FAQ's
We know that the financial aid process can be a confusing one. This page is designed to help answer some of the most frequently asked questions that our office encounters over the course of the year.
1. When can I expect to receive my financial aid award?
2. If I move off campus into an apartment will this affect my financial aid award?
4. Can I be considered an Independent student?
6. What is verification and what documents are needed?
7. If I have to be enrolled for more than 4 year or 16 terms can I still receive my aid?
8. If I don’t pass all of my classes what will happen to my aid for future years?
9. If I need or want to take courses for E term is financial aid available?
10. If I go away to a project center how does this affect my aid?
1. When can I expect to receive my financial aid award? - Financial aid awards for returning students will not be mailed until approximately the first week of July each year. We cannot start the awarding cycle until grades for D term have been posted and it then takes about a month for our office to review all files.
2. If I move off campus into an apartment will this affect my financial aid award? - Living off campus will not affect your financial aid award. The only time a change would take place would be if you moved off campus to live with your parents or a relative which would then change your status to a commuter student. Living off campus in an apartment either by yourself or with friends is a pretty standard practice for returning students since WPI does not have enough housing to house 100% of our student population. The budget used for off campus generally differs from an on campus budget by only a few hundred dollars so there is no affect on your aid.
3. If I move off campus can my private loans or other aid funds help cover my rent and other living expenses? - Yes. If you are living off campus and using loans to cover part of your expenses you can still borrow to the total budgeted cost of attendance less the financial aid you've been offered. When the loan funds are disbursed to the school anything that is left over after all WPI charges have been paid can be refunded to you. You can then put this money in your own account and use it to pay your rent, utilities, food etc. Please keep in mind that refund checks are usually not cut until at least two weeks into a term so you may need to cover a month or two of rent on your own until refund checks can be distributed.
4. Can I be considered an Independent student? - WPI believes that the primary responsibility for an undergraduate education lies with the student and parent, to whatever extent possible. Therefore, all undergraduates applying for WPI institutional funds are required to provide parental information regardless of federal dependency status. Although a student may meet federal guidelines to be considered an independent student, and therefore receive federal funds as an independent student, the ability of parents to assist their children, regardless of age and dependency status, is a factor WPI considers in determining eligibility for institutional need-based grants. Because of this, the WPI Office of Financial Aid will require parental information (including federal income tax returns, schedules, and W-2 statements) from all students applying for need based institutional aid. This information can also be found in the financial aid section of the undergraduate catalog.
5. If I had excellent grades and / or I participated in a variety of activities on campus this year can my aid be increased in following years? - Your scholarship funding from WPI will not increase from year to year. However, your aid could decrease if you do not pass all of your courses. Please see the aid retention tab on the left for more information on how your aid is affected by courses passed etc.
6. What is verification and what documents are needed? - please see the verification tab on the left for more information on the verification process.
7. If I have to be enrolled for more than 4 year or 16 terms can I still receive my aid? - please visit the Aid Retention Policy tab to the left for more information on this subject.
8. If I don’t pass all of my classes what will happen to my aid for future years? - students are required to pass a minimum of 11 out of 12 academic courses during the A - D academic period. Failure to pass the minimum amount of courses can result in the loss of some scholarship funding. Please visit the Aid Retention Policy tab to the left for more information on this subject.
9. If I need or want to take courses for E term is financial aid available? - Private Loan and Stafford Loan funding are the only forms of aid available for the summer. Please visit the E Term Financial Aid tab on the left for further information about E term aid.
10. If I go away to a project center how does this affect my aid? - If you participate in a project center and currently receive need based financial aid there may be a small increase to your need based scholarship. We will also increase your budget by a fixed amount depending on the project center you are participating in to allow for increased borrowing of loans. Please visit the Global Projects Aid tab on the left for further information.
11. If I didn’t have federal work study in my financial aid package last year can I get it this year? - Unfortunately Federal Work Study funding is the smallest fund we receive from the federal government. Therefore we are limited in the number of students we can offer this fund to. If you do not have federal work study in your financial aid award when you enter as a freshman, or if you lost federal work study funding the previous year it will not be offered to you in future years.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: February 25, 2010 15:46:01