Qualifying

You must be an enrolled Excelsior College student with course approvals for Excelsior College courses from your Excelsior academic advisor to qualify for financial aid through Excelsior.

Complete Your FAFSA First

We use your financial information provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to calculate your eligibility for all sources of aid and scholarships that Excelsior College awards including Title IV Federal Student Aid.

Complete your FAFSA first. The Excelsior College federal Code is 014251.

Next: Start Your Required Study Plan

To apply for financial aid you must:

• Develop a study plan for yourself.
• Receive course approvals for your study plan from your Excelsior academic advisor.
• File your study plan with our financial aid office.
• Complete the approved courses within a set academic term.

Talk to your Excelsior academic advisor about your study plan to:

• Get course approvals.
• Resolve any scheduling conflicts that would disqualify you for financial aid.
• Verify that you are registered for enough credits to qualify for federal financial Aid.

Start Your Study Plan – Enrolled students can use our online Financial Aid Study Plan form to get started. You can also find the link to it from MyExcelsior under My Details in the My Financial Matters section.

Access Your Financial Aid Info Online

Go to MyExcelsior and under My Details you can manage the following from the My Financial Matters section:

• Complete your Excelsior College Financial Aid Study Plan
• Check the status of your application
• View a list of documents we received from you and those that are still outstanding
• Once you have been awarded, view your financial aid awards per term
• Accept or decline awards
• View messages
• Check the status of your disbursements for the current year

Application

Conditions of Title IV federal financial aid at Excelsior College:

• Must have a High School Diploma or GED
• Must be enrolled or accepted for enrollment in an eligible program of study at Excelsior College (Please Note: Examination based programs like AAS – Nursing and AS – Nursing are not eligible programs)
• Must maintain half time status (6 credits for undergraduate and 3 credits for graduate)
• Must be pursuing degree or approved certificate
• Must be a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen
• Must be registered with Selective Service (if male and required)
• May not have eligibility suspended or terminated due to being convicted of a drug-related offense
• Must have a valid Social Security Number (SSN)
• May not be in default on a federal student loan (More information at the National Student Loan Data System
• Must not owe an overpayment of federal grant or loan funds
• Must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) as outlined in the Excelsior College Student Policy Handbook (PDF)

How to Apply for Title IV financial aid:

First, you need to set up your free MyExcelsior account if you don’t have one yet.

Then complete the online FAFSA form. The Excelsior College federal code used for this application is 014251.

Information about what you will need to complete the FAFSA is available at Student Aid on the Web.

After you have applied for financial aid you can access your financial aid information at MyExcelsior. From your MyExcelsior Financial Aid section you can:

• Complete your Excelsior College Financial Aid Study Plan
• Check the status of your application
• View a list of documents we've received from you and that are still outstanding
• View your financial aid awards per term (once you have been awarded)
• Accept and/or decline awards
• View messages
• Check the status of your disbursements for the current year

Verification of Applications

Your application may be selected for verification by the U.S. Dept. of Education. About 30% of all FAFSA filers are selected for this process. If you are selected we will email a Missing Information letter to you requesting the additional documents needed to process your financial aid application. If requested, download the Verification Worksheet that applies to you:

• Independent Student Verification Worksheet (2011-2012)
• Dependent Student Verification Worksheet (2011-2012)


• Independent Student Verification Worksheet (2012-2013)
• Dependent Student Verification Worksheet (2012-2013)

Please respond promptly in order to prevent delays in processing your application for financial aid and be sure that your address is current with the office of registration and records.
 

If you have any questions about what you are to provide, please call our financial aid office toll-free at 1-855-323-9235, or email vafa@excelsior.edu.

Award

Once we have all the required documents, we will send you an email asking you to check your financial aid award through MyExcelsior.

Your award package is based on your eligibility for aid, your cost of attendance, as well as the number of registered credit hours.

Be sure to review all messages associated with your award letter. It is your responsibility to determine if your financial aid awards will cover your tuition and fees. If not, you will be expected to pay the difference to the college.

Acceptance

In order to accept a Title IV loan, you must complete the following Federal requirements:

Entrance Counseling:

First-time borrowers at Excelsior College must complete entrance counseling which is available online. First go to MyExcelsior and review the MyExcelsior Financial Aid section. Then choose the Messages tab or go to the Department of Education entrance counseling to complete the online entrance counseling.

Master Promissory Note:

After completing your entrance counseling you must agree to the terms of the loan by electronically signing your Master Promissory Note. Visit the U.S. Department of Education student loan page and select Sign Master Promissory Note under Manage My Direct Loans. Continue through the screens, reading and agreeing to the explanations. You will be prompted for your user ID and PIN number. You can request this information from this screen. 
 

Refund

If you completely withdraw from all courses and are receiving Federal Student Aid you are subject to having all or part of your financial aid returned to the appropriate financial aid programs. If you withdraw prior to 60% of the enrolled period elapsing, a pro-rated schedule (Return to Title IV Calculation) is used to determine how much Federal Student Aid funds were earned at the time of withdrawal. Please see the Excelsior College Student Policy Handbook for complete refund procedures as outlined in the course withdrawal section.

Grad Rates

As a distributor of Federal Student Aid, Excelsior College is required by Federal Title IV regulations to inform you of the graduation rates of our first-time full-time students. We primarily serve working adults who attend college part-time, and who typically transfer in college credit previously obtained from other sources. The number of students at Excelsior College who are considered "first-time full-time" students for the current reporting year is zero for both associate and bachelor’s degree seeking students.

Excelsior College is committed to providing you with information about the success of our degree program students. As a reflection of that commitment, we have joined with other colleges and universities that serve adults at a distance in a voluntary system of accountability and transparency called Transparency by Design. The College Choices for Adults Web site includes information that is reflective of our student body, including part-time and transfer students. You will also find additional statistics about the learners in our programs, as well as information about student satisfaction, engagement, and learning outcomes.
 

Consortium Agreements

Federal financial aid consortium agreements enable enrolled Excelsior College degree-seeking students to participate in financial aid programs while concurrently attending Excelsior College (Parent College) and another accredited higher education institution (Non-Parent Institution). The currently eligible non-parent schools are limited to the following colleges:

• Broome Community College
• Cayuga Community College
• Howard Community College
• Hudson Valley Community College
• Salem Community College

You must be enrolled in a minimum of 3 credit hours both at Excelsior College and the non-parent college per term. (Total of 6 credit hours per term)

This agreement does not guarantee an increase in the amount of financial aid you will be eligible to receive.

Excelsior College reserves the right to decline a student’s request for a consortium agreement if, in the opinion of the Excelsior College Financial Aid Office (FAO), that consortium agreement would be administratively prohibitive.

This agreement does not guarantee deferment of your past loans. Please contact your lender.

• Federal Financial Aid Consortium Agreement Form