Students (not international students) who wish to apply for scholarships, grants, and/or student loans are required to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The college code to be used on the FAFSA is 002782. The FAFSA is available online at studentaid.gov in December each year. For maximum consideration for all types of financial aid, students should file the FAFSA applications as early as possible in their application process.

Requirements for Federal Student Aid

In order to qualify for federal student aid, students:

• Must be accepted and fully matriculated into a New York Institute of Technology degree-granting program or eligible certificate program.
• Must have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate or must have completed homeschooling at the secondary level as defined by state law.
• Must be making satisfactory academic progress toward their degree (see Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) section for policy).
• Must be enrolled at least half-time to receive aid from the Federal Direct and/or PLUS loan programs
• Must sign statements on the FAFSA stating:
  1. You are not in default on a federal student loan and do not owe money on a federal student grant, and
  2. You will use federal student aid only for educational purposes.
• Must not be in default on a prior federal student loan
• Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or other eligible noncitizen
• Must have a Social Security number
• With the exception of unsubsidized loans and PLUS loans, all other federal student aid requires students to demonstrate financial need

Federal Requirements for Determining Unusual Enrollment History

The Office of Financial Aid must adhere to the U.S. Department of Education's efforts to prevent fraud and abuse in the Federal Pell Grant Program and other federal financial aid programs by identifying students with unusual enrollment histories. An "unusual enrollment history" flag will be included on FAFSA results received from the U.S. Department of Education and will indicate, where applicable, that a student has an unusual enrollment history with regard to the receipt of Federal Pell Grant or Federal Direct Loan funds. The indicator is intended to address possible fraud and abuse in the Title IV student aid programs. For example, one specific enrollment pattern is where a student attends an institution long enough to receive Title IV credit balance funds, leaves without completing the enrollment period, enrolls at another institution, and repeats the pattern of remaining just long enough to collect another Title IV credit balance without having earned any academic credit. The Office of Financial Aid may request additional information from students with an "unusual enrollment history" flag on FAFSA results, and the final receipt of federal and institutional aid is dependent upon satisfactory resolution.

Federal Verification Requirements

There is a process for verifying a student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and making corrections because students sometimes make errors on their application. Verification is a process by which a school collects information to ensure that the FAFSA has been completed correctly. The FAFSA Processing System (FPS) of the Department of Education selects applicants to be verified. The university also reserves the right to select applications for verification.

If a student's application is selected for verification, either by the FPS or by the institution, verification is required to be performed by the school. Each year, the Department of Education will determine which items on the FAFSA must be verified. The Office of Financial Aid is responsible for clarifying any conflicting information found on a student's FAFSA and may ask for documentation to verify and resolve any conflicting information.

For the 2024–2025 academic year, students who are selected for verification will be placed in one of the following three verification groups. The verification group determines which FAFSA information must be verified. The student must submit the New York Institute of Technology Verification Worksheet that corresponds with the Verification Group. Worksheets are available for download, or directly from the Office of Financial Aid.

Verification Tracking Groups

• Standard Verification Group (V1): Dependent/Independent students, spouses (if applicable), and parents who are tax filers must verify adjusted gross income, U.S. income tax paid, untaxed portions of IRA distributions, untaxed portions of pensions, IRA deductions and payments, tax-exempt interest income, education credits, household size, and number in college. Students and parents who are not tax filers must verify income earned from work, household size, and number in college.
• Custom Verification Group (V4): Students must verify identity/statement of educational purpose.
• Aggregate Verification Group (V5): Students must verify identity/statement of educational purpose in addition to the items in the Standard Verification Group.

Applicants selected for verification will be notified on the Student Aid Report (SAR). In addition, upon receipt of the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR), the Office of Financial Aid will send a missing information letter to the student informing them if their application has been selected for verification and which documents must be submitted. The verification results of identity and high school completion status for students whose 2024–2025 ISIR had a Verification Tracking Group of V4 or V5 must be reported to the Department of Education in a timely manner. As such, students whose 2024–2025 FAFSA has been selected for V4 or V5 verification must submit the required documents to the Office of Financial Aid within 14 days of the request for information.

In accordance with federal guidelines, verification must be completed no later than 120 days after the last day of the student's enrollment. Students may receive an estimated financial aid package prior to the completion of the verification process; however, New York Institute of Technology does not disburse any federal financial aid funds until the verification process is completed. The university reserves the right to withhold some institutional aid funds until the verification process is completed. Students who fail to submit the required verification documents will not receive federal aid.

Reference: 2023–2024 FSA Handbook Volume 1, Chapter 4