It is our office's recommendation you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form two months before your classes begin in order to avoid any delays in your financial aid and service charges being applied to your student billing account. The Financial Aid Office cannot begin processing your application until you have both been accepted as a regular degree-seeking student and registered for enough credits that semester to be considered half –time. (Half- Time status is typically defined as four graduate credits.) When these conditions have been met, the financial aid award process begins and will take six to eight weeks. You may complete the FAFSA prior to admission and our office will hold it until you are officially admitted.

To complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online follow these steps:

1. Register for your PIN number at www.pin.ed.gov which will be used as an electronic signature on your FAFSA form. If you have filed for financial aid in the past, your PIN number was included in your Student Aid Report (SAR) and can be used for your online renewal application.
    
2. Fill out FAFSA application at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota school code is 002380.

Within a few weeks of completing the paper copy of the FAFSA, or within 72 hours of completing the FAFSA online, you will receive a SAR at your permanent address or by e-mail if your web address was included. If after this time you do not receive this, please contact the federal processor at 1-800-433-3243. Once you receive your SAR, please verify the information is accurate and make any corrections online or on the paper SAR form. If done on the paper form, you must mail the corrections back to the federal processor at the address listed on the SAR form. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota will also receive an electronic report of the financial aid information that you have submitted to process your financial aid award.

A formula determined by the Department of Education will be applied to the information you have provided in the FAFSA. This information will be used by the Financial Aid officer to determine your eligibility for federal student aid. As graduate students, the federal student aid available is the Federal Stafford Loan Program.

If under the guidelines you qualify for the Stafford loans, the Financial Aid office will notify you of the necessary steps needed to be taken in order to secure this loan. A financial aid award letter will be mailed to you stating your financial aid award for the year, along with the Federal Stafford Loan Master Promissory Note and Stafford Loan Questionnaire/Entrance Counseling form. These forms need to be completed and mailed to our office in order to accept your financial aid package. You must be registered as half-time student to receive your aid.

If under the guidelines you do not qualify for the Federal Stafford Loan Program, or the Stafford loan does not meet the cost of education, the Financial Aid office can provide information with alternative loan programs.

No loan applications can be certified by the financial aid officer unless the student is registered for enough credits to be considered half-time. Half- Time status is typically defined as four graduate credits. There are no exceptions to this federal rule.

It is the student’s responsibility to notify the Financial Aid Office of any changes in registration during a semester of contract period for which a loan has been approved. If a change results in less than half-time status, the student is required to notify the lender and the grace period will begin.

Satisfactory Academic Progress is required to maintain eligibility for loans under any of these programs. Academic and enrollment status are monitored and the Financial Aid Office will be notified if a student fails to make satisfactory academic progress. Failure to make satisfactory academic progress will result in the loss of future loan eligibility at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

After receipt of the returned forms, the promissory note will be certified and the loan requested of the lender within two weeks. Student loan disbursements are sent to Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota on Mondays of each week. Students who have chosen lenders from our Lender Options list will have their loans disbursed by electronic funds transfer (EFT) to Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and directly applied to their student billing account. Those students who use a lender outside of our Lender Options list will have their loan mailed to our office in the form of a check made out to both Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and the student. The check will then be mailed to the student for endorsement and will need to be mailed back to Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota before funds can be applied to their student billing account.

After verification of half-time status and upon creation of a credit balance on your student billing account, a refund will be automatically issued and direct deposited into your bank account or a check will be mailed to your permanent address within two weeks. Our office recommends having refunds direct deposited into your bank account.

Students who are in repayments on former student loans may be eligible for deferments. To determine this, please contact your lender. If needed, enrollment verification forms can be obtained and completed by the Registrar’s Office on the Winona Campus. The address is:

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
700 Terrace Heights #37
Winona, MN 55987-1399
507-457-1501
Fax: 507-457-6698

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is required to complete monthly enrollment verification reports send electronically to your lenders notifying them of your current enrollment status. If you are not registered at that time for enough credits to be considered half-time, your grace period/repayment period may begin.