Financial aid forms 2019-2020
Messiah College's Title IV Code is 003298.
This financial aid forms page for the 2019-2020 academic year contains all the information you need to know regarding the financial aid process.
Please use our secure file upload system to submit any forms that the Financial Aid Office requests from you. Your FAFSA results will be sent directly to us from the federal processor so, in order to submit this to us, all you need to do is list our school code (003298) in Step Six.
Use this link for instructions on how to use the system
Please start out by reading the Financial Aid Application Cover Letter and the Financial Aid Instructions.
To complete your FAFSA, click here.
For a helpful tutorial on completing the FAFSA on the web, visit 7 Easy Steps to the FAFSA. The 2019-2020 7 Easy Steps to the FAFSA will be available after October 1st, 2018. (Note: This is not a U.S. Department of Education website.)
You can view another helpful tutorial on using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, while completing your FAFSA on the web at IRS Data Retrieval tutorial. This tutorial is helpful when completing your initial FAFSA or when going back later to use the Data Retrieval Tool if you did not use it during your initial filing. (Note: The IRS Data Retrieval Tool tutorial is not a U.S. Department of Education website.)
For more information on the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and other recent financial aid news, please visit our Hot Items page.
In addition to completing the forms on this page, we recommend that all students review the Scholarships, Grants and Loans page. This link will allow you to learn more about Messiah College's institutional scholarships and to search for scholarships from a wide range of private organizations. Every student should try this scholarship search at least once.
Note: All documents available from the links below are in PDF format, unless otherwise specified.
The Federal tax code includes a number of provisions designed to reduce or partially offset the costs of higher education for students and families._amp_nbsp; Among those are the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) and the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, both designed to help families pay for at least a portion of higher education tuition and fees and related costs. However, based on both anecdotal information and data from the IRS we believe many students and their families do not take advantage of these tax credits that could save them thousands of dollars.
For more information about these tax credits go to:
http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Education-Credits-AOTC-LLC
Financial aid application cover letter
This letter accompanies the other documents in the financial aid application packet. It serves as an introduction to the financial aid process and an important source of additional instructions about the application process.
Financial aid instructions
This document contains instructions for the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and information about other aspects of the financial aid application process.
Download the Application Cover Letter.
The FAFSA on the Web worksheet will not be available until October 1, 2018.
Complete this worksheet if you plan to use FAFSA on the web to apply for financial aid. Use this worksheet to collect your (and your parents') information before beginning your 2019-2020 online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Last year 98% of our families applied using FAFSA on the web and we recommend it as the best way to apply.
We encourage you to complete your FAFSA on-line at fafsa.gov, which you can do beginning on October 1, 2018.
If you cannot or do not wish to complete the FAFSA on the web, you can use this PDF version of the FAFSA. The PDF FAFSA must be mailed for processing. The PDF FAFSA is available for you to print and fill out manually or is screen-fillable. Screen-fillable means you can enter your data on the screen before printing. Please note that if you choose this option you will not be able to save your data to your PC. To print a PDF FAFSA file from within your reader, we recommend you use the PDF’s print button rather than the browser’s print function.
Download 2019-2020 Free Application For Federal Student Aid.
Use these forms if the U.S. Department of Education has selected your FAFSA for review in a process called "verification." Do not complete these forms unless the financial aid office instructs you to do so. Students will be notified via email if verification documents are required.
Miscellaneous forms
Covenant Grants are awarded to full-time undergraduate students who are members or regular attendants of Brethren in Christ churches. An application is required. The amount of the Covenant Grant is $500 per school year. A travel allowance, ranging in amounts of $75 to $300, is available to non-Pennsylvania residents who also qualify for the Covenant Grant.
One application is sufficient for all four school years.
The Dean's Scholarships for Continuing Students application will be made available in March 2019 for the 2019/2020 school year.
Dean's Scholarships for Continuing Students are awarded to current Messiah College students who have distinguished themselves as outstanding leaders in specific activities while attending Messiah College.
Fifteen $1,500 Dean's Scholarships for Continuing Students are awarded each academic year.
DEAN'S SCHOLARSHIP FOR CONTINUING STUDENTS
1. Must be a full-time student at Messiah College.
2. Must have completed at least 30 credit hours of work at Messiah College.
3. Must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or better.
4. Need not demonstrate financial need, but financial need will be taken into consideration.
Messiah College students already receiving an academic scholarship (not a need-based grant) equal to or greater than 60% tuition are not eligible to receive Dean's Scholarships for Continuing Students.
Application deadline is May 15.
Download Dean's Scholarship for Continuing Students Application
Students, age 30 years or older, will be granted a 25% mature student discount on tuition only, for all courses for which they enroll.
This document highlights portions of the financial aid application packet to which international students should pay close attention.
The purpose of this form is to collect information from you about any non-institutional/private scholarships you will be receiving. This means scholarships that are NOT from state, federal or Messiah College sources.
The Nursing Loan is only applicable to nursing students. Priority is given to applications received by June 1st each year. Nursing students must complete a new application each year. To see what required verification forms must be submitted to determine a students’ nursing loan eligibility, please view the students’ outstanding requirements area.
Students who are residents of the state of Vermont can apply for the Vermont Grant through the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation at http://www.vsac.org/.
If you are a veteran, or the dependent of a veteran, and plan to receive veterans' benefits to help pay your educational expenses, please review Messiah College's policy entitled Military Benefits and Institutional Aidso that you will understand how your veterans' benefits will interact with Messiah College institutional financial aid programs. In some cases, Messiah College institutional financial aid will need to be reduced to allow your veterans' benefits to fit into your institutional financial aid package. After reviewing the policy, please complete the Veterans' Benefits Reporting Form and return it to Steve Gross, Suite 3010 in Old Main.
What Will I Owe?
This is probably one of the top three questions we hear in our office. The Student Financial Services Office will send you information in May on the Interest-Free payment option, and in late July you will be able to view statements online for the fall semester.
We have included this worksheet to help you understand approximately how much you will need to pay from your own resources or through additional student loans. This worksheet produces only an estimate. It is not your bill from Messiah College and should not be viewed as equivalent to a bill. Your actual bill will be provided to you from our Student Financial Services Office and is the official calculation of what you need to pay.
This worksheet is included only for your convenience; you do not have to return it to the Financial Aid Office.
Here are some things you need to know before completing this worksheet:
- This worksheet is based only on the fees that you will be charged by Messiah College.
- The figures are estimated based on the highest possible costs for enrollment, housing, and meal plans as shown in the left column under Amount; in other words, a worst-case scenario. You can use these figures or you might wish to adjust some of the costs if you know exactly what they will be in your case. Things like tuition and fees will be the same for most people.
- The calculation in this worksheet does not include costs for things like books, travel and personal expenses. You will need to allow for these items as you plan for your college expenses, and you can include them in the 'Other Costs' field of this worksheet if you wish to do your own estimate of these costs.
- We estimate that books and supplies could range from $500 to $1280 for one year.
Students who are eligible to apply for benefits under the Yellow Ribbon Program should complete the Yellow Ribbon application. Yellow Ribbon applicants should read and understand the Messiah College Policies and Procedures for the Yellow Ribbon Program before applying for Yellow Ribbon Program benefits. The policies and procedures for the 2019-2020 year have not yet been finalized. We will make this link available to you when we are notified of any changes.