Financial Aid for School of Professional Studies
Applying for Financial Aid
FAFSA is a yearly requirement for students who are interested in applying for financial aid. The FAFSA can be found at www.fafsa.ed.gov* and you will need both your FSA ID and your parents’ FSA ID. We strongly recommend completing the FAFSA prior to May 1st to stay up to date with the aid process for the following year. The Albright College Federal School Code for your FAFSA is 003229. DO NOT FORGET! The FAFSA is required for all sources of financial aid.
*Historically, the FAFSA has been available beginning October 1st each year. However, because of significant changes to the application and the rebuild of the FAFSA processing system, the 2024-25 FAFSA will not be available until sometime in December 2023. Updates on an exact date will be posted here when announced.
Pennsylvania State Grant (PHEAA)
If you are a state resident, it is important to have your FAFSA completed prior to May 1st. The PA State Grant program has a strict application deadline of May 1st. For more information on this program please visit www.aessuccess.org or 1-800-692-7392.
Verification
Verification is the process in which a financial aid office is required to test the accuracy of information reported by parents and students on the FAFSA. Financial aid applications are randomly selected by the federal FAFSA processor for verification. As part of the verification process you may be asked to provide any of the following: Federal IRS Tax Transcript, copies of W-2 forms, proof of citizenship, copies of Social Security benefit statements, 1099 forms, corporate earnings statements, or other information dealing with your income or assets.
If your FAFSA is selected for verification, you will be notified by Albright’s Financial Aid Office, via email, to create and/or log in to your Student Forms account. Student Forms is our office’s secure portal used to upload documentation containing sensitive information. Once you are logged in to your Student Forms account, you will see an itemized list of materials needed specific to the verification of your FAFSA.
Declining Aid
Students have the right to decline any awarded financial aid per academic year. If a student would like to decline any financial aid, they must email us at finaid@albright.edu. We will make the requested adjustments and send you a revised letter for your records.
Disbursement
Grants, scholarships, and loans administered by the Financial Aid Office are first applied directly to your student account to support charges for tuition, fees, and other College charges. Financial aid awarded for a specific term can only pay for charges in that term. Disbursements of financial aid occur weekly. The Financial Aid Office can advise you at any time regarding the day of the next financial aid disbursement.
SAP (Satisfactory Academic Process)
Federal regulations (General Provision CRF 668.1) require that Albright College review the academic progress of a student before awarding Federal financial aid to assure the student has met and continues to meet the basic academic progress standards set forth by the College.
The Federal government requires a student receiving Federal aid to complete their degree within 150% of the published length of the academic program. Albright College also expects a full-time student to complete degree requirements within a maximum of 10 semesters. NOTE: Most aid programs only offer aid assistance for a total of 8 semesters. Therefore, extending past 8 semesters may make financing difficult.
All students enrolled at Albright College are subject to the academic standards of the college. As a participant in the federal financial aid programs (Title IV), students are also required to make satisfactory academic progress toward their degree using both qualitative and quantitative measures as defined below:
Qualitatively, your progress is defined as academic good standing at the College, or grade attainment of a cumulative GPA of 1.7 after your first year of attempted units, and a cumulative GPA of a 2.0 thereafter. Graduate students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Quantitatively, you are required to complete 67% progress toward your graduation requirements. The measurement is the relationship between the cumulative units you have attempted to complete and those units you actually completed.
An aid recipient must display progress in both the qualitative and quantitative measures. If either test fails, the student is not making acceptable academic progress for the receipt of financial aid. Students are evaluated for progress at the end of the spring semester after final grades are submitted to Registrar. Students will be notified in June of any given year if they have not met the SAP guidelines for financial aid.
Students not making progress may appeal the results. A financial aid appeal form can be found on the financial aid website. Student must submit their appeal to the Financial Aid Office no later than Aug 5th for the fall semester and January 6th for the spring semester. If approved, the student will be placed on financial aid probation for a period of one academic year and will be required to establish an approved academic plan designed in coordination with the Albright Student Success Center.
Appealing Financial Aid
You have the right to appeal your federal financial aid award based on circumstances beyond control of your family. Some examples of valid appeal grounds include significant out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses, catastrophic financial losses associated with a designated natural disaster, death of a parent applicant, change in marital status, and employment changes. Albright College Financial Aid Office utilizes a Special Circumstance/Appeal Form to review changes to circumstances as described above. Please see Financial Aid Forms for a form to complete and submit.