The Rensselaer Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to revise your financial aid award according to federal, state, and institutional policies or due to emergency situations (e.g., natural disasters) that impact campus operations.
Situations Where Awards May Be Revised
Your financial aid award may be reviewed and revised under the following conditions:
- Changes to Original Application Information: If the student or family updates their initial application information.
- Income Verification and Conflicting Information: Adjustments may be made if we modify application information during income verification or to resolve conflicting information (as required by federal or institutional guidelines).
- Receipt of Additional Aid: Revision may occur if the student receives additional outside aid, including:
- Veteran Education Benefits
- Tuition Remission
- Other Outside Scholarships
- Course Withdrawal: If the student withdraws from some or all courses.
- Reduced Financial Need: Adjustments may be made if the student’s renewal FAFSA indicates a lower calculated need (Cost of Attendance minus the FAFSA "Student Aid Index").
- Housing Waiver: If the student is approved to end their on-campus housing and meal plan obligations earlier than required by Student Living and Learning policies.
Reporting Outside Awards
- Notification: Please inform us of any outside awards by submitting a completed Outside Scholarship Report Form.
- Assumption of Renewability: If we receive scholarships without renewal information, we will assume the scholarship is renewable until we are notified otherwise.
Handling of Outside Aid
Generally, outside aid will be applied in this order:
- Meeting Unmet Need: Outside aid will first go toward any unmet need in your financial aid package. Unmet need is calculated as the difference between your Estimated Family Cost to Attend Rensselaer and your Federal SAI.
- Reduction of Need-Based Aid: If outside aid exceeds your unmet need, federal regulations require us to reduce need-based federal sources, such as:
- Work Study
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
- Subsidized Direct Loans
- Replacement of Rensselaer Need-Based Aid: Remaining outside aid will replace Rensselaer need-based aid, rounded up to the nearest $50 increment. This adjustment will not affect your Rensselaer merit scholarships unless the combined aid exceeds the Cost of Attendance.
Verification and Notification
- Accuracy Check: We will verify the information reported on your initial or subsequent FAFSA and/or CSS Profile applications.
- Award Changes: If verification results in changes to your eligibility, a revised award notification will be made available to you.
