FAQ

Find answers to some of the most commonly asked financial aid questions.

• Does Purdue Fort Wayne have your FAFSA?

  Go to studentaid.gov (http://studentaid.gov/) to ensure you completed the FAFSA for 2021-22 school year and put Purdue Fort Wayne as the college to receive your information.  Our school code is 001828   Be sure to use your legal name as it is on your Social Security card when completing the FAFSA. 

  *If you have submitted your FAFSA but have not included PFW as a receiving site, log into studentaid.gov and click “Apply for Aid,” and log in as a Returning User to add our school code: 001828.

  *If you have not submitted your FAFSA, there is still time to be eligible for Federal Aid. Log into studentaid.gov and submit an application today. Our school code is 001828.

• How often do students need to complete the FAFSA?

   The FAFSA needs to be filed annually for student eligibility to be determined.  Students are encouraged to file their FAFSA prior to the Indiana deadline of April 15^th.  The FAFSA for the next school year opens on October 1^st, annually. The FAFSA requires the tax information from 2 years prior to the aid school year you are applying.  Purdue Financial Aid holds various FAFSA Nights through the school year to help you file your FAFSA. Watch our Facebook page at PFW Financial Aid Office, on Twitter @PFWFinAid, and signs around campus for days and times.

• What is the Data Retrieval Tool?

  The Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) is a button inside the FAFSA online form that will download the student and/or legal guardian Tax Return information from the proper year and load it into your FAFSA. While in the FAFSA, it cautions you that you are leaving the FAFSA site to connect with another site. This is ok. You are connecting to the governmental site to link your tax information to the FAFSA.

• What is COA?

  COA means Cost of Attendance. This value is an estimate, a budget, not your actual bill.  It is the total amount it might cost you to attend college if you will need funds to cover housing costs, food and transportation for the academic year. The COA includes tuition and fees; estimates for on-campus room and board (or a housing and food allowance for off-campus students); and allowances for books, supplies and transportation.  Students can view their own COA from their goPFW account, by clicking on the Billing & Financial Aid tab, then click on “View and Accept my Financial Aid Award,” then click on “Award Overview.”

• How much aid can I get?

  Cost of Attendance (COA) minus your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) equals your Financial Need.  Completing the FAFSA annually will determine your Financial Need every school year. Students can have Financial Aid up to their maximum COA.  Student scholarships, grants, and loans cannot exceed your maximum COA.  There are slightly different COA for students who live on campus, on their own, or with their parent/legal guardian. There are different limits on student loan amounts depending on your level in school: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior.  

• What are direct costs?

  Direct Cost examples are Tuition and Fees (fees like lab, proctor, and course differential).

• What are indirect costs?

  Indirect Cost are costs you may incur that will not be on your PFW bill.  Examples are off-campus housing, travel, miscellaneous and food allowances.

• How do I see my financial aid package?

  Log in to your goPFW account, click on the Billing and Financial Aid tab, and then click on View and Accept My Aid.

• Why is my Purdue Fort Wayne Scholarship already marked as accepted in goPFW?

  Purdue Fort Wayne Financial Aid office will process all Scholarships and Grants you are eligible for first. These are listed as “Accepted” on your goPFW because these are funds students do NOT have to pay back – gifted aid.  Nearly all Scholarships and Grants require students to be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester.

• Where can I see if I get 21st Century or Frank O’Bannon Grants?

  Students can view their State Aid and credit bank hours at ScholarTrack (https://scholartrack.che.in.gov) by creating a username and password.  Students can also view their aid in their goPFW account. Click on the “Billing & Financial Aid” tab, then click on “View and Accept my Aid.”

• How do I access outside scholarships?

  To look for Outside Scholarships, visit pfw.edu/scholarships, select the “ScholarshipUniverse” as an option at the bottom of the page.  We encourage you to use our new scholarship search tool in “ScholarshipUniverse.” Students can securely set up a personal profile, apply for any matched scholarships, and even set up to be alerted when new scholarships are available. However, should you decide to search the internet for scholarships, be cautious; there are some scams out there!

• What is federal work-study?

  Federal Work Study (FWS) funds are gradually earned through working at a job that students connect to through PFW Career Services.  The noted amount of FWS listing as offered is the max amount the student can earn in the school year. For example, if $3000 is offered for FWS, a student can earn up to $1500 in Fall and $1500 in Spring by working at a FWS job. Students earn a paycheck and can use the earned funds for anything.  The big difference between FWS job and a regular job is that the Federal Government pays the student’s FWS paycheck. Looking for a job? Connect with Career Services today at www.pfw.edu/career. Looking for a job? Connect with the Career Development Center today.

• What are student loans?

  Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans are federal student loans offered by the U.S. Department of Education. To be eligible to receive either of them, students must complete your FAFSA annually and be enrolled at least half-time. Both loans are deferred as long as students maintain half-time enrollment.  Once you graduate, drop below half-time, or stop attending, both have a 6 month grace period before you will have to begin repayment. PFW Financial Aid recommends students be conservative when requesting loans; take only what you will need, since you are responsible for paying these funds back in the future.

  What is a Subsidized Loan?  With this type of loan the government pays the interest rate as long as the student is at least half-time enrolled. 

  What is an Unsubsidized Loan? The interest rate begins to accrue when funds are disbursed with this type of loan. For unsubsidized loans, students can either pay the interest or allow it to accrue and add to the principle balance to be paid later.  Tip to help you remember: The U in Unsubsidized represents - YOU pay the interest.  Students can learn more about Sub vs Unsub Loans here.

• How do I get my refund?

  If you have extra funds after your bill is paid in full, the extra funds will be Refunded to you.  In order to get your Refund quickly, you can set up for Direct Deposit into your own bank account. Log into goPFW, click on the Billing & Financial Aid tab. Then click on the gold dollar sign coin.

  On the next screen click on Refunds.

  In the next screen, enter your banking information.

• Get the Facts -resources and video links

  General financial aid: https://www.pfw.edu/financial/   OR video: https://983291-4.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Finaid-complete/1_sywyyw43

  Satisfactory Academic Progress: https://www.pfw.edu/financial-aid/policy-procedures/academic-progress.html

  Verifications: https://www.pfw.edu/financial-aid/forms-resources/2020-2021-forms

  21^st Century: verify your award on www.ScholarTrack.in.gov  

  CPOS: https://www.pfw.edu/financial-aid/cpos   

  Resource videos: https://www.pfw.edu/financial-aid/fafsa/video-resources.html

  National Guard: verify your award on www.ScholarTrack.in.gov  

  Scholarships (video): https://983291-4.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Using+ScholarshipUniverse+to+apply+for+scholarships/1_kthwqv8m

  Need money for college –file the FAFSA at www.FAFSA.gov

  Repeat coursework: https://www.pfw.edu/financial-aid/policy-procedures/repeat-work.html

  Federal Loans (video): https://983291-4.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/loans+sub+vs+unsub+with+edit+-+July+1st+2020%2C+10A57A11+am/1_fkbnoiwu

  How to pay your bill - step by step Instructions (video): https://www.pfw.edu/offices/bursar-office/faq

  Registrar (enrollment certification, transcripts, name changes and more): https://www.pfw.edu/offices/registrar-office/student-resources/  

• How do I accept my student loans?

  Log into your goPFW account, click on Billing & Financial Aid tab, click on “View and Accept my Financial Aid Award.”  Students can “Accept” or “Decline” or fill in the blank rectangle with a smaller amount than the loan offered. Please note, the loan amount offered is split in half; half is released for Fall semester, while half of the loan is reserved for Spring semester. (The government does take out processing fees, so the amount released is less than half.) Students can also choose not to accept or decline their loans; they can leave the loan in offered status. If a student declines their loans but later decides they want them, they simply contact the Financial Aid Office and we can re-offer them for the student to accept. This can be done anytime throughout the academic year.

• What is a Special Circumstance Appeal?

  The 2122 FAFSA uses students and parents 2019 tax information. A lot can happen in two years!

  • Students/parents that currently do not earn as much as they did in 2019 can file an appeal to have their information updated.
  • This is intended to re-evaluate a student’s qualifications for Pell Grants.

  Who qualifies?

  • Any student who does not already have a zero Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and a full Pell Grant.
  • Graduate students are not eligible because they do not qualify for Pell Grants.

  Who should apply?

  • Students/parents/legal guardians who have lost a job and are receiving unemployment in 2021.
  • Students/parents/legal guardians who have lost income in 2021.
  • Students/parents/legal guardians who have separated or divorced recently (no longer have two incomes as reflected on FAFSA).
• How does the Office of Financial Aid communicate with students?

  PFW Financial Aid Office will email students at their PFW email address. This email can be located in the students’ goPFW account – Home screen.  When students email Financial Aid, they need to use their PFW email so our office can ensure security and privacy when responding to your inquiry. We recommend students read emails regularly. Should our office need additional documents or have questions regarding processing documents they submitted, email is our primary means of communication. Therefore, we need the student to reply promptly so that our team can process his/her aid.

• How do I see my Financial Aid Package?

  To view YOUR Financial Aid Package, log into your goPFW account.  Click on the “Billing & Financial Aid” tab, then click on “View and Accept my Aid.”

• What if I need to drop or withdraw from a class?

  Changing your schedule during the 100% refund period is considered the add/drop period; students get fully refunded for any courses dropped and do not receive a withdrawal grade on their transcript.  (Students can view the Course Fee Refund Schedule from the Billing & Financial Aid tab in their goPFW account.) After the 100% period, ‘dropping’ a course is considered a withdrawal, the student received a partial refund, or pays full tuition and will have a “W” grade on their transcript.  Students need to contact Purdue Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.  Most Financial Aid requires full-time enrollment.  Financial Aid staff need to review with the student how their aid would be impacted by withdrawing. Students dropping/adding courses should talk to their academic advisor to assure they are still within their degree plan.

• This is my first time accepting loans, what do I have to do to receive the funds?

  After clicking “Accept” in goPFW, students also need to complete the Entrance Loan Counseling (ELC) and Master Promissory Note (MPN).  Students can complete these at https://studentaid.gov.   At this site, click on “Complete Aid Process” then choose “Complete Entrance Counseling.” Here students will read, then answer questions.  After completing the ELC, students also need to go to the same site and after clicking on “Complete Aid Process,” then chose “Complete a Master Promissory Note.”  MPN for Undergraduates refers to students who are seeking an Associate or Bachelor degree.  Again, the student needs to read and answer all of the questions. 

  After the completion of both MPN and ELC, the student’s federal loan funds will be able to be disbursed to their PFW account. Students only have to complete MPN and ELC once (it lasts 10 years) while enrolled at Purdue Fort Wayne.  Future semesters, after initially accepting loans, students only have to click “Accept” from their goPFW account.

  To see your Loan holder and information about paying back your loan, click on the “Manage Loans” tab at studentaid.gov.  This is where students are able to learn about repayment and even estimate future payments.

• What is Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)?

  All financial aid (federal, state and institutional) recipients are required to make reasonable academic progress toward completion of degree requirements. Standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) at Purdue are evaluated at the end of each academic semester (Fall, Spring and Summer) and at the time of awarding any aid.  Three areas are evaluated:

  1. GPA 2.0 for undergraduate students
  2. Complete at least 67% of hours attempted

  • W or F is non-completion
  • If a student does not meet 33% (at any time), they will automatically go to Immediate SAP Suspension.

  1. Max Time Frame

  The maximum time frame refers to Financial Aid supporting 150% of the amount of credits to earn their degree. For instance, most bachelor degrees require 120 credit hours.  So, the max time frame for a 120 credit hour Bachelor degree is 180 credit hours.  This allows students funding for credit hours to add a concentration, or a second major, or possibly repeat a course, etc.