Changes to Your Awards
Sometimes, a student's current financial situation no longer reflects what was reported on the FAFSA or TASFA for a specific academic year.
If you or your family experience an extreme change to personal life or financial situation, the Student Financial Aid office may be able to adjust your financial information to reflect your current situation more accurately. Please note that all applications will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. It is not guaranteed that the application will lead to a change in your financial aid, however we encourage students to inquire and apply.
Steps to Request a Review
- Contact the Student Financial Aid office.
- Submit the request form and all supporting documents (listed on the form) via ACES.
- A Financial Aid Advisor will determine if an adjustment is needed/possible.
- A Financial Aid Advisor will communicate the outcome to the student.
Review our Priority Dates and Deadlines page for the submission timeframes of fall, spring, and summer.
Special Circumstances
These refer to financial situations that support an adjustment to a student's EFC or Cost of Attendance.
An Income Reduction adjustment is a request by a student to consider the unique situations that have decreased the income for themselves and/or their household.
Financial situations we typically consider:
- Loss of employment or reduced income
- Loss of unemployment or compensation benefits
- Separation/divorce
- Death of a parent or spouse
- Disability of parent or spouse
- Unusual medical, dental, vision expenses during the current academic year
Circumstances we would not consider a student for an adjustment:
- Student already has an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of $0
- Miscellaneous personal living expenses (e.g., credit card payments)
A Cost of Attendance (COA) adjustment is a request by a student to consider additional expenses they are experiencing that are not being included in their current estimated COA.
Cost of Attendance adjustments we typically consider:
- Educational expenses above the estimated COA
- Housing and food expenses above the estimated COA
- Transportation expenses above estimated COA (uninsured repairs or round-trip milage over 150 miles/week)
- Computer purchase expense (considered only once as an Alamo student)
- Unusual medical, dental, vision expenses during the current academic year
- Childcare or private school expenses for dependents during the current academic year
- Professional licensure/credential or certification costs
Unusual Circumstances
These refer to adverse conditions in a student's household that support adjusting the student's dependency status.
A Dependency Override is a request by a student to be considered "Independent" rather than "Dependent" as their FAFSA or TASFA originally determined.
Circumstances we would consider a student to be Independent:
- Relationship with parent being abusive
- Parental abandonment or having no contact
- Parental incarceration
- Human trafficking, refugee or asylee status
Circumstances we would not consider a student to be Independent:
- Parent refuses to financially support them
- Parent refuses to fill out their information on the FAFSA or TASFA
- A student living indepdendently or supporting themselves only
Overawards
An overaward exists when the total amount of your financial aid awarded exceeds your Cost of Attendance (COA) and/or exceeds your total allowable amount of "need based" awards.
Need based awards are awarded based on a student's EFC and includes grants, scholarships, subsidized loans, and certain benefits.
Federal regulations require that overawards be corrected at the time they occur. If an overaward needs to be resolved, it could result in your awards being decreased and money being owed back to the Alamo Colleges District.
