Financial Aid Office

Applying for federal aid begins with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is a student's application for all federal grants, work-study, and loans. The only official site to complete the FAFSA is https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa (if you go to a site that charges a fee or asks for credit card information, you have gone to the incorrect site). The FAFSA must be completed every year.

• Buffalo State's Federal School Code is 002842
• Students and parents of dependent students will need a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID and password to sign the FAFSA. Parents use the same FSA ID for all children.  
  1. Signing electronically is the preferred method.
  2. Keep your ID and password in a safe place as you will need it each year. If you forget your ID or password, you can request a duplicate
  3. Effective with the 2024-25 school year, parents without a social security also must have an FSAID.  Follow these instructions (En español)for assistance.

Printing, signing, and mailing a Signature Page

Applicants and parents of dependent applicants can sign the FAFSA form by printing, signing, and mailing a signature page. The student's signature should match the student's name printed on the signature page. The parent signature should be from one of the individuals whose information was provided in parental FAFSA data fields. Signature pages must also contain an original signature (photocopies of signatures are not acceptable).

Signature pages should be mailed to:

Federal Student Aid Programs
P.O. Box 7656
London, KY 40742-7656

When FSA receives a paper signature page via U.S. mail, the signature page is evaluated to determine if signatures are valid before they are designated as received in the system. Signature pages are rejected if they do not contain applicant or parent signatures OR if the signatures on the page do not meet specific rules and guidelines.

How to Create an FSA ID Video

How to File the FAFSA

Review Your Student Aid Report (SAR)

Approximately three business days after completing the FAFSA, you will receive a notice by email that your Student Aid Report (SAR) is complete. This form summarizes all the information that was provided on the FAFSA and gives further instructions. 

If you are unable to be reached by email, the federal processor will send you a paper copy. Corrections to your FAFSA can be made online. Corrections usually take two to four weeks to be processed if done via paper and less than one week if done electronically.

Processing Times

FAFSA and TAP applications run from October 1 (2024-2025 FAFSA delayed until at least December 2023) through June 30 of the following year (21-month filing window). For example, for the 2022-2023 academic year, students may submit their FAFSA between October 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023.  

• Although the deadline date to apply is June 30 of each academic year, a student must have a valid FAFSA on file with the college and be currently enrolled to receive federal aid. 

This means that if a student does not have a valid FAFSA in place prior to the last day of classes, they become ineligible to receive aid. If a student is requesting loan money, processing time of at least a week prior to the last day of classes is necessary to ensure eligibility to receive funds. Students who withdraw from a term and then submit a valid FAFSA when they return in a later term will only receive aid for the latter semester. 

TAP stands for Tuition Assistance Program and is a grant program through New York State.  At the end of the FAFSA, you will be given an opportunity to complete the application if you are a New York State resident and have listed a NY school on the FAFSA. If you do not complete the state application when completing the FAFSA, you will need to wait for your FAFSA to be processed.  Then shortly after, you will receive an email when the state application can be completed.

Important when filing a New York State application:

• Buffalo State is listed as SUNY Buffalo State University (Elmwood Ave). 
• Only one (1) school code can be placed on the state application. Verify the school code is 0905. 
• Students will need to create a user ID and PIN the first time logging in. It is helpful to use the same PIN as the FAFSA.
• Must be enrolled as a full-time (12 credits) student to be eligible.
• Must be an eligible New York State resident.

Review the Scholarship Page for more information on scholarships offered by Buffalo State and tips to begin your external scholarship search.  Best wishes!

CAPS is Buffalo State's scholarship system.  Be sure to log in and create an application each year in January.  This is available to incoming and current students.

Create Financial Aid Package and Send Award Letter

• New Students: New students will be emailed a notification when their award is viewable in Banner (Buffalo State's student portal). New students will receive an email at the address used on their application to the college or other student-reported email on file.
• Continuing Students: If the Financial Aid Office does not need additional documents, a continuing student will be emailed a notice that their financial aid has been awarded and to view it in Self-Service Banner.

Tip: Something may be wrong with an application if a student does not receive an award notification or a request for additional documentation within one month of submitting the FAFSA. The student should contact the school.

SUNY Award Letter versus the New York State (NYS) Award Information Sheet

In Banner, students have access to two different versions of their award letter:  The SUNY Award Letter and the NYS Award Information Sheet. Be advised that the aid displayed on each is the same; however, they present the data slightly differently.

The SUNY Award Letter distinguishes between direct and indirect costs where as the NYS Information Sheet does not.  A direct cost is a cost that the student will be billed for by Buffalo State, and an indirect cost is an expense they are likely to incur, but not billed by Buffalo State.  Additionally, the SUNY Award Letter shows the student's eligibility by term while the NYS Information Sheet shows the annual amount only.  Finally, the NYS Information Sheet contains two additional pages.  These additional pages contain a glossary of terms and the expected costs for the student to complete their degree at Buffalo State.

Understanding the SUNY Financial Aid Award Letter

The video below shows the SUNY Financial Aid Letter rather than the NYS Information Sheet.  Students can access the SUNY Award Letter by logging in to Banner and then choosing:  Financial Aid » Award » Award for Aid Year » Select Year » Print SUNY Award Letter.

Requests for Documentation ("Requirements")

• New Students: If additional documentation is required, new students will receive a letter via the US mail describing what else is required. If the requested documents are not submitted in a timely fashion, any aid previously awarded to the student will be canceled.
• Continuing students will receive email notices that they have "outstanding requirements" and need to log into self-service Banner to view them. Typically, continuing students must provide the documentation before an award package will be generated.

Types of Requests

• Verification: Verification is a process required by the federal government where the Financial Aid Office collects documents from the student (and parents of dependent students) to compare against the FAFSA.  Approximately 30 percent of students go through this process and it does not signify a problem with your application. 
• Other Requests: If a student or parent’s information cannot be validated by the federal government, the Financial Aid Office must collect documentation to resolve the issue(s), such as copies of social security cards or birth certificates.
• Requirements are viewable in Banner. For help with this please refer to the Completing Your Financial Aid Eligibility Requirements guide.

Students should carefully review the aid offered to them in their award letter upon receiving it.  If students have questions, they should call the Financial Aid Office. Students should take care that when comparing their award offers at various schools, it is important to compare the net costs not the amount of aid offered.

Bill Examples

The examples below illustrate what a new first-time, full-time freshmen student's fall semester bill looks like at various family income levels.

Aid Package Comparison Tools

• Bill Estimator: Estimates out-of-pocket expenses each semester.
• Cost and Aid Worksheet: Determines the out-of-pocket costs from the student's award letter.

Special Circumstances

In limited cases, the Financial Aid Office can make adjustments to a student's FAFSA to accommodate for a loss of income or special circumstance. 

Disclaimer: Students are reminded that the award package is an estimate of aid eligibility and is subject to change.

All students planning to use federal financial aid to help pay for college must accept the Terms and Conditions of Federal Aid before they can accept/reduce/decline the aid offered to them.

New Students

• Students should accept, reduce, or decline the financial aid awarded to them as soon possible (preferably by May 1). Aid is accepted, reduced, and/or declined using Banner. Students do not need to accept all loans offered to them and are encouraged to only borrow what is needed. Students should exhaust subsidized loan funds before borrowing unsubsidized loans. Refer to the video below for help accepting aid.
• The Financial Aid Office will assume that students that do not pay their admissions deposit by the deadline are not attending Buffalo State and cancel their financial aid.

Continuing Students:

• Continuing students will not have their entire aid package canceled unless they are not enrolled, enrolled in an insufficient number of credits after add/drop week, or otherwise deemed ineligible (e.g., not making satisfactory academic progress).

Step-By-Step Instructions on how to Accept Aid & Terms and Conditions in Banner (pdf)

Tip for All Students: Once a student accepts or declines an award in Banner (e.g., loans), they cannot change it. In these cases, please contact the Financial Aid Office in writing so we may re-offer the desired loan to you to accept.

If the aid offered, coupled with current family resources, is not enough to cover the cost of attending, then consideration should be given to the options listed below. The Estimated Cost and Aid worksheet can also help to determine out-of-pocket costs.

1. Federal Parent PLUS Loan - A federal loan a parent borrows and repays on behalf of their dependent student. If a parent's credit is denied, the student can be offered an additional unsubsidized Direct Loan.
2. Private/Alternative Loan - This is a private loan the student borrows and repays. Private loans require the borrower to be credit-worthy or have a credit-worthy cosigner.
3. Scholarships - Students are encouraged to apply for scholarships beginning in high school (junior year).
4. Automatic Payment Plan - The Student Accounts Office offers a payment plan that divides the amount due into multiple payments. 

Students should complete all loan requirements by August 1 to ensure the loans show as a deferment on their student bill. Students must also accept the loans in Banner in addition to completing the requirements below. Note that not all students will have all loan types offered to them.

Direct Unsubsidized/Subsidized Loans

• Loan must be accepted in Banner
• Complete Master Promissory Note  
• Complete Entrance Counseling

Direct Parent PLUS or Grad PLUS Loans

• Complete an online credit check
  • Parents of dependent students that are applying for a PLUS loan must log into the website using their information; the parent is the borrower.
  • Graduate students (pursing a master's degree or graduate certificate) whose Direct Unsubsidized loan eligibility is not enough may apply for a Grad PLUS loan.
• Complete Master Promissory Note
• Complete Entrance Counseling (Graduate PLUS Loans only)

More information: Parent PLUS Loans | Grad PLUS Loans

Federal and State Aid are disbursed directly from the government to the University and applied to the student's bill. Most private loans and outside scholarships are also disbursed directly to the school on behalf of the student. All aid and payments are first applied to the student's billed charges. Only after all charges are paid will a student receive a refund.