Financial Aid FAQ
Find answers to students’ most common questions.
Financial Aid FAQ
Find answers to students’ most common questions.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) determines your financial aid eligibility, whether it be federal loans, federal or state grants, or institutional aid. You must complete the FAFSA every year.
As you may have heard, there is a delay this year in when the Department of Education will release FAFSA data to students and universities. We have created a FAFSA update webpage that explains the reason for the delay, the timeline from the Department of Education, what Baker is doing, and what you can do. We will post new information here as it become available.
Baker University’s priority deadline is March 15 each year. To be considered for certain Kansas state aid, students must complete the FAFSA by April 1 each year.
The Department of Education had decided that students who are younger than 24 are still considered dependents of their parents. In certain situations, a students may be considered independent. These include a student being married; having children they support financially; or being emancipated, a veteran, in active duty, an orphan, in legal guardianship, or considered homeless. All of these require documentation.
Independent or dependent student status is determined by the Department of Education. To be considered independent by age, the student must be 24 by January 1 of the FAFSA year, a veteran, a ward of the court or an orphan, married before the completion of the FAFSA, in graduate school, or supporting a child or dependent parent.
Baker automatically receives the information. The Office of Financial Aid reviews each application to determine the aid that the student is eligible to receive. This aid is listed on the student’s financial aid offer. The student then accepts or declines the aid on the aid offer or in their student portal. Once classes start, the Financial Aid Office disburses the aid so it can be applied to the bill in the Business Office.
Sometimes the Department of Education selects FAFSAs for a special review process to make sure the information entered onto the FAFSA by the parent and student is correct. Documents can be in the form of verification worksheets, tax documents, or anything else to verify conflicting information. There is no deadline for verification, but we cannot award you federal aid until it’s complete. If you wait too long, late fees could start accruing on your bill in the Business Office.
Circle A for accept or D for decline on your award offer, sign it, and return it to the Office of Financial Aid. You can also accept your aid online through the student portal under the My Financial Aid tab. Be sure to accept each line item individually. Clicking Select All has not worked correctly in the past.
*If you wish to accept the student loans offered to you and have not had student loans before, you must complete a master promissory note and the entrance counseling before we are allowed to release your federal loans to the Business Office.
Your accepted financial aid will be applied to your bill in the Business Office one week before classes start. Do not expect to see accepted aid show up on your account until then.
When you complete the FAFSA you are also applying for federal and institutional aid, which can be in the form of loans. The Department of Education sets limits on the amount of loans a student can take out each year. There are also lifetime limits. We award you your loan eligibility for the year on your financial aid offer. This is where you can accept or decline the loans offered to you. Students may be awarded subsidized or unsubsidized loans, based on FAFSA results. The federal government pays the interest for direct subsidized loans while the student is in college or while the loan is in deferment. Interest begins accruing for direct unsubsidized loans as soon as the loan is taken out. Students have the option to make interest payments to their loan servicer while they are still enrolled.
When you accept the loans on your financial aid offer, the Financial Aid Office processes these loans through the federal government. The federal government requires an origination fee, also known as a processing fee, to be able to process and send your funds to the school so they can be applied to your Business Office bill. The origination fee is currently 1.057%. Please keep in mind that the loan will be reduced by the origination fee before applying to your bill.
If you decide to accept a federal student loan on your financial aid offer, the federal government will require that you complete entrance counseling and sign a master promissory note. Entrance counseling explains how loans work and provides information about loans in general. A master promissory note (MPN) lets the federal government know that you understand that a loan must be paid back when you leave school. When completing the MPN you will also provide references in case your loan servicer has a hard time getting in contact with you. Both are required to be able to process your loans, but you will likely only have to complete them the first time you accept a loan, not every year.
If you accept all federal loan eligibility offered to you for four years as an undergraduate, you will have a maximum of $27,000 in federal student loans. This does not include Parent PLUS Loan denials or outside private credit loans if you choose to use them.
If students still have a balance due after all financial aid has been applied to their bill, they have the option to search for outside scholarships, have their parents apply for a Parent PLUS Loan, set up a payment plan through the Business Office, or apply for an outside private credit loan, which usually requires a credit-worthy cosigner.
Parents have the option to apply for a loan in their name called the Parent PLUS Loan. This requires a credit check and cannot be submitted until June 1 for the following school year. If a parent is denied based on the credit check, then students are eligible for an additional unsubsidized loan in their name.
You can apply for scholarships through our Outside Scholarship Newsletter that is created by the Financial Aid Office, you can speak with your high school counselor, work hard to potentially earn departmental awards as a junior, search for scholarships throughout your community, or do an online search for safe and reliable scholarship opportunities. Scholarships are out there, you just have to search for them.
When eligible, based on FAFSA results, students may be awarded grants, also referred to as free money. This is money that students do not have to pay back. Examples of grants include the Pell Grant, Kansas Comprehensive Grant (KCG), and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG).
Work study is a campus student-work program. The FAFSA determines whether a student is eligible to work and how they are to be paid: federally or through Baker. Federal work indicated on the aid offer means the federal government is helping to pay the wage. If it says Baker work, the university is paying the full wage. Certain positions require that students be federally eligible. Students can only work a certain number of hours because the funds have to fit within a financial aid budget determined by the Financial Aid Office. Usually, 8 hours per week meets these guidelines. Students fill out a monthly timesheet and submit it to their supervisor for a final review, and then supervisors (not students) submit the timesheets to the Financial Aid Office. Students get paid once a month and earn $7.25 per hour. Before beginning work, students must visit with Human Resources to fill out payroll paperwork.
A GIA, or grant-in-aid, letter provides an athlete with their total Baker-funded award. It is inclusive of ALL Baker University aid. The only exception is academic competition awards, for which a student may be eligible. The grant-in-aid amount is pulled from several funding sources that will be listed on the financial aid offer. These funding sources may include an academic scholarship, athletic participation award, first-generation award, out-of-state grant, cultural diversity award, alumni legacy or alumni referral scholarship, or a nonathletic participation award in a nonathletic area.
If students are enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours over the summer and were full time the spring before, they may be eligible for a partial portion of a Pell Grant. The FAFSA is required, and the amount is based on FAFSA eligibility. In addition, if a student has not used their full annual loan limits, they may be eligible for federal student loan funds.
The Business Office creates a student’s bill, which includes all charges for tuition, housing, meal plan, classroom fees, athletic charges, music tutoring, and so on. Questions about charges or refund checks should be referred to the Business Office. The Financial Aid Office helps students receive aid that can be applied to their bill. Questions regarding FAFSA, loans, scholarships, work study, and so on should be asked in the Financial Aid Office.
Financial aid is applied to a student’s bill in the Business Office once classes begin. When financial aid goes above and beyond what is due, which means all charges have been paid (e.g., tuition, class fees, housing, meal plan), students receive a refund check for the overage amount. These funds should be used for educational purposes.
The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) is a federal database that allows students to log in with their Student Aid ID (formerly FSA ID) (the same ID used when completing the FAFSA) to view their aid, update contact information, and determine who their loan servicer is.
Financial aid standing is based on hours earned only at Baker University. Both cumulative GPA and hours earned affect eligibility to receive Baker-funded, federal, and state aid. Students must be enrolled in 12 hours per semester to receive the maximum amount of aid. Students will be reviewed annually in May to determine whether they remain in good financial aid standing in order to receive institutional, federal, and state aid. Students must successfully complete 67% of hours attempted, be on track to complete their degree in 150% of the program length, and maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0. Certain programs and scholarships may have additional requirements.
Students who do not successfully complete 67% of attempted hours, are not on track to complete their degree in 150% of the program length, and/or do not have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 at the time grades are reviewed each May will be placed on financial aid suspension. Students will be notified in writing and will have the opportunity to appeal this decision to the Financial Aid Advisory Committee.
Once a student graduates, withdraws, or drops below 6 credit hours, they will be exited. This means that the Financial Aid Office will create an exit packet that lists the loans they received while attending Baker and notify their lender that they are no longer enrolled at least half time. This exit packet will be sent to the student’s Baker email and the email address they provided on the FAFSA. It will require that they complete online exit counseling through the federal government. It will help them to identify who their loan servicer is. The student will send their loan payments to this loan servicer, which is decided by the Department of Education.
Most loans allow a six-month grace period after a student is no longer at least half time. Private loans vary, with some requiring payment during school and others waiting until after the student is less than half time. There are also deferment and forbearance plans that can delay repayment under certain circumstances, such as going back to school or becoming unemployed.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits the release of any records without the written authorization of the student involved. That means when a parent or guardian calls, we cannot speak with them about billing, financial aid, grades, and so on unless a signed authorization is on file, completed by the student, allowing us to release the specified information. This authorization can be completed in the Registrar’s Office in Constant Hall.