Continuing U-M students: How to apply for aid

Oct. 1: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opened, and you can complete this to be considered for all aid programs. You will use your 2020 family income tax returns, so you may transfer IRS data directly to the FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Continuing students do not complete a CSS Profile, unless requested.

You must submit your processed FAFSA from the federal processor by May 1 in order to consider you for all aid programs (allow three to four weeks for processing). Find out more about deadlines and timelines for continuing students.

Parent information and signatures: Dependent students and those applying for a Health Professions Loan must provide parents’ income information, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and one parent signature on the FAFSA. Failing to do this will result in a rejected FAFSA, which can jeopardize your priority for aid.

Once you submit your FAFSA:

• If you provide an email address on your FAFSA, the Department of Education will send your Student Aid Report by email.
• We will send an email to your U-M email address if additional application documents are required. (You can also check Wolverine Access: Student Business > Financial Aid > Aid Year 2022 > Documents/Review.) If additional documents are requested, we must receive them by May 1 (unless a different timeline has been specified to you in communication with the Office of Financial Aid).
• Our office will send you an email when your Financial Aid Notice is available in Wolverine Access.

Update your scholarship profile and apply for scholarships:

• Visit our Scholarships webpage for information about need-based scholarships requiring an application and complete “My Scholarship Profile” in Wolverine Access to keep your information up to date.

2022-2023 Financial Aid application and deadline information

Continuing students should submit their FAFSA by May 1, 2022 to reapply for financial aid. For entering students the Suggested Filing Date is Dec. 15 and the final deadline is March 31, 2022. U-M applicants who file their financial aid applications by the Suggested Filing Date of Dec. 15, and are admitted, will receive a preliminary financial aid package sooner. If you are unable to apply by the Suggested Filing Date, don’t worry. You can still submit your financial aid application by the final deadline of March 31, 2022.

If you submit application materials after the final deadline, you may still qualify for some financial assistance, but can likely only be considered for federal financial aid. Late applicants will receive consideration after all on-time applications have been reviewed in the order in which their application was completed.

Here are some tips:

• Watch for emails from the Office of Financial Aid. Email is the main way in which OFA will communicate with you.
• Use the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT), available to most families when completing your FAFSA, to easily access your federal tax return information on the IRS website and transfer it to your FAFSA.
• Check your Wolverine Access student portal frequently so you don’t miss any document requests: Go to your Student Center > Financial Aid > Aid Year 2022 for these important requests. Look to the far right of the screen, next to the requested item, for available links to documents and/or instructions.
• Deadlines are important. Missing the deadline could significantly reduce your financial aid offer. Mark the date on your calendar and set your own deadlines for checking your application status and for any additional information.

Student Bill Deadlines

Winter term student billing for tuition, fees, and on-campus housing/meals are issued in mid-December and will be due on Jan. 31, 2022.

Because bills are generated before financial aid is credited to your account, a special category called pending aid displays to represent financial aid not yet posted. Pending aid (which can be found by navigating to Wolverine Access, selecting Account Inquiry, and choosing the Pending Aid tab) is the amount of financial aid U-M expects to credit to your account based on your notice.

The amount due is the sum of charges on your student account. Subtract pending aid from your amount due to determine what you owe for winter term.

If you have enrolled full-time (waitlisted and not-for-credit classes do not count) and signed the required documents (such as your federal loan documents) by Dec. 17, any awarded financial aid will be subtracted from the amount due at disbursement and will appear as details in the “Credits, Payments, and Financial Aid” section.

To access your student bill online:

• Visit Wolverine Access, and select the Student tab and “Student Center”.
• Log on using U-M uniqname and Kerberos password.
• Select “Account Inquiry” under the Finances section.
• Select the invoice/eBill to be viewed, denoted by date.

Important exceptions:

Some sources of aid, such as third-party credits, private loans, and private scholarships for which funds have not yet been received, will not appear as pending aid. They will appear on your student account when funds are received and applied. If they have not appeared by the date due, pay the amount due to avoid receiving a late fee.