Table of Contents
File the FAFSA
When to Apply
The Tentative Financial Aid Award Letter
Verification and Other Documents
The Final Financial Aid Award Letter
Award Acceptance
Disbursement of Funds
Downloadable Forms
Step 1: File the FAFSA
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a free application that you submit to the U.S. Department of Education. It is used to determine your eligibility for all types of federal financial aid and authorizes Lesley University to disburse funds to you. Lesley also uses the FAFSA to determine your eligibility for institutional need-based grants. We recommend that you apply online and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to make the process even easier. For assistance with the FAFSA process, view these FAFSA Tutorial Videos. The FAFSA must be submitted each year to renew your financial aid eligibility.
Lesley University's school code: 002160.
- For the 2013-2014 Academic Year (September 2013 - August 2014), complete the 2013-2014 FAFSA (available January 1, 2013).
When To Apply
The priority deadline for Fall 2013 is February 15 for incoming first year students and March 1 for transfer students.
Step 2: The Tentative Financial Aid Award Letter
Once we have received your processed FAFSA, we will have enough information to provide an early estimate of your financial aid eligibility. This can be especially useful if you or your parents have not yet filed your tax return, but have filed your FAFSA early with estimated information. The aid offered on your tentative award letter may change based on the results of verification (see step 3). The closer your estimates are to the actual amounts on your tax return, the closer the tentative award will be to the final award.
Please note that no financial aid can be credited to your student account until you submit all required documents and receive your finalized award letter.
Step 3: Verification and Other Documents (not required of everyone)
After receiving your FAFSA, we will contact you by mail and by email if additional documents are necessary to complete your application. If you have been officially accepted to your academic program, you can also view a list of your required documents on the Lesley Online Information System (LOIS), www.lesley.edu/LOIS, under the "My Documents" link on the Students menu.
Many students are required to complete a process called verification, which involves submitting your tax return transcript and other information to our office. If you are selected for verification, there is no cause for concern! About 30% of students are randomly selected for this process by the U.S. Department of Education.
Only submit verification documents if we request them. Submitting documents that we do not require could needlessly lengthen the application process.
If you are selected for verification, we will send you a Verification Worksheet to complete. If you are unsure of which one you need to complete or if you feel we have asked you for the incorrect version please contact our office with any questions. If you need to access a form that was previously mailed to you, see our Downloadable Forms section at the bottom of this page.
Step 4: The Final Financial Aid Award Letter
Once we have reviewed your FAFSA and any other documents requested by our office, we will send you a final Financial Aid Award Letter. The award letter will contain the types of financial aid that make up your award, the amounts per semester, a page that outlines costs, as well as a financing strategy for any remaining financial need. Your award letter will also be accompanied by a Financial Aid Award Guide which explains how financial aid is calculated and reiterates the types of aid available.
Step 5: Award Acceptance
We will assume that you want any scholarships, need-based grants and/or work-study that have been offered, and you don't have to accept these awards. However, any Federal Direct Stafford Loans that you have been offered will require additional steps before they can be credited to your student account. To accept the Federal Direct Stafford Loan(s) offered to you, log in to your LOIS account (www.lesley.edu/LOIS) and follow the instructions to accept, decline, or revise your award.
Accept the award: this means you are accepting the Federal Direct Stafford Loan amount in full.
Decline the award: this means you are declining the Federal Direct Stafford Loan amount in full.
Revise the award: this means you can opt to decrease the loan amount, or see if you have additional eligibility. Please note that the only students with additional eligibility will be graduate students who are enrolled in off-campus cohort programs as their loan amount has been based on the minimum requirement for tuition. Everyone else will be awarded their maximum eligibility from the start. Once you revise the amount, you must click Accept to finish the step.
After you complete the LOIS acceptance process, we will notify the U.S. Department of Education who will then certify your loan(s). We will send email reminders about this step until it is completed. If a considerable period of time has passed without the loan(s) being accepted, we will cancel the loan(s) and send you a cancellation notice.
When you accept Federal Direct Stafford Loans, there will be two more steps to complete to secure the loans.
If you have not previously borrowed a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, or if you have not borrowed within the last ten years, you must complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN). The MPN is an agreement between you and the federal government that you understand your responsibilities of as a Federal Direct Stafford Loan borrower. You can complete the Direct Loan MPN directly on the U.S. Department of Education's website.
If you have not previously borrowed a Federal Direct Stafford Loan at Lesley University, you must also complete the Direct Loan Entrance Counseling, which explains your rights and responsibilities as a Federal Direct Stafford Loan borrower. You will be prompted to do so after completing your MPN, or you can access Entrance Counseling directly on the U.S. Department of Education's website.
Please note that you will be required to log in using your Department of Education PIN at both the beginning and the end of Entrance Counseling. Please do not exit out of the browser, until you have entered your PIN again and have designated Lesley University to receive confirmation that you have completed Entrance Counseling (Federal School Code: 002160).
The U.S. Department of Education recently created a helpful tool called Financial Awareness Counseling. While we encourage you to review the Financial Awareness Counseling session, it is not the same as Entrance Counseling.
Step 6: Disbursement of Funds
All financial aid for a given semester, including any certified Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans and/or any certified Private Alternative Loans, is credited to your student account ("disbursed") during each semester's add/drop period. In order to receive your maximum eligibility for federal and state grants, you must register for all classes, including independent studies, and must have submitted any required consortium agreements before the end of each semester’s add/drop period. (A consortium agreement is used when you are taking a course for your degree but outside Lesley University. You can find a Consortium Agreement in the Downloadable Forms section below.)
We will review your registered credits to confirm your enrollment before disbursing your aid each semester. We will continue to send email reminders during the add/drop period if your enrollment is below full-time and places your financial aid in jeopardy.
Your financial aid will disburse to your student billing account and will go first to pay your tuition, fees, and any other direct charges (such as room and board for on campus students) that you owe the University. Any remaining funds will be mailed to you in the form of a refund check by the Student Accounts Office within 14 days after the disbursement date. Please take these dates into account if you are planning to use financial aid towards living expenses off campus.
If you are awarded financial aid after your disbursement date has passed, your funds will be disbursed as soon as possible once all requirements have been completed by you.
Downloadable Forms
The forms below may be requested when more detail or clarification is needed for your Financial Aid Application.
2013-2014 Forms:
2013-2014 Dependent Verification Worksheet [pdf]*
2013-2014 Independent Verification Worksheet [pdf]*
2013-2014 Asset Verification Form [pdf]*
2013-2014 Special Conditions Request [pdf]
2013-2014 Dependency Override Request [pdf]
2013-2014 Consortium Agreement [pdf] (for courses taken towards your degree but outside Lesley University)
2013-2014 NSLDS Override Form [pdf]
2013-2014 Question 23 Form and Student Eligibility Worksheet [pdf]*
2012-2013 Forms:
2012-2013 Dependent Verification Worksheet [pdf]*
2012-2013 Independent Verification Worksheet [pdf]*
2012-2013 Asset Verification Form [pdf]*
2012-2013 Special Conditions Request [pdf]*
2012-2013 Dependency Override Request [pdf]*
2012-2013 Consortium Agreement [pdf]* (for courses taken towards your degree but outside Lesley University)
2012-2013 NSLDS Override Form [pdf]*
2012-2013 Question 23 Form and Student Eligibility Worksheet [pdf]*
*Please do not submit any of these forms unless you have received a letter or email from our office specifically requesting them. Submitting documents that we do not require could needlessly lengthen the application process.
Your email address
Our office will continue to send email reminders regarding any form or step that needs to be completed. Once you have a Lesley email address, all email correspondence will be sent there so be sure to check it often or have it forwarded to an account you check more regularly!