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FAFSA Process
Applying for financial aid at St. Thomas Aquinas College only requires the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.
The 2024-25 FAFSA is open! You can now use 2022 income taxes to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application For Federal Student Aid). Student financial aid starts with the FAFSA form, and in order to apply for federal aid eligibility, you must file the FAFSA. Make sure you include our school code on your FAFSA application 002832.
The Online 2025–26 FAFSA Form is now available.
Watch these instructional videos:
Many families are under the impression that they shouldn’t bother filing the FAFSA form because their income is too high and they won’t receive any financial aid. This is a common misconception for two reasons:
- When the federal government calculates your ability to pay (SAI – Student Aid Index), it considers factors other than just your income. For example, considerations include how many children are in your family, how many people in your household are in college, and how close your parents are to retirement.
- All students can be eligible for financial aid, but some forms, like loans, are paid back. Low-interest student loans, work-study jobs, and college awards are all keyed to the completion of the FAFSA. It is extremely important to file the FAFSA form as early as possible.
Next Steps
File the FAFSA form online at FAFSA. You and one parent should first apply for the FSA ID here. If you need assistance completing the form, you may also call the FAFSA helpline at 800-4FED-AID (800-433-3243). Submit this form as soon as possible. St. Thomas Aquinas College recommends that you complete the FAFSA as soon as possible to receive maximum consideration for aid. Please keep in mind that you can file your FAFSA with your prior year’s tax returns. For example, for the 2024-25 FAFSA, you can use your completed 2022 income taxes.
2-3 weeks after you file the FAFSA form electronically, the federal government will send you a form called the Student Aid Report (SAR). It will also be sent electronically to St. Thomas Aquinas College. The SAR will indicate your Student Aid Index (SAI) — that is how much money they feel your family can contribute to the total cost of your education.
We have found that students who file the FAFSA form are more likely to complete their education and graduate than students who do not file since there is a financial safety net available.
Review Your Student Aid Report
It is important that you review your SAR very carefully; often the federal government will notify you of missing or inaccurate information that is needed to fully process your FAFSA. Please read through the SAR completely to ensure that no additional information is being requested.
Your Financial Aid Package
St. Thomas Aquinas College will take the results of your processed FAFSA and put together a financial aid package for you. Financial aid packages are sent to students beginning in March. Please note that notification of merit-based scholarships may occur prior to this time; usually, these notifications are sent out a few days after notification of admission. Click below to learn more about your Financial Aid Award Package.
Financial aid exists to fill the gap between what the federal government has determined your family can pay (SAI) and what it costs to attend a College. We look at your total costs and subtract your merit aid, federal aid, state aid, and any other aid you will receive and work with you to close the gap — after all resources are looked at we look at the lowest loan opportunities for you and your family.
Verification
Some students who file the FAFSA will be randomly selected for review in a process called verification. These students and their families are selected by the federal government but it does not mean any wrongdoing is suspected. The federal government simply utilizes this process as a means for maintaining a system of checks and balances. Learn more about the Verification Process.
Extenuating Circumstances
Based on extraordinary and special circumstances, and in a specific and limited way, the Department of Education gives authority to a school’s financial aid administrator to make adjustments to the data elements on the FAFSA and to override a student’s dependency status. The school does not have the authority to change the need analysis formula itself or to make direct adjustments to the Student Aid Index (SAI). Instead, the school may make adjustments to the inputs to the formula.
The changes to the inputs are dictated by the impact of the special circumstances on the family’s income and assets. The standard formula is then applied to the new data elements, yielding a new SAI figure. The reason for the adjustment must be documented (by a third party if possible) in the student’s file, and it must relate to the special circumstances that differentiate him or her — not to conditions that exist for a whole class of students.
These Professional Judgement and/or Dependency override situations are reviewed on a case by case basis at the request of the student via an email to the Student Financial Services Office.
For more information on being considered for a Professional Judgement or Dependency override, please view the procedures and requirements below.
Based on extraordinary and special circumstances, and in a specific and limited way, the Department of Education gives authority to a school’s financial aid administrator to make adjustments to the data elements on the FAFSA.
Those circumstances may include but are not limited to death of a parent, becoming homeless, recent unemployment, a recent medical situation or disability.
To be considered for a Dependency Override, please make a request via email to the Student Financial Services Office. Please keep in mind, the FA administrator reviewing your case will require the student/family to complete a verification, complete a change of circumstance form which can be found on our forms page and submit other supporting documentation as requested by the Student Financial Services Office.
The Student Financial Services Office may do dependency overrides on a case-by-case basis for students with unusual circumstances.
Please keep in mind none of the conditions listed below, singly or in combination, qualify as unusual circumstances meriting a dependency override:
1. Parents refuse to contribute to the student’s education.
2. Parents are unwilling to provide information on the FAFSA or for verification.
3. Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes.
4. Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.
Unusual circumstances do include (and may cause any of the above conditions) abandonment by parents, an abusive family environment that threatens the student’s health or safety, or the student being unable to locate his parents. In such cases a dependency override may be considered.
To be considered for a Dependency Override, please make a request via email to the Student Financial Services Office. Please keep in mind, the FA administrator reviewing your case will require certain documentation that may include but not limited to, a notarized letter from a homeless shelter director, marriage certificate, death certification etc.
Any requested documentation to support your request/claim should be returned to:
St Thomas Aquinas College
Student Financial Services Office – Spellman Hall
125 Route 340
Sparkill, NY 10976
Fax: 845-398-4114
Email: sfs@stac.edu