Late Policy for Returning Students

Classes: 2027, 2026, 2025, 2024 (Dec. grads)

Academic Year: 2024-25

Any applications for need-based assistance that are completed after the April 15, 2024 deadline will be deemed late.  If a student demonstrates eligibility for institutional need-based assistance and their completed application (see below) is received after April 15, 2024, they will receive an electronic award notification that only includes merit-based funding, athletic grants, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cunningham Scholarships, tuition remission or exchange (if applicable) and the maximum federal assistance available.  Award notices will be sent on a rolling basis beginning on or around July 1.  Late applications will not include any institutional need-based grant assistance regardless of a student’s demonstrated eligibility, or changes in circumstances.

The Office of Financial Aid will automatically maintain a waiting list for those students who complete all requirements past the published deadline.  Therefore, a formal appeal or letter asking for reconsideration due to a family’s late application materials is not necessary.  After October 1, the Office of Financial Aid will notify students of their status on the waiting list. Students will be considered for need-based grant assistance solely if funds are available and in the date order that their application was completed.  Students will need to make other payment arrangements to meet the deadline for payment of the Fall semester charges.   Funding is not guaranteed.  Any funds offered to students will be determined solely on the availability of funding and may not be comparable to the level of grant assistance offered to those students who met the deadline and demonstrated a similar level of eligibility.

Students penalized in a given year due to submitting late application materials will have another opportunity to reapply for aid in future years provided the published deadlines are met going forward.

Required Application Materials

Returning undergraduate day school students who wish to apply or re-apply for need-based assistance through the Office of Financial Aid in 2024-25 must successfully complete the following application materials:

Each date above means the application/paperwork has to be received by Providence College no later than the published deadline.  Students and their families are encouraged to submit all relevant applications and materials to the agencies that are processing them in enough time for Providence College to receive them by the required due dates.

Once the FAFSA has been submitted and processed, the U.S. Department of Education will send a family their FAFSA Submission Summary.  Families are encouraged to read the comment section very carefully.  If there is an issue with the application (i.e. missing signature, citizenship confirmation, selective service, verification selection, etc.) it will be outlined in this section and these issues must also be resolved by the published deadline in order for an application to be considered on-time.

Using estimated financial information is acceptable when completing initial FAFSA applications.  Families are encouraged to estimate the best they can as it is equally important that their applications be received at Providence College by the published deadlines.  Families do not have to wait until their current year taxes are finalized in order to submit the FAFSA.

Any incomplete information could cause a delay in the receipt of a family’s financial aid application(s) and could impact the amount of aid they are eligible to receive.  Late submissions of required documents delay our review of applications and ultimately impact the institutional need-based funding decisions for all students.

*Any family that has been granted a tax extension must submit Form 4868 (Automatic Extension of Time to File) in order to temporarily satisfy the parent/student tax return only.  The extension(s) notice must include the extended date for filing the tax and still be submitted to the College by the tax deadline outlined above.  All pertinent and other required documents still must meet the above deadlines.

Communication Policy

Our office communication to students became 100% electronic in June 2008 and we have enjoyed tremendous success with the enhanced outreach we have been able to provide to our students.  Our change in communication (i.e. paperless) came on the heels of the College announcing that email was the official form of communication.

In order to avoid any confusion surrounding our communication practice, here are some pertinent points about our communication policy we would like to highlight for you:

• Communications from the Office of Financial Aid at Providence College are emailed to the student only.   All emails are directed to the student’s College-issued email address.
• If the student has his or her email account forwarded to an account other than their College-issued one, we are not liable for any emails that are missed due to being marked as junk or spam by the 3rd party carrier.
• Email communications that are sent to students will not also be emailed to the parent, guardian or other individual(s) even if requested.   We understand that parent/guardian/other may have provided their email address to the College, but due to several privacy provisions and software limitations, we are not able to include additional persons to receive email communications that contain information specific to a student’s applications for need-based assistance (i.e. award information, missing item letters).
• Parents will receive generic emails periodically from the Office of Financial Aid, but they will be generic in nature and not include any information specific to the student application for need-based assistance.
• If students want their parent/guardian/other to receive a copy of their email notice that contains their specific information, they must forward it themselves.
• Any student, who feels they have received an email communication in error or have already submitted documents that are being requested, should not disregard the email.  By ignoring emails, or assuming the student has already attended to the request, a family may miss an important deadline and jeopardize some or all need-based assistance.
• Our email communication system is accurate and any student who continues to receive emails requesting information should contact the Office of Financial Aid immediately.  It is possible that we have not received what was sent in or may need clarification on an item previously submitted.  We request that students do not ignore these emails.  Email is the official form of communication from our office and it is important that any outstanding request is addressed immediately.
• Students are encouraged to confirm that their application is complete by checking their application status online, via CyberFriar, prior to the deadline.
• In addition to our email communications with students, our published deadlines are located in a variety of other places in an effort to reach out to as many interested families as possible.  Our required application materials, deadlines and renewal of aid information are located on our website and in the financial assistance literature that accompanies all award notifications.
• Ultimately it is a family’s responsibility to complete required application materials by our published deadlines regardless of the communications we send.  Applying for need-based aid is not required and we cannot always predict who will participate in the process.