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Financial Aid Forms

 Financial Aid Forms

Professional Judgment - Special Circumstances - Financial

If you or your parent(s) have been impacted financially by circumstances such as loss of income, loss of employment, or other circumstances that significantly impact your or your family’s ability to pay for future educational expenses, the Office of Financial Aid may be able to take them into consideration.

The Office of Financial can take the following circumstances into consideration:

  • Loss of employment or substantial change in income. Please note it must be at least a 20% reduction and must have occurred for 60 days or more prior to the date of appeal
  • Loss of Alimony or Child Support
  • Death of Parent
  • Legal Separation or Divorce

If you believe you meet one of the circumstances we can take into consideration, please email the Office of Financial Aid at ofa@unco.edu from your Bear Mail account (include the last four of your Bear# and full name). Provide a brief narrative of your circumstances in the email to request access to an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) appeal.

Once your email has been reviewed, you will receive a response within 2-4 business days with further instructions on submitting your appeal statement and supporting documentation through your Ursa.

Please do not submit documentation via email, all appeals are completed through the student's Ursa.

If you have additional questions, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at ofa@unco.edu

 

Professional Judgment - Unusual Circumstances - Independency Considerations

 The Office of Financial Aid may, on a case-by-case basis, conduct dependency overrides for students with unusual circumstances. Unusual Circumstances that can be taken into consideration include:

    • Parent abandonment
    • An abusive family environment that threatens the student’s health or safety
    • A student’s inability to locate their parents.

      Situations that will NOT merit a dependency override include:

      • Parent refusal to contribute to a student’s education
      • Parent refusal to provide information for the FAFSA or FAFSA Verification
      • Parents not claiming a student as a dependent for income tax purposes
      • A student demonstrating total self-sufficiency

      Students who submit dependency appeals on the sole basis of any of the situations listed above will have their appeals denied.

For more information, please schedule an appointment with UNC's Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for independent students.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal

The Department of Education specifies that a student must be meeting SAP standards to continue to receive financial aid. Please see our "Maintaining your Aid" page for more information. 

Maximum Hours Appeal 

Complete this appeal form if you have attempted 150% of credits required for degree completion. 

For those who need to do an appeal:

  1. Log into URSA, go to the Financial tab and click on “Eligibility Requirements.”
  2. Select the "Ineligibility" hyperlink.
  3. Here you will be prompted to create a Bear Verification account for this process (username and password) if you haven't already.
  4. Once an account is created, you will see an option that says, “SAP Appeal”. Selecting this will direct you to the form. If you do not see the “SAP Appeal” option, select the blue link on the right side of the screen that says “Requests.” When you click on this you'll see the option to complete a Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal.
  5. After you read over the instructions you can complete the appeal form and upload any third-party documentation (Program Form for Maximum hours) you may have.
      

FAFSA Verification

The verification process at the University of Northern Colorado is completed online through the student’s Ursa account. Students and parents are able to use online based forms to complete verification and e-sign documents.

Verification is simply a process of comparing submitted documents to information listed on a FAFSA. The Department of Education randomly selects students for this process each year. You will be notified by our office if you are selected. All documents need to be submitted through Ursa

Obtain Non-Filing Letter instructions

Obtain Federal Tax Transcript instructions

2022-2023 Affidavit of Legal Dependent

Deadline for completing the verification process: If selected, the deadline for an otherwise eligible student to complete the verification process for all federal aid programs is the date established annually in the Federal Register or 120 days after the last day of the student's enrollment, whichever is earlier.


 

Unaccompanied/Homeless Youth Form

Complete this electronic form on Ursa if you answered "Yes" if you received a determination at any time on or after July 1, 2019, that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or at risk of being homeless.

  • "Homeless" means lacking fixed, regular and adequate housing. You may be homeless if you are living in shelters, parks, motels, hotels, public spaces, camping grounds, cars, abandoned buildings, or temporarily living with other people because you have nowhere else to go. Also, if you are living in any of these  situations and fleeing an abusive parent, you may be considered homeless even if your parent would otherwise provide a place to live.
  • "Unaccompanied" means you are not living in the physical custody of your parent or guardian. 
  • "Youth" means you are 21 years of age or younger or you are still enrolled in high school as of the day you sign this application. 

 

Cost of Attendance (COA) Adjustment form

Please use this Cost of Attendance (COA) Adjustment form if you would like to have your COA adjusted for any of the following items that exceed your budgeted UNC COA

-actual tuition/fees,
-additional housing expenses,
-additional educational costs (computer/instrument/other education related items),
-additional books and supplies over the budgeted amount,
-commuting,
-child or dependent care.
 

Loan Adjustment Form

Please use this Loan Adjustment Form if you would like your already accepted loans increased, decreased, or canceled. If you are requesting this for a PLUS loan, the Parent of the loan must request the increase, decrease, or cancellation. A picture ID will be required for any PLUS loan adjustments.