Students must have a valid FAFSA on file before they can be reviewed for aid eligibility. Once a budget sheet is submitted the student will be reviewed for any remaining aid they have not already exhausted for that academic year. A summary of the student’s estimated expenses and financial aid for their semester abroad will be sent to the student’s Buffalo State email account. Students should review these documents thoroughly as they will estimate the amount the student will need to pay out-of-pocket for their semester abroad If students are in need of additional funds to help pay for their semester abroad, they may contact the Financial Aid Office located in Moot Hall 230 for additional loan information.
Additional Aid Types (additional applications required)
Prepare for Your Bill
Before going on exchange, students should ensure they understand how they will be billed. Billing is program/exchange specific. Students should consult with the International Education Office in South Wing 430 to determine their expected bill at each campus. Below are some key points students show knows:
Be a Good Student
Students must take their academics seriously while on exchange. Failure to attend classes can result in a cancelation or reduction in financial aid. Students must meet federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) rules and NYS Good Academic Standing rules to maintain eligibility in subsequent semesters.
Financial Responsibility
Students participating on exchange are responsible for any and all charges accrued at both the home as well as host institution. Students’ failure to make timely payments may result in late fees, transcripts being withheld (jeopardizing future aid at home institution), accounts being put on hold, as well as the account being turned over to a collection agency.
How Financial Aid Is Disbursed
When aid is certified and received by the home institution (Buffalo State) it will first be used to pay off any balance owed to the home institution (Buffalo State) any remaining aid will then be refunded to the student. It is the responsibility of the student to pay any charges owed to the host institution or in the case of International Exchange, any invoiced amount owed to that office.
The Financial Aid Office at Buffalo State is not responsible for deferring payment on the students’ behalf at the host institution. The student must work with the International Education Office if they need assistance in payment deferment. The International Education Office is located in South Wing 430.
Students must submit their academic transcript to Buffalo State after their exchange. Students that used federal or state aid will have a disbursement hold placed on their accounts until the transcript is received.
Problem | Explanation |
---|---|
No FAFSA on file |
Must Re-Apply for Federal Aid each academic year
|
FAFSA Rejected |
|
Incorrect Marital Status |
Dependent students are required to report their biological and/or adoptive parent's information on the FAFSA. If the student's custodial parent is remarried, the step-parent must also be included on the. |
Each individual aid program also has eligibility requirements based on the credit load that a student takes.To receive federal and state aid you must be a regularly admitted student in a degree or certificate program or meet one of two exceptions. A student's matriculation status determines whether they have been "regularly admitted".
Students also need to be aware of the affect that repeating a course will have on their aid eligibility.
Matriculation Status
Most students are admitted to the school provisionally pending receipt of a final transcript. New freshmen who fail to submit a transcript which shows receipt of a high school diploma and graduate students who fail to submit a transcript showing that a bachelor's degree has been conferred are not eligible to receive financial aid. If aid has been disbursed it will be returned and the student will owe the school for any accrued charges and the amount of aid that was refunded to the student for living expenses.
Students taking continuing education courses, visiting students, and special students who have been allowed to take courses but have not been formally accepted by the college are considered non-matriculated and are not eligible to receive financial aid.
Postbaccalaureate teacher certification students are eligible to receive aid as undergraduates even though they are not in a degree or certificate program. Likewise, undeclared (premajor) graduate students may also be eligible to receive aid for one year as an undergraduate, if they are taking prerequisites, even though they have not been accepted into a degree program.
Credit Load
Students must be enrolled half-time (6 credit hours) to receive Federal Stafford Loans or Federal PLUS loans.
Students must be enrolled full-time (12 credit hours, or 9 hours for graduate assistants) through the end of the tuition refund period (fourth week) to receive TAP.
Federal Pell Grants are prorated based on the number of credit hours a student is enrolled. The corresponding credit loads are full-time (12 or more credits), 3/4 time (9 - 11.5 credits), half-time (6 - 8.5 credits), or less than half-time (0.5 - 5.5 credits). Awards will be adjusted up or down to reflect changes in enrollment status through the end of the tuition refund period (fourth week) even if the grant has been disbursed. After the fourth week changes up or down will not change the award amount unless a student withdraws from all classes.
APTS is for students enrolled 3 - 11.5 credit hours.
Course Repeats
Buffalo State policy allows students to repeat some classes for which they received a passing grade. However, TAP policy only allows students to repeat courses that were previously failed. Therefore, if a student is repeating a class with a passing grade and wants to receive TAP they must be enrolled for at least 12 credits in addition to the course(s) they are repeating.
Students are now limited to repeating a course once. If a student registers for a course a third time it is considered an illegal repeat and will not be used in determining a student's credit load for financial aid purposes. Also, in determining whether a student is making satisfactory academic progress for federal aid the repeated course will be counted as attempted each time it is taken but counted as completed only once.