also need to provide copies of all W-2s for the past year. If you are not sure if you need to file taxes, please use the Do I need to file? IRS tool.
If you are a resident of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, your tax information will not be transferred from the IRS automatically. If you are from Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, you will need to submit a signed copy of your income tax return that was filed with the relevant tax authority.
If you are a resident of American Samoa, you must provide a copy of your Tax Account Information filed with the tax authority for American Samoa (must come from the American Samoa Tax Authority).
If you have further questions, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at 503.943.7311 or finaid@up.edu.
University of Portland
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.,
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503.943.8000
