Every year, thousands of students receive financial aid offers that don’t fully cover their college costs. But many don’t realize they can appeal for more aid—and often get it.
Starting with the 2024-2025 FAFSA, colleges must review every financial aid appeal individually, and new circumstances—like business losses or real estate declines—now count as valid reasons for reconsideration.
The worst that can happen? The financial aid office says “no.” But with the right documentation and approach, you can significantly improve your chances of success. Here’s how the appeals process works—and how to maximize your chances of getting more aid.
What is a Special Circumstance?
Special circumstances include any family financial circumstances that have changed in the last two years or any financial circumstances that differentiate the student from typical students.
The top 10 most common special circumstances include:
- Job loss or decrease in income
- Divorce or separation of a dependent student’s parents
- Death of a dependent student’s parent
- High unreimbursed dependent care costs for a special needs or disabled child or elderly parents
- High unreimbursed medical and dental expenses
- Catastrophic losses, such as damages or losses from a natural disaster like a tornado, hurricane, pandemic, or flood
- Textbook costs beyond the standard allowance in the cost of attendance
- Change in the student’s marital status
- Dependency override
- End of child support, Social Security benefits for a child, or alimony payments
As part of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) changes that took effect for the 2024-2025 school year, special circumstances will include unusual business, investment, and real estate losses and severe disability of the student, parent, or spouse.
What is a Dependency Override?
A college financial aid administrator can change a student’s dependency status from dependent to independent when there are unusual circumstances. This is called a dependency override.
Dependency overrides generally involve the end of the family relationship, such as court protection from abuse orders against the parents, long-term incarceration or institutionalization of both parents and abandonment of the student.
When Can You Appeal for More Financial Aid?
You can appeal for more financial aid at any time, including:
- Before you apply for financial aid
- After you apply for financial aid
- In the middle of the academic year
- During or after your first year in college.
It is best to appeal for more financial aid as soon as an exceptional circumstance has occurred. For example, if a parent has lost their job, appeal for more financial aid as soon as you’ve received the layoff notice or termination letter. The sooner you appeal for more financial aid, the more likely you will get a favorable result.
Also, some schools have priority deadlines for reconsideration. Check with your college’s financial aid office for specific deadlines.
Note that an appeal lasts for only one year. If the special circumstances still apply, you must appeal again in subsequent years.
See also: Complete Guide to Financial Aid and the FAFSA
How to Appeal for More Financial Aid
To appeal for more financial aid for college, follow these steps:
1. Call the college financial aid office to ask about the financial aid appeal process
Depending on the college, the appeals process might be called a professional judgment review, a special circumstances review, or a financial aid appeal. The college may ask you to complete a form that addresses the most common situations. Most colleges ask the family to write an appeal letter.
2. Identify the special circumstances that affect your ability to pay for college
The special circumstances are why you are appealing for more financial aid. You might have just one remarkable circumstance or several, but you need to have at least one. Wanting more money is not sufficient justification for a financial aid appeal. The special circumstances provide the reasons why you need more money. Focus on needs, not wants.
3. Write a financial aid appeal letter
Keep the letter concise, limiting it to one or two pages. The appeal letter should summarize the special circumstances and their financial impact on the family. If there is more than one special circumstance, provide a bulleted list with one special circumstance per bullet.
Organize the special circumstances according to the financial impact, listing the most significant special circumstance first. Be specific, especially concerning dates and dollars. Emphasize when a special circumstance is due to factors beyond the family’s control. College financial aid administrators are less likely to approve changes due to discretionary choices like lifestyle expenses. Include your contact information in the appeal letter if the financial aid office has follow-up questions.
4. Don’t ask for a specific amount of money
The change in the financial aid package will be based on the financial impact of the special circumstances on the family, not how much money you are requesting. Requesting a specific amount of money might backfire, causing you to get less money than you really need. Some colleges will give you the calculated change in financial need or the amount you asked for, whichever is less.
5. Be polite, as there is no appeal beyond the college financial aid administrator
You cannot appeal to the college president or to the U.S. Department of Education. Congress delegated the authority to adjust the data elements on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to the college financial aid administrator and only the college financial aid administrator. Close the letter by thanking the college financial aid administrator for their consideration of your appeal.
6. Gather independent third-party documentation of the special circumstances
Examples include copies of layoff notices, medical/dental bills, bank and brokerage account statements, receipts, and letters from people familiar with the family’s situation. Ideally, Letters should be written by people unrelated to the family, such as teachers, school counselors, social workers, doctors, and police. Letters from priests, rabbis, pastors, imams, and other clergy can also be helpful. The documentation must relate to the special circumstances.
7. Complete any forms required by the college financial aid office
These forms are designed to gather details about the special circumstances and other aspects of the family’s financial background. Most colleges perform a holistic review of the family’s financial circumstances as part of an appeal for more financial aid.
8. Attach copies of documentation to the appeal letter.
Do not send originals, as they will not be returned. At many colleges, the documentation will be imaged and then shredded.
9. Mail the financial aid appeal letter, documentation, and forms to the college’s financial aid office
It is best to send the letter with delivery confirmation or certified mail, with the requested return receipt, so you have proof that the letter was received. Send the letter to each of the colleges to which the student has applied since each college performs its own review of the financial aid appeal.
10. Follow-up by calling each college’s financial aid office a week after mailing the appeal letters to confirm receipt.
Ask the college financial aid office if they need any more information.
See also: How to Evaluate College Financial Aid Award Letters
A Tool for Writing the Financial Aid Appeal Letter
Swift Student provides a tool for writing the financial aid appeal letter for free. They also provide several templates for various special circumstances.
There’s just one caveat. The tool assumes that the family is affected by just one special circumstance. But, when it rains, it pours. Often, families are affected by several special circumstances at once. For example, if a primary wage-earned has a serious illness like cancer, they might also experience a pay cut at the same time and so be affected by a drop in income and high medical expenses. Even if they don’t lose their job, they might no longer be able to earn overtime.
So, when using the Swift Student tool, you may need to run it once for each special circumstance and then merge the appeal letters it produces.
What Happens If Your Appeal Is Approved?
If your financial aid appeal is approved, it will be implemented by changing the data elements on the FAFSA. For example, if a parent has lost their job, the financial aid administrator will change the income and income tax figures on the FAFSA.
The FAFSA’s standard financial aid formula will generate a new Student Aid Index (SAI). The SAI will yield a new figure for demonstrated financial need based on the difference between the cost of attendance and the new SAI. This, in turn, will yield a new financial aid package.
The college financial aid administrator can also implement some adjustments through a change to the cost of attendance. Changing the cost of attendance is more common when the student’s SAI is already zero or lower.
Financial aid administrators are also more likely to adjust the cost of attendance when the appeal concerns the cost of attendance, such as textbooks, transportation, dependent care, and disability-related expenses.
What You Can Do If Your Financial Aid Appeal is Not Approved
If your financial aid appeal is not approved, you can explore other ways to pay for college. If you haven’t done so, apply for as many scholarships as possible. Claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) or other education tax breaks. You may also consider borrowing a private student loan to cover expenses that federal student loans don’t fully cover.
See also: How to Get More Financial Aid for College, which provides tips on how to increase eligibility for need-based financial aid. Also, read about how to find scholarships and how to increase your odds of winning a scholarship.
This article is based on the book How to Appeal for More College Financial Aid by Mark Kantrowitz. The book is available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle formats.
