Financial Aid Office

The Federal Pell Grant is available to undergraduate students pursuing their first bachelor's degree that demonstrate financial need as determined by the FAFSA. Pell Grants do not need to be repaid and awards range based on the student's EFC. The exact award amount is dependent upon the student's enrollment status (full-time, 3/4 time, half-time, or less than half-time) and their Expected Family Contribution (EFC) which is calculated by the federal government based on the information supplied on the FAFSA.

Pell Grant Lifetime Limits

• A student may receive a Pell Grant for the equivalent of 12 full-time semesters or 600% OR
• Until the student has met the degree requirements of a bachelor's degree, whichever happens sooner.

Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) is awarded to undergraduate students with the lowest EFC who will also receive a Federal Pell Grant in that academic year. Funding is limited so students are strongly encouraged to file the FAFSA as soon as it is released. SEOG is awarded based on Buffalo State's packaging philosophy and ranges from $100 to $250 per semester. Financial need is required. 

SEOG Grant Lifetime Limits

A student may receive an SEOG grant as long as they are pursuing their first bachelor's degree and are receiving a Pell grant.

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) program provides grants of up to $4,000* a year to undergraduate or graduate students who are completing or plan to complete course work needed to begin a career in teaching. A TEACH grant is different from other federal student grants because it requires the recipient to take certain kinds of classes in order to qualify for the grant, and then do a certain kind of job to keep the grant from turning into a loan. If a student fails to complete the service obligation after graduation, the grant is converted into an unsubsidized loan with retro-active interest. 

Students must file the FAFSA, meet GPA requirements and complete TEACH Counseling and an Agreement to Serve each year in which they want to use TEACH Grant funding. Students may receive up to $3,716 per year in TEACH grant funds. 

TEACH Grant Lifetime Limits

• Undergraduate Students: $16,000
• Graduate Students: $8,000

*Note that TEACH Grants are subject to Federal Sequestration and will be reduced by a small percentage.

Federal Work Study (FWS) is a part-time job. Payment of work-study funds comes in the form of a paycheck, but only if a student secures a designated work-study position and works the hours. FWS is based on financial need. It is available only during the fall and spring semesters. Funding is very limited and awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Students are encouraged to submit their FAFSA as soon as it is released. 

Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans are available to students from the federal government through the Department of Education. 

Subsidized loans are interest free while the student is enrolled at least half-time. Fixed interest rates are set by the federal government and subject to change. The interest rate for subsidized loans originated on or after July 1, 2022, is 4.99%. To be eligible for this loan, a student must demonstrate financial need as determined from the FAFSA.

Unsubsidized loans accrue interest while the student is in attendance. Students have the option to make interest only payments on the loan while they are in school or defer all payment until after they graduate or leave school for any reason. Interest that has accumulated while the student is in school will be capitalized and added onto the principal balance of the loan. Students who do not qualify for a subsidized loan will usually qualify for an unsubsidized loan. The fixed interest rate for unsubsidized loans is currently 4.99% for undergraduate students and 6.54% for graduate students.

Annual loan limits are set for each class year by the Department of Education and cannot be changed by the school. Eligibility requirements are also determined by the Department of Education and all regulatory policies must be strictly adhered to by Buffalo State.

Direct Grad PLUS loans for graduate and professional degree students can be considered only after accepting the maximum eligibility for Federal Direct Unsubsidized loans.  The Graduate PLUS loan can be borrowed if there is a gap between the student’s cost of education and all other aid including the Direct Unsubsidized loan. As with all loan programs, we urge you to borrow conservatively.

The Federal Direct Parent PLUS loan is a loan in the parent’s name to assist their undergraduate dependent student when there is a gap between the cost of attendance and the student’s own financial aid.

The interest rate for Grad PLUS or Parent PLUS loans originated on or after July 1, 2022 is 7.54%.

To receive a TEACH Grant, students must meet all of the following requirements:

• Meet the basic eligibility criteria for the federal student aid programs.
• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year the student plans to use TEACH funds.
• Be enrolled as an undergraduate student pursuing their first bachelor's degree or as a graduate student at Buffalo State.
  
  -Students in a second bachelor's degree or in a post-baccalaureate program are not eligible.
• Be enrolled in a TEACH-Grant-eligible program.
• Meet certain academic achievement requirements (generally, scoring above the 75th percentile on one or more portions of a college admissions test or maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25).
• Complete TEACH Grant Counseling that explains the terms and conditions of the TEACH Grant service obligation. You must complete counseling each year that you receive a TEACH Grant.
• Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement To Serve or Repay. You must complete a new ATS each year that you receive a TEACH Grant.

Below illustrates the maximum TEACH awards per year by enrollment status.  Be advised that the amounts will be reduced for sequestation:

• For grants first disbursed on or after October 1, 2020, and before Oct. 1, 2024, the award amount must be reduced by 5.7 percent from the award amount for which a recipient would otherwise have been eligible. For example, the maximum award of $4,000 is reduced by $228, resulting in a maximum award amount of $3,772.
• For grants first disbursed on or after Oct. 1, 2017, and before Oct. 1, 2018, the award amount must be reduced by 6.6 percent from the award amount for which a recipient would otherwise have been eligible. For example, the maximum award of $4,000 is reduced by $264, resulting in a maximum award amount of $3,736.

The following degree/major combinations are TEACH-eligible.

If you do not complete your service obligation, all TEACH Grant funds you received will be converted into a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education, with interest charged from the date the TEACH Grant was disbursed (paid to you or on your behalf). If you receive a TEACH Grant for an undergraduate program and later return to school and receive another TEACH Grant for a graduate program, you will have a separate 4-year service obligation for each program. 

• Federal Student Aid 
• TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay (ATS)
• TEACH Exit Counseling

The cost of attendance, also referred to as the aid budget, is an estimate of what it costs for a student to attend for the nine-month academic year and includes allowances for:

• Tuition and fees
• Room and board (housing and meals)
• Books and supplies
• Transportation
• Miscellaneous expenses (e.g. laundry, personal hygiene)

With very few exceptions, the aid budget is the maximum amount of aid that a student can receive while attending Buffalo State. The Cost of Attendance pages show the actual aid budgets being used for undergraduate and graduate students.

The Student Aid Report that the student receives after submitting the FAFSA will have the letters EFC on the first page followed by some numbers. EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution and is an estimate of what the family can contribute toward the student's education that academic year.

The Student Aid Report that the student receives after submitting the FAFSA will have the letters EFC on the first page followed by some numbers. EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution and is an estimate of what the family can contribute toward the student's education that academic year.

An EFC of 5,000 literally means that the federal government thinks the family can provide $5,000 toward the cost of attending college that year. In actuality, the EFC is just a number used to determine aid eligibility and does not reflect how much a family will or will not pay towards educational expenses that year.

Below are examples of aid packages at three different schools that have significantly different costs. The student's EFC is the same in each example, but since the budget varies, the student's financial need also varies at each institution.

SUNY Buffalo State works diligently to ensure that its officers, employees, and agents avoid conflicts of interest in connection with their responsibilities relating to providing and administering student loans for our students. In accordance with state and federal law, you should be aware that the following activities are prohibited. Some of these prohibitions involve technical definitions which can be found by referring to the applicable state and federal law. If you wish to obtain this information, please contact the Financial Aid Office.

1. Buffalo State does not enter into any revenue-sharing arrangement with any lender.
    
2. No officer, employee, or agent of Buffalo State who is employed in the Financial Aid Office or who otherwise has responsibilities with respect to education loans, will solicit or accept any gift or other thing of value from a lender, guarantor, or servicer of education loans. You should be aware that certain items provided or contributed by lenders are not considered gifts, such as training materials, philanthropic contributions unrelated to education loans, and entrance and exit counseling services.
    
3. No officer, employee, or agent of Buffalo State who is employed in the Financial Aid Office or who otherwise has responsibilities with respect to education loans, will accept from any lender or affiliate of any lender, any fee, payment, or other financial benefit (including the opportunity to purchase stock) as compensation for any type of consulting arrangement or other contract to provide services to a lender or on behalf of a lender relating to education loans.
    
4. Buffalo State will not, for any first-time borrower, assign, through award packaging or other methods, the borrower’s loan to a particular lender or refuse to certify, or delay certification of, any loan based on the borrower’s selection of a particular lender or guaranty agency.
    
5. Buffalo State will not request or accept from any lender, any offer of funds to be used for private education loans, including funds for an opportunity pool loan, to students in exchange for the campus providing concessions or promises regarding providing the lender with a specified number of loans made, insured, or guaranteed, a specified loan volume, or a preferred lender arrangement for such loans.
    
6. Buffalo State does not request or accept from any lender any assistance with call center staffing or financial aid office staffing.
    
7. No employee of Buffalo State who is employed in the Financial Aid Office or who otherwise has responsibilities with respect to education loans or other student financial aid and who serves on an advisory board, commission, or group established by a lender, guarantor, or group of lenders or guarantors, will receive anything of value from the lender, guarantor, or group of lenders or guarantors for such service.

The primary goal of the financial aid professional is to help students achieve their educational potential by providing appropriate financial resources. To this end, this statement provides the financial aid professional with a set of principles that serves as a common foundation for accepted standards of conduct.

The staff of the Buffalo State Financial Aid Office follows the principles outlined by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).

An institutional financial aid professional is expected to always maintain exemplary standards of professional conduct in all aspects of carrying out his or her responsibilities, specifically including all dealings with any entities involved in any manner in student financial aid, regardless of whether such entities are involved in a government sponsored, subsidized, or regulated activity. To this end, this code provides the financial aid professional with a set of principles that serves as a common foundation for accepted standards of conduct.

The staff of the Buffalo State Financial Aid Office follows this code of conduct outlined by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).

To invite one of our financial aid counselors to speak at your high school or address your group or organization, please complete the Speaker Request Form and return it to our office as soon as possible. 

Students and families may provide feedback to state and federal officials.  To identify your local officials, enter your address into the Board of Elections website. You may then continue to the representative's website to provide feedback.