An award letter detailing how much assistance you qualify for will be sent to you after your college financial aid application has been processed. You will receive the award based on the estimated cost of education for the upcoming academic year, along with an estimated family contribution (EFC), which is determined by the state of your finances (and your parents’ financial situations if you are a dependent student) as of the time you submitted your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
If your circumstances have changed since the time you filed your FAFSA, and you would like to request additional assistance, you can submit an appeal letter that requests additional funds if your circumstances have changed since your FAFSA was filed.
Template for a Financial Aid Appeal Letter
Whenever you need to write an appeal letter, it may be beneficial to use the sample provided here as a starting point if you need to write one. In order to give the letter a more personalized feel, you will need to add information specific to your situation to it, but the basic format of this example is a good place to start.
The template can be accessed by simply clicking on the document’s image in order to access it. In order to customize the sample letter for your needs, you will need to open it as a PDF document that you can customize as you see fit.
You can edit the letter by clicking anywhere in the letter, using your keyboard, and once the necessary adjustments have been made, you can save it and print it by using the ‘Save’ and ‘Print’ commands in the file menu.
Tips for Making a Request for Additional Financial Aid
Despite the fact that you submit an appeal letter, there is no guarantee that your request will be approved just because you submitted an appeal letter. There will need to be a convincing argument in your letter, in which you can clearly demonstrate that your financial situation has changed drastically since the time your FAFSA was submitted, as well as to what extent that change has occurred.
The school may be able to entertain your request, but it is likely that you will be required to submit proof to support the reasons for your change in circumstances that you have given for the change in your life.
You are encouraged to submit your letter as soon as you become aware that you need to ask for additional funding in order to increase your chances of being considered for approval. In order to ensure that your request is processed as quickly as possible, you should contact the school’s financial aid office before you send the letter, so make sure you verify who to address the letter to and how to submit it to the school (e.g., via mail, in person, by email, etc.).
You can be sure that your request will be handled as quickly as possible if you do this.