A: The PIN is your Personal Identification Number. By signing on to Webster with your PIN, you can "electronically sign" your award letter so that you don't need to send an acknowledgement to us by mail. If you have not logged in to Webster before, your PIN will be your date of birth in this format: YYMMDD. Once you have logged in to Webster for the first time, you will be asked to select a new PIN, as well as enter a security question. The security question will allow you to get your PIN sent to you if you forget it.

A: No. The Department of Education will send you a PIN after you complete a new FAFSA. Your FAFSA PIN is a random four-digit number. Your Webster PIN is your birthdate beginning with the year.

A: Generally, students enter their date of birth incorrectly. Your PIN starts with the year, not the month. For example, if you were born on March 12, 1982, then your PIN would be 820312. If you have already tried signing in three times, your PIN may have to be reset. In that case, please call or email the Financial Aid Office. If you have reached a screen that says your PIN has expired, you have succesfully entered the system. Enter the birthdate PIN as the "old PIN" and give yourself a new one.

A: Your login is your student ID number, which is generally your social security number.

A: Once you are logged in to Webster, select "Student Services and Financial Aid". To view you award information, select the links in the following order:

1. Financial Aid
2. My Award Information
3. Accept Award Offer by Aid Year

Select the aid year and it will take you to your award information. Once you are in the "Accept Award Offer by Aid Year" section, you will be able to accept all, or part of the funds offered. Any grants that you are offered are automatically accepted. If you have already accepted or declined your aid, and now wish to change your mind, you will need to contact the Financial Aid Office. We can reset your aid to offered so that you can make the needed changes.

A: We will send out a postcard any time someone's award is changed. Generally, you do not have to accept again if the loans are reduced or unchanged. If your loan amounts increase, you will need to accept again.

A: The first step is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In the application, there is a section where you can designate which school(s) you want your information to go to. Eastern Oregon University's federal school code is 003193. Enter this code in the appropriate space and your FAFSA information will be sent to EOU by the department of education. Enter codes for each of the schools you are seriously considering attending. This way, if you transfer schools in the middle of the year or change your mind about your school choice, your new school will already have your FAFSA. After we get your information, we will "package" a financial aid award for you and send you a notice with further instructions.

A: Generally, you must enroll for 6 or more credits to get financial aid. An exception is the PELL Grant, which sometimes pays a small amount for less-than-half-time enrollment. At Eastern, a student does not need to be admitted to enroll in 8 or fewer credits. However, you must be admitted to receive financial aid of any kind even if you will only be enrolled half-time.

A: Federal financial aid is not available to students who are not admitted.

A: There are four general types of financial aid: scholarships, grants, loans, and employment. For more information on aid you may be offered, see our page describing types of aid at:
http://www.eou.edu/fao/funddescrpt.htm.

A: Financial aid is characterized as either need-based or non-need-based. The Financial Aid Office determines if the expected family contribution is less than the cost of attendance at EOU. The expected family contribution, which is calculated using a formula established by Congress, is based on several economic factors, such as income, assets, and number of family members in the household. Thus, there is no exact income "cut-off" to qualify for financial aid. Families who do not demonstrate need may still be eligible for non-need-based financial aid programs such as the Unsubsidized Stafford Loan or PLUS Loan for parents.

A: There is a priority deadline for filling out the FAFSA. Usually it is set some time in March preceding the academic year you plan to attend. If we receive the FAFSA information after the priority deadline, you may only be offered Pell Grant, Student Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized), and the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS). You may fill out a FAFSA at any time between January 1st preceding the academic year and the end of the academic year. However, students who apply early will be considered for the most grant programs.

A: Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and follow the instructions for filling out a new or renewal FAFSA. If this is a new application, you must print out a signature page to sign. Your parents must also sign a signature page if they are on your FAFSA. The Department of Education will send you a four-digit PIN so that you can make changes and renew your application the next year without sending a signature page again. Your parents can also get a PIN to electronically sign your application. !!!!!WARNING: Fafsa.com is not the same as the Department of Education application site. If the website tries to charge you a fee, you are on the wrong site. Remember, the first "F" in FAFSA means "free".

A: Yes. Financial aid applicants must complete the federal form each academic year in order to be considered for federal aid.

A: In order to process any changes on the FAFSA, the student must re-submit changes to the government. The student can submit the changes to FAFSA online by choosing the link entitled "Make Corrections to a Processed FAFSA."

A: Formulas are used to calculate a contribution based on family financial information entered on the FAFSA. The expected contribution is not a judgment about how much a family ought to be able to pay from current income. Rather, it is an estimate of their capacity over time to absorb the costs of education. Many families finance this contribution through a combination of savings, current earnings, and borrowing.

A: After you fill out the FAFSA, it can take up to six weeks for your information to reach the Financial Aid Office. We start processing FAFSA information for the coming year in the spring. After we start processing, when we receive the FAFSA report, we will package your aid and send you a notice about your offer. While the Financial Aid Office at Eastern Oregon University does not wait until you are admitted to send an offer of financial aid, we do wait for all the FAFSA information to arrive. If you are missing information or a signature, you will not receive an offer until you complete the FAFSA.

A: When we begin processing for the next academic year, the Financial Aid Office will send notices to aid applicants who have unmet requirements. You will be informed in writing or by email if your file is incomplete. It is very important for current EOU students to check their official EOU email address for notices from the Financial Aid Office. We cannot send notices to email addresses other your EOU address. You can also check on Webster for any unmet requirements or holds.

A: Student and parent contribution amounts are calculated using a federally mandated formula. If a student or their parent(s) have been adversely affected by extraordinary circumstances that have reduced their ability to pay for college expenses, the Financial Aid Office can review those circumstances in order to recalculate the student and/or parent contribution, thus potentially increasing the eligibility for need-based aid. In order to request a review of your family's circumstances, you must fill out the appropriate form requesting a professional judgement. These can be found on our forms page at www.eou.edu/fao/forms.htm. Your request should be well documented and should include current contact information in case the Financial Aid Office has questions.

A: No. Do not wait until your taxes are done. Some grants have deadlines as early as March. There is a space on the FAFSA to indicate that you will file later. Most of the information you need can be found on your last paycheck stub. If you don't know the exact figures, estimate and then go back later and update with the correct amounts. The Financial Aid Office will consider the first date that you submitted your FAFSA in determining eligibility for aid with deadlines.

A: Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and click on the following links:
1. "make corrections to a processed FAFSA"
2. "check the status of my application and print a signature page if necessary"
3. Select "next"
4. Enter social security number, first 2 letter of the last name, date of birth, and year and type of application (in a drop down box)
5. On this screen you can choose to print a signature page.

A: The next step is to become familiar with Webster--the student information and registration system. The Financial Aid website has a tutorial on the Webster system at www.eou.edu/fao/webstart1.htm. This tutorial will help you navigate Webster and review your aid award.

A: Using your student ID and Webster PIN, you will be able to access your official Financial Aid Award on Webster. Once you access it, you will need to indicate acceptance or rejection of the types of aid you have been offered. If you have accepted our offer of student loans and this is the first time you have had loans through Eastern, you will receive a promissory note to sign, and you will need to complete online entrance counseling. The aid you have accepted will be credited to your account with the EOU Student Accounts Office if you are registered full-time or have made specific arrangements with the Financial Aid Office to attend part-time. The aid that is credited to your account will first pay off any charges that you owe to EOU. If you live in EOU housing, the aid on your account will also be applied to those charges. If the aid on your account exceeds the charges on your account, you will have a credit balance and can pick up a refund or request that it be mailed to you. If the aid placed on your account does not cover all of your institutional charges, you will be expected to pay the difference.

A: Disbursement of aid generally takes place by the first day of classes. However, new freshmen have a 30 day wait for their first loan disbursement. Loans that are for one term only are disbursed in two parts approximately five weeks apart. For the exact disbursement dates of each term, you can check on Webster under Financial Aid Award Information/Award Payment Schedule. Remember, you must have completed all requirements and satisfied all holds before your loans will be requested from the lender. After a request is sent to the lender, it can take several days for funds to arrive, so it is best to have all requirements satisfied at least one week prior to the disbursement date.

A: There are seven questions on the FAFSA to determine whether or not you are independent or dependent. If the answer to one or more of the questions is yes, you are considered an independent student. If you reach your 24th birthday by the end of the calendar year in which you are starting school, if you are working on a graduate degree, are married at the time of application, have children or other dependents that you support, are an orphan, or are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, you will be considered independent. Otherwise, you are a dependent student whether or not your parents plan to help you with school.

A: Your award offer is always going to be full-time when it is first packaged. It is the policy of the Financial Aid Office to prorate part-time student budgets. For example, full-time students are eligible to receive up to $4407 per term during the 2003-04 academic year. If you are attending half-time, you can get up to half of that amount. We would apply you prorated Pell Grant first as well as any other grants and scholarships you are eligible for. Please note: some grants and scholarships require full-time and do not prorate for part-time students. After that, you would be offered subsidized loans (Perkins and Subsidized Stafford) and then an Unsubsidized Stafford loan would cover any deficit that's left. If you plan to attend part-time, you must contact the Financial Aid Office before the start of each part-time term. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you are eventually going to be registered for full-time credits and your funds will not be released until you do.

A: You might want to consider either a PLUS loan or an alternative loan. PLUS loans are available to parents of dependent students. Alternative loans are not federal financial aid programs, but are designed to assist with educational expenses. You can apply for an alternative loan throuhg a bank of your choice. Eligibility for either a PLUS loan or an alternative loan is limited to the cost of attendance minus any other financial aid educational resources already awarded.

A: All of the following requirements must be met before your loans are processed:
1. You must be admitted.
2. If you have been selected for verification, you must satisfy that requirement first.
3. Your aid must not be revoked for any reason.
Check on Webster for student holds and requirements to see if there is anything that may hold up your aid. Once your requirements are met, your loans are processed and you will receive a promissory note. This process may take 1 to 3 weeks depending on the time of year.

A: If you are receiving a Stafford loan for the 2nd or 3rd time here at Eastern Oregon University, you should have signed a Master Promissory Note (MPN) in the past. The MPN is an "open ended" note that will include any subsequent loans taken out. If you have been without a Stafford loan at Eastern for more than a year and a half or have transferred from another school, you will most likely have to sign a new MPN.

A: This may be for a couple of reasons. If you have indicated an incorrect grade level, we may need to change your loan amount. For instance, if a student indicates they are a Junior, but only has 70 credits, they would be considered a Sophomore. The federal government sets loan limits depending on your year in school. They are:

Level	Stafford Loan (Dependent Students)	Unsubsidized Loan (Independent Students)
Freshman	$2,625	$4,000
Sophomore	$3,500	$4,000
Junior	$5,500	$5,000
Senior	$5,500	$5,000
Post-Bac	$5,500	$5,000
Graduate	$8,500	$10,000

Another reason for a change is a change in resources. If you receive a scholarship, or funding from an outside agency, this could reduce your eligibility for federal aid. In addition, if you are selected for verification and the figures on your tax forms do not match those on the FAFSA, your aid may have to be adjusted.

A: Loans processed for a loan period consisting of only one term must be disbursed in two payments, the first is usually at the beginning of the term and the second coming midway through the term.

A: Eastern has a variety of scholarships that can cover all or part of your tuition. For a complete list of institutional scholarships, please visit our scholarships page. Eastern will also accept scholarships from outside organizations and foundations and apply them to your account. Please note that any scholarships received reduce the student's need and may necessitate a reduction in the financial aid package, however, the first aid type that would be reduced are student loans.

A: Many donors wait until the last minute to send funds so that they can draw interest for as long as possible. We receive a large number of scholarships at the beginning of the term (especially Fall term). While we may have the scholarship, it may take several days to process it and have it available on your account. This processing delay is greatest at the beginning of Fall term. If you need to know whether or not a scholarship has been posted to your account, check on Webster first.

A: Your financial aid from all sources cannot exceed the cost of attendance established by the University. If you receive a scholarship, whether it is from the college or from a private source, you should notify the Financial Aid Office. We are required to review your aid package to make sure that you are not receiving more aid than your total cost of attendance. In many cases we are able to include your scholarship without adjusting any of your other aid, increasing the total amount of your aid package. Sometimes we have to reduce or replace another form of aid. In that case, we always attempt to reduce or replace any loans that you might have been offered first. We strongly encourage you to explore all scholarship opportunities as valuable means to help finance your college education.

A: The grants and scholarships are money that you do not have to pay back. Therefore, we do not give you the option to decline them. You are under no obligation to attend simply because the grants are automatically accepted. If you decide not to attend Eastern, they will not be paid out.

A: Because actual tuition and fee charges are not always established before award offers are sent out, an estimate of tuition and fees is used to award aid. Typically, this information is collected using the previous year's costs plus an estimated percentage of increase. Sometimes this does not reflect actual tuition costs exactly but it is generally close enough for the majority of students. If a student has unusual expenses, he or she should contact the Financial Aid Office to see about applying for a budget increase.

A: You might want to consider either a PLUS loan or an alternative loan. PLUS loans are available to parents of dependent students. Alternative loans are not federal financial aid programs, but are designed to assist with educational expenses. You can apply for an alternative loan through a bank of your choice. Eligibility for either a PLUS loan or an alternative loan is limited to the cost of attendance minus any other financial aid educational resources already awarded.

A: The PLUS Loan is the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students. Parents may borrow a PLUS Loan on behalf of their dependent undergraduate student to help fund educational expenses. A PLUS Loan may be a component of a student's financial aid offer. The interest rate is variable and is capped at 9%. All PLUS Loan applicants must pass a credit check to have their loan approved.

A: No. Any credit balance on the student's account as a result of PLUS loan funds is refunded directly to the parent and then the parent can choose to send the funds to their child.

A: Yes. If you have not reached your loan limit for the year, you may apply for an additional loan to purchase a computer. This application can only be used once during your college career. The amount you are eligible for depends on how much is left before you reach your loan limits, but cannot exceed $2000.

A: First, you must check the box on the FAFSA form that indicates that you are interested in Work Study. To be eligible, you must submit your FAFSA early (in January or February) and have financial need to receive work study. Any student, even those not eligible for Work Study, may still work on campus at a number of non-Work Study jobs.

A: Verification is a process used to verify certain information on the FAFSA. Some students are selected for verification by the US Department of Education. Others are selected by Eastern Oregon University because of discrepancies in information. If you have been selected for verification, we will require specific documents to get you verified.

A: You must send the following documents to Eastern if you are selected for verification:
1. Last year's signed 1040 Federal tax form. Do not include state tax forms or other schedules and forms not listed.
2. Your W-2's and/or 1099's.
3. Your Federal Schedule C and Schedule F (if you own a business or farm).
4. Your parent's signed 1040 Federal tax form (if your parents are on your FAFSA).
5. Your parent's W-2's and/or 1099's..
6. Your parent's Federal Schedule C and Schedule F (if they own a business or farm).
7. A completed and signed verification worksheet form.

A: If you do not have taxable income, there is a space on the verification worksheet to indicate that. You must detail your other sources of income in the spaces provided. Do not enter $0. Even if it was loans, enter the amount and the source. If you can't find your tax forms or W-2's, you must order copies from the IRS and/or your employer. We cannot process your financial aid until the verification process is complete.

A: There are several reasons your financial aid may not be disbursed on time. In order to receive a disbursement of financial aid you must meet all of the following requirements. After you have fulfilled all of the above requirements, it can take a few weeks to process your loans and have them sent from the lender. You must:
1. have a valid award from EOU.
2. have accepted your loans (if needed).
3. be admitted to EOU.
4. have finished the verification process (if selected).
5. have made satisfactory academic progress in past terms.
6. be registered full-time or have made arrangements with the Financial Aid Office to receive a part-time award.
7. be registered at least 1/2 time (except for Pell Grant).
8. have satisfied all holds and requirements on your account.

A: All students receiving federal financial aid funds are required to complete all of their courses in the same term in which they enroll. There are no exceptions. A student who does not complete all courses within one term will not have made satisfactory academic progress with regard to financial aid.

A: If a student has NO grades (all F, W, I, Y, K, or X) by the end of the term, we must assume until proven otherwise, that the student unofficially"withdrew" from classes. In that case, we are required to return some of your financial aid. If the student can show, from the professor, that at least 60% of all classes were completed within the term, we may be able to request their funds be reissued. This, however, will be considered a non-progress term, and so will put the student in danger of losing future aid.

A: We"freeze" hours on the financial aid system at the end of the 4th week of each term (excluding Summer). If you drop before this freeze date, your aid will be adjusted and a portion of it will be returned to the funding agency. If you drop after the freeze, your aid will not be adjusted. If you were at full-time and then dropped below full-time after the freeze, we would show unsatisfactory progress at the end of the term. This would put you in danger of losing your aid for future terms. If you have more questions about dropping a class or about academic progress, please refer to the section on Academic Progress.

A: When we begin processing for the next academic year, the Financial Aid Office will send notices to aid applicants who have unmet requirements. You will be informed in writing if your file is incomplete. You can also check on Webster for any unmet requirements or holds.

A: The PLUS Loan is the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students. Parents may borrow a PLUS Loan on behalf of their dependent undergraduate student to help fund educational expenses. A PLUS Loan may be a component of a student's financial aid offer. The interest rate is variable and is capped at 9%. All PLUS Loan applicants must pass a credit check to have their loan approved.

A: If your child has been offered a PLUS loan with his/her aid package, the first thing you need to do is let your child know that they can accept it online on Webster. After they accept the loan, you will receive information from the school about which lenders are available and how to apply. The pre-approval process can be done over the phone with most lenders. After pre-approval, the bank will send you an application and promissory note to fill out. The school will certify the amount and then send it to the bank. The funds will be disbursed at the same time as all other aid.

A: Aid is awarded first to the student and then to parents. So, the student is always offered the maximum amount of loans before a PLUS loan is added to the package. If a parent declines the PLUS Loan, the student is not eligible for any additional Federal loans. However, he or she can apply for an alternative education loan through a bank to make up the difference between their cost of attendance and their awarded aid. If a parent is denied the PLUS Loan by one of our associated lenders, the student may be eligible for more federal loans.

A: If a parent is denied the PLUS Loan by one of our associated lenders, the lender will inform us of the denial. After the denial is sent to us, the student may request an additional unsubsidized Stafford Loan. Freshmen and Sophomores are eligible for up to $4000 in additional Unsubsidized Stafford Loan and Juniors and Seniors and eligible for up to $5000 additional Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. These additional loans, added to all other aid, cannot exceed the student's total budget. This is not added to a student's aid package automatically. The student must request it. If the parent declines to apply for the loan for any reason, the student cannot make the request. The parent must be denied by a lender for their child to qualify for the additional federal aid.

A: There could be several reasons your financial aid for the current term has not paid to your billing account:
1. You have not registered for enough credit hours: nearly all financial aid requires that you be enrolled full time--12 credit hours for undergraduates, 9 credit hours for graduates--in order to receive the aid. "Planning" to enroll in more hours won't work; you must be officially registered for enough credits. Only if you have previously arranged with the Financial Aid Office and Scholarship donors to receive aid for a term based on less than full-time enrollment will aid be disbursed for less than full-time.
2. You did not complete enough credit hours the previous term, or did not maintain satisfactory academic progress for the previous term.
3. You have not completed some or all of the paperwork required for the aid to be disbursed, such as your award acceptance, promissory note and entrance interviews for loans, or paperwork required by the department issuing a fee waiver or scholarship. Or, the financial aid office has not received paperwork or confirmations needed from other sources. Check on Webster for any requirements or holds you may have missed.
4. You have not accepted your aid on Webster.
5. The funds have not been received from the issuing agency in the case of scholarships or loans from outside agencies.

A: There are several reasons your financial aid may not be disbursed on time. In order to receive a disbursement of financial aid you must meet all of the following requirements. After you have fulfilled all of the above requirements, it can take a few weeks to process your loans and have them sent from the lender. You must:
1. have a valid award from EOU.
2. have accepted your loans (if needed).
3. be admitted to EOU.
4. have finished the verification process if selected.
5. have made satisfactory academic progress in past terms.
6. be registered full-time or have made arrangements with the Financial Aid Office to receive a part-time award.
7. be registered at least 1/2 time (except for Pell Grant).
8. have satisfied all holds and requirements on your account.

A: All students receiving federal financial aid funds are required to complete all of their courses in the same term in which they enroll. There are no exceptions. A student who does not complete all courses within one term will not have made satisfactory academic progress with regard to financial aid.

A: If a student has NO grades (all F, W, I, Y, K, U, or X) by the end of the term, we must assume until proven otherwise, that the student unofficially"withdrew" from classes. In that case, we are required return some of your financial aid. If the student can show, from the professor, that at least 60% of all classes were completed within the term, we may be able to request their funds be reissued. This will, however, be considered a non-progress term, and so will put the student in danger of losing future aid.

A: We"freeze" hours on the financial aid system at the end of the 4th week of each term (excluding Summer). If you drop before this freeze date, your aid will be adjusted. If you drop after the freeze, your aid will not be adjusted. If you were at full-time and then dropped below full-time after the freeze, we would show unsatisfactory progress at the end of the term. This would put you in danger of losing your aid for future terms. If you have more questions about dropping a class or about academic progress, please refer to the section on Academic Progress.

A: When we begin processing for the next academic year, the Financial Aid Office will send notices to aid applicants who have unmet requirements. You will be informed in writing if your file is incomplete. You can also check on Webster for any unmet requirements or holds.

A: When a student transfers to Eastern from another school, we must determine how much aid they received from the other institution so that they do not exceed the yearly limits on federal aid. This usually takes about seven days to research, therefore, a seven-day hold is placed on the student's record so that aid will not be disbursed during that time. However, the Transfer Monitoring Hold rarely delays the disbursement of aid since a transfer student would also be completing his/her promissory note and entrance counseling during this time.