Skip to Top Navigation Skip to Content Skip to Footer
The Beardsley Meeting House on the campus of Husson University

FAQs on Financial Aid

1. Do I need to fill out a FAFSA every year?
Yes, you must complete an updated FAFSA every year in order to be eligible for federal, state, and institutional grant and loan programs.

 View addition FAFSA information here

 2. Why do I have to include my parents' income on the FAFSA? They are not willing to help. 
Unfortunately, this is a federal requirement in order to receive financial aid. For an in-depth explanation federal dependency guidelines, click here. If there are special circumstances, please reach out to us at 207-941-7156, and we will give you next steps.

3. How does Husson treat aid that I get from outside sources (scholarships, tuition assistance)?
Outside scholarships or tuition benefits will reduce the self-help component (loans and work component) of your financial aid package, but will not reduce the family contribution. If all the self-help support in your award is canceled, in some cases, the Husson grant aid may need to be reduced or canceled as well. 

4. What if my parents refuse to pay the expected family contribution (EFC)?
The Department of Education believes that the first responsibility to pay for a child's education rests with the parents. Willingness or unwillingness to pay has to remain within the family. Note that your Expected Family Contribution is not your Husson University bill. For information on financing solutions, please contact our office. 

5. My parents are divorced and I live with them equally throughout the year. Who do I include on the FAFSA?
For the purposes of filling out the FAFSA, you need to figure out which is your custodial parent. This is the parent that has provided you the most financial support in the last 12 months (and may not necessarily be the one that you live with). If you are unsure which parent to report, the FAFSA will offer a parent wizard to make that determination.

6. Why is the loan amount on my bill less than the amount on my financial aid offer letter?
Per federal regulations, there may be origination fees that are deducted from the amount that a student and/or parent receives in Direct and PLUS loan funds. The total amount disbursed will be less than actual amount borrowed. Fees for alternative loans vary - contact your lender for more information.

7. Why don't I have a Pell grant? (Why did I have a Pell Grant last year, but not this year?)
Pell grants are awarded by the federal government to families showing exceptional financial need. This information is calculated from your FAFSA, and you are only eligible if you have not yet received a bachelor's or other advanced degree. In the 2023-24 award year, the maximum Expected Family Contribution was $6656.

8. What is the difference between Subsidized and Unsubsidized William D Ford Direct loans?
The government pays the interest on Subsidized loans while you are in school and during authorized periods of grace and deferment. You are responsible for the interest that accrues on an Unsubsidized loan, which you may opt to pay while in school or defer until you go into repayment. Click here for more information.

9. How many credits must On-Campus Undergraduate students carry in a semester to be considered full-time?

  • Full-time enrollment is 12 or more credits in a semester.
  • 3/4 time enrollment is 9-11 credits in a semester.
  • 1/2 time enrollment is 6-8 credits in a semester.
  • Full- and half-time status for graduate students varies. Contact the Financial Aid Office for more information.

10. How many credits must an On-Campus Graduate student carry in a semester to be considered full-time? 

  • Full-time enrollment is 6 or more credits in a semester.
  • 1/2 time enrollment is 3-5 credits.

11. Why am I being asked to provide tax documents when I already provided it on the FAFSA?
You might see a note on your Student Aid Report saying you've been selected for verification; or on your offer letter we ask for documents that you normally don't have to submit. Verification is the process the Department of Education and Husson uses to confirm that the data reported on your FAFSA is accurate.

If you're selected for verification, it isn't because you've done anything wrong. The Department of Education randomly selects students for verification and requires the school to review tax and income information to make sure it matches what you reported on the FAFSA. We will not be able to finalize your aid package until all documents are submitted and reviewed. If you are having difficulty getting a document please contact our office.

If you used the Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) when filling out your FAFSA, and you have not changed any of the information retrieved, you will not have to verify that information. If you didn't use the IRS DRT and you're selected for verification, log back in at www.studentaid.gov to see whether you can use IRS DRT to fill in the relevant fields on your FAFSA. If not, we will require you to submit a signed tax return or a tax return transcript as part of the verification process. You can find your tax transcript through the IRS's Get Transcript service at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

12. What is the difference between an offer acceptance form and an offer change form?
The offer acceptance form shows your initial acceptance of the award. This must always be turned in first. Once you have accepted your offer, any changes must be made with an offer change form. Multiple changes may require multiple offer change forms.  This helps ensure that your aid requests and changes are accurate. All signatures on these forms must be hand-written. You may log into our Financial Aid Portal (Net Partner) to accept or decline aid instead.

13. What is a grade level change?
When you have completed enough credits to move to the next grade level, you may be eligible to receive additional financial aid. You must accept or decline this amount using an offer change form.

14. Why am I receiving an email about missing documents? 
All required documents must be submitted to the financial aid office before your aid can disburse. Some of these documents, such as your Direct Loan Counseling and Master Promissory Note, may take 3-5 days to be processed from the Department of Education.

If the documents that you need are not listed on the forms page, they will be attached on a previous email. Please note that Husson cannot provide your tax information for you, but we are happy to help you find these documents.

15. What is Husson University's federal school code?
Our school code is 002043.