2026-2027 Policies

This deadline applies to forms of aid for which the recipients are actually chosen by Messiah University. Among others, these include the Messiah University Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Work-Study and Institutional Work programs. The deadline does not apply to forms of aid for which we do not choose the recipients, although these programs might have their own deadlines. Examples are state grant programs, the Federal Pell Grant and the Federal Stafford Loan Program. (You can apply for a Federal Pell Grant or Federal Stafford Loan until close to the end of the academic year.)

This April 1 priority deadline is a receipt deadline; your FAFSA results must be received in our office by April 1. If you cannot have your FAFSA completed with accurate information in time to mail or electronically submit it by April 1, please check with the Financial Aid Office. Unsure about the status of your FAFSA? Log into your studentaid.gov account to ensure all of your contributor's and your portions are complete. 

We receive Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) results electronically from the federal processing system. The date this electronic data is received at Messiah University will be the date which is used to determine whether or not the deadline has been met.

Each year the Financial Aid Office develops the student cost of attendance budget (also called the student budget). This budget is used in conjunction with the Student Aid Index (SAI). This is calculated through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine each student's maximum financial aid eligibility. 

The student budget consists of fixed charges including tuition, fees, housing, food and estimated charges including books and supplies, transportation costs and personal expenses. Use of financial aid funds to purchase a motor vehicle is strictly prohibited by federal law. There are different budgets for different classes of students. These include residential halls (living in campus facilities), commuter (living with parents) and off-campus (living off-campus but not with parents; married students are included in this category).

For the 2026-2027 academic year the student budgets consist of:

Some of these items are estimates based on average, median or maximum costs. If a particular student's cost varies significantly from the estimate, that student's budget can be adjusted if the student submits a written request accompanied by documentation of the actual cost.

Additional charges such as parking fees, deposits, extra charges for certain courses and charges for part-time attendance are published each year in the Schedule of Semester Fees, which also includes the actual fixed charges for that academic year.

Undergraduate Schedule of Semester Fees

Commuter and off-campus students, take note: The housing & food amounts are NOT amounts charged to you by Messiah University. These are estimates of the expenses you will incur during the school year. We are required by federal regulation to estimate these amounts and use them in determining your financial aid eligibility. This is an advantage to you. It allows you to have the highest possible financial aid eligibility. You will not receive a bill from Messiah University for these amounts.

Disbursements

• Most financial aid is disbursed to the student after being entered into the student's financial aid computer record and then crediting it to the student's account until all institutional charges have been satisfied, subject to program limitations.
• The amounts of aid that will be credited are included on the financial aid award notice, which is available to the student on their MyAid portal.
• The date that credits occur will be reported on the statement of account, which is sent to all students on approximately the following schedule: Just previous to the start of the fall semester, at the beginning of October, at the end of November (applies to the spring semester), at the beginning of February, and monthly for those who have had activity on their account.
• Funds in excess of institutional charges are given to the student as soon as possible after the credit balance appears. A student may authorize the institution to hold excess Federal Stafford or Federal PLUS loan proceeds on account by completing the Excess Title IV Financial Aid Authorization, an electronic form that appears in the student's on-line financial aid award notice.
• Using the same form, a student can also authorize the institution to apply Title IV, HEA program funds to other cost-of-attendance charges and other institutional charges, aside from tuition, fees, room, and board. Examples would be parking fees, drop/add fees and computer lab printing fees.
• Interest earned while the funds are held by the institution is retained by the institution.
• You are not required to provide this authorization, and you can rescind it at any time.
• Some forms of aid that arrive at the institution via check made for a specific student are credited directly to the student's account without going through the financial aid system, although these amounts are recorded in the financial aid system.
• Disbursements are made once each semester.

Refunds and Payment Information

Questions and inquiries regarding refunds and payment information should be directed to the Student Financial Services Office (SFS). The SFS Office and Financial Aid Office operates as two offices but collaborate as one team to help students and families gain access to a Messiah education. 

Learn more about Messiah's refund policies

Information regarding Title IV refunds is provided in a separate section below, titled "Return of Title IV Funds/Institutional Refund Policy.". Title IV refers to federal financial aid programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended) and includes the following programs: Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Subsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grants, Federal SEOG, TEACH Grants, and IRAQ and Afghanistan Service Grants.

Various payment methods and payment plans are available to enrolled students and families each semester. 

Learn more about Messiah' payment methods and plans

Regular Student in an Eligible Program

It is particularly important for all students to understand the requirement that a person must be enrolled as a regular student in an eligible program in order to receive Federal Student Aid funds and most forms of Messiah University institutional financial aid. A regular student is someone who is enrolled or accepted for enrollment in an eligible institution for the purpose of obtaining a degree or certificate offered by the school. Persons taking courses while not accepted into a degree or certificate program are not eligible for most forms of financial aid.

Audit credits do not count toward your enrollment for financial aid purposes.

Financial Aid Can Only be Used for Credits that Satisfy a Student's Degree Requirements

The Q & A below will help you to understand this requirement.

• Question: What is the actual requirement? 
  • Answer: Federal and State financial aid programs require that only credits which count toward a student's degree requirements can be used to determine eligibility for these types of financial aid. In other words, even if a student is taking enough credits to be considered full-time (12 credits is full-time status), if some of those credits are for classes that do not meet the requirements for the student's degree, then the student would be considered less than full-time for those financial aid programs and the amounts the student is receiving would need to be adjusted to the student's level of enrollment as determined by only the credits that count toward the student's degree.
• Question: Where did this requirement come from and is it new?
  • Answer: In fact, this requirement is not new at all. It is as old as the federal student financial aid programs (more than 50 years). Messiah University uses a software product to monitor a student's enrollment and determine whether or not all credits for which a student is enrolled do count toward the degree. This software product is known as Course and Program of Study (CPoS), and it allows the Financial Aid Office to compare the courses for which a student is registered to the student's degree requirements and determine if any courses are not eligible for financial aid.
• Question: I heard that I always have to be enrolled full-time in order to get financial aid. Is that true
  • Answer: This is a complex question which covers not only federal and state financial aid programs, but also institutional aid programs, with different requirements for each.For federal and state financial aid programs, generally the answer is No, there is no requirement for full-time enrollment. Most of these programs allow enrollment down to less than half-time status, but the amount of the aid might need to be adjusted to reflect enrollment at less than full-time status. The specific adjustments will depend on each student's unique situation and you should contact the Financial Aid Office to review your circumstances if you are considering less than full-time enrollment. Most institutional financial aid programs require full-time enrollment, but we offer an exception for seniors who do not need to be enrolled full-time. See the Full-time Enrollment Required section on the Statements Concerning Institutional Aid page of these policies for a more detailed description of that exception.
• Question: At Messiah, I can take between 12 and 18 credits in a semester for the same tuition charge. What if some of these credits count toward my degree and some don't?
  • Answer: This answer applies specifically to undergraduate students. Full-time undergraduate enrollment at Messiah University is a minimum of 12 credits. To be considered full-time for financial aid purposes, you must be taking at least 12 credits that satisfy your degree requirements. As long as this is the case, it doesn't matter whether the additional credits do or don't satisfy degree requirements. For example, let's say you are registered for 18 credits in a given semester. This consists of four 3 credit classes (12 credits) that do satisfy your degree requirements and two 3 credit classes (6 credits) that don't satisfy degree requirements. In this case you are fine. You have the minimum 12 credits needed for full-time financial aid status and your charges are the same between 12 and 18 credits, so all of your financial aid can be used for your 18 credit enrollment. However, suppose only three of your courses (9 credits) satisfy degree requirements. In that case, you would be considered less than full-time for financial aid purposes and your aid package would need to be adjusted to your level of enrollment.
• Question: Does this requirement apply to all financial aid programs?
  • Answer: All federal and state financial aid programs have this requirement. Messiah University has chosen to not apply this requirement to our institutional forms of financial aid, such as our merit based scholarships and our need-based institutional grant, the Messiah University Grant. So, as long as a student is taking an overall minimum of 12 credits, eligibility for institutional forms of financial aid will not be affected, even if some of those credits do not satisfy the student's degree requirements. This does not mean that a student can be enrolled less than full-time and receive full-time institutional aid. Students enrolled for less than 12 credits will generally not be eligible for institutional forms of financial aid, unless they qualify for the exception noted above for seniors who do not need to be enrolled full-time. In that case, the student's institutional aid will be pro-rated to their level of enrollment.
• Question: What do I need to do to make sure I don't run into this problem and how will I know if I do?
  • Answer: For the most part, this is only an issue for students in their last few semesters of enrollment, the point at which many students have completed all or most of their elective credits and many of the credits required for their degree. Very few students below senior level encounter this problem. First it is important to talk with your advisor before registering for classes for an upcoming semester. Your advisor can help you determine which classes do and don't count toward your degree requirements. The Registrars' Office is also a great resource for help on this question, but you should start with your advisor. Shortly after registration is completed for each semester, the Financial Aid Office will run the CPoS process, identify students who are affected, and notify them and their advisor as soon as possible. This will give students adequate time to review their registration and make any needed adjustments to maintain the necessary enrollment status.

Special Note for Seniors

If you are a senior who qualifies for the less than full-time exception mentioned above, please contact the Financial Aid Office so that we can review your situation and make any necessary adjustments to your financial aid package.

Contrary to the way of thinking which has developed around this issue that everyone needs to be enrolled full-time, many senior level students are actually better off financially if they drop classes which don't count and accept the reduced aid and reduced charges.

In most cases, after we pro-rate the financial aid to the level of enrollment (keep in mind this involves lower charges as well as reduced aid), the student is actually better off in terms of the amount of money they need to pay out of pocket for the semester, and they have the advantage of a reduced academic load.

Financial need is determined by the Federal Methodology (FM), which is the formula that application data goes through when a student files a FAFSA. This formula must be used if the student wants to apply for Federal student aid, and the Financial Aid Office cannot change the results unless the student can document truly unusual circumstances that warrant adjustment. The FM calculates a Student Aid Index (SAI), which is then subtracted from the student cost of attendance budget to arrive at the individual student's financial need. For a hypothetical family with an SAI of $16,850, the determination of financial need would look like this:

If the student's financial aid package contains any of the following forms of Federal financial aid, select state aid, or need-based institutional aid, then the total amount of these forms of aid in the aid package (including aid from Federal, state, institutional and private sources) cannot exceed the financial need:

• Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loan
• TEACH Grant
• Federal Direct PLUS Loan
• Other state sponsored or private education loans
• Stabler Scholarship (both versions)
• Institutional Work Programs
• Income Share Agreement

In no case can the total aid package exceed the total student cost of attendance budget.

Messiah University Overaward Policy

The purpose of this policy is to explain what an overaward is and to describe the steps the Financial Aid Office will take to correct an overaward.

An overaward exists when a student who has received federal student financial aid or need-based institutional aid has a total package which exceeds their financial need. A $300 tolerance applies if the student's package contains campus-based aid (Federal Work-Study or Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant). Otherwise, no tolerance applies. The following examples demonstrate overaward situations:

Student A's financial aid package contains $29,212 of institutional grants and scholarships, a $2,800 Federal Work-Study assignment, a $3,500 Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan, and a $9,000 scholarship from his father's employer (received after his initial package). There is a $190 overaward but no action is necessary because the overaward does not exceed the $300 tolerance.

Student B's financial aid package contains $35,141 in grants and scholarships from the institution, $13,500 in scholarships from private sources, a $624 Pell Grant, a $2,800 Federal Work Study assignment and a $5,500 Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan. There is an overaward of $1,000 and it will be corrected by switching $1,000 of the Subsidized Stafford Loan to an Unsubsidized Stafford Loan.

Student C's financial aid package contains $21,942 in grants and scholarships from the institution, a $2,800 Federal Work-Study assignment, a $4,500 Federal Stafford Loan and a $10,000 Federal PLUS Loan. Even though the student's total aid exceeds the financial need, no action is necessary because the scholarship, work assignment and Federal Stafford Loan do not exceed the financial need. The student still has $1,180 of unmet need since the Federal PLUS Loan can exceed the financial need as long as the total aid doesn't exceed the total cost of attendance budget.

Overawards are usually the result of the student receiving aid that the Financial Aid Office was not aware of when it completed the student's financial aid package and/or processed a loan application for the student. It is the student's responsibility to report additional resources to the Financial Aid Office and this should be done as soon as the student becomes aware that he or she will receive the aid. We must account for all sources of aid, even if they are not processed directly through the Financial Aid Office. Refer to the Non-Institutional Scholarship Form, found in Financial Aid Forms, to report these types of aid to us.

Overawards can also result from application errors by the student or the Financial Aid Office. Regardless of the reason for the overaward, the Financial Aid Office is bound by federal regulation to correct the overaward. Exceptions cannot be made for anyone.

Here are the steps the Financial Aid Office will take to correct an overaward:

1. We will determine whether or not the student has increased financial need that was not anticipated at the time of the award and/or loan application. If so, and the student's total aid no longer exceeds the student's need by more than $300 (see note), no further action is necessary.
2. If no increased need is demonstrated, or the student's total aid still exceeds his or her need by more than $300 (see note), we will adjust or eliminate any undisbursed loan or return loan funds to the lender if the disbursement has already been made. In cases of extreme gift aid, the institution reserves the right to adjust institutional or campus-based aid within the boundaries of federal regulations.
3. If the student has no loans or the student's aid still exceeds the student's need by more than $300 (see note) after all loans have been cancelled, we will reduce institutional grant and/or scholarship aid.
   1. NOTE: The $300 tolerance applies only if the student's financial aid package contains a form of campus-based aid (Federal Work-Study or Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant). The $300 tolerance does not apply if the student's only form of Federal financial aid is a Federal Direct Stafford Loan.

Need-Based Aid

Messiah University offers the Messiah University Grant. This is a form of institutional aid that is based on a combination of demonstrated financial need and academic merit.

Our general policy is that a student will receive the same, or approximately the same, amount from this fund each year unless the student's financial need changes significantly or other forms of aid become available to the student. The Messiah University Grant is defined as a form of aid that is to go to students with unmet financial need, and we wish to distribute this aid in a way that will help the most students. Consequently, we reserve the right to adjust awards from year to year, or within a particular academic year, if a student's circumstances change. For example, if a student has this form of aid and then receives a scholarship which causes the total aid to exceed the financial need, we will adjust the institutional aid to meet the financial need and redistribute the now uncommitted aid to another needy student, even if the student's financial aid package does not contain Federal aid.

Budget constraints prohibit us from making significant increases to student financial aid packages from year to year. So, even in cases in which the student's need increases significantly, while we will do our best to provide additional assistance, students should not expect increases in the amount of their institutional aid. This is a statement of our policy as it has always been. There is not now and never has been any guarantee that a student will receive the same amount of institutional need-based aid every year.

In some cases, applicants and their families have circumstances which affect their ability to pay for the education, but which are not accounted for in the Federal Methodology or in our normal processing procedures. In those cases, the institution reserves the right to award institutional need-based forms of aid using a different formula than the Federal Methodology or different criteria than that which we would normally collect and utilize in our awarding decisions.

Other Institutional Aid Issues

Limited to Amount of Tuition: Under no circumstances can the combined amount of the various forms of institutional financial aid that a student receives exceed the amount of the student's tuition.

Full-time Enrollment Required: Almost all forms of institutional aid offered by Messiah University require that the student be enrolled full-time. The only exceptions are:

• The Mature Student Discount (cannot be received in conjunction with the Messiah University Grant)
• The High School Discount
• An exception to the full-time enrollment requirement for seniors who do not need to be enrolled full-time.

Seniors who do not need to be enrolled full-time in one or both of their final two semesters because they have completed most courses needed to finish their degree and simply don't need to be enrolled full-time in order to complete their final degree requirements can receive pro-rated institutional financial aid.

For example, if a second semester senior with a $16,000 Provost's Scholarship ($8,000 per semester) only needs to take 9 credits in that semester in order to complete his final degree requirements, his scholarship amount in that semester would be $6,000, as determined by the following formula:

• 9 (credits enrolled) / 12 (credits necessary to be considered full-time) = .75
• .75 X $8,000 (full-time scholarship amount) = $6,000

This same formula would be applied to all of the student's forms of institutional financial aid.

Eligibility for state and federal forms of financial aid would be determined according to formulas provided by those sources.

Institutional Aid Limited to Eight Semesters

Messiah University institutional financial aid programs are available for a maximum of eight semesters and are not available to students who have already received a bachelors degree from any institution.

Institutional Aid Only for Enrolled Students

If you receive any form of institutional financial aid, including a merit scholarship, the aid will be available during semesters you actually attend Messiah University or one of our off-campus programs which is approved for use of institutional financial aid. The aid will not be available for semesters when you are not in attendance. For example, if you graduate a semester early, you will not receive extra money in your last semester. In other words, there is no guaranteed aggregate financial aid amount or number of semesters that you will receive.

One Semester Limit on Institutional Aid for Approved Off-Campus Programs

Military Benefits and Institutional Aid Policy

Due to the post 9/11 GI Bill^®, veterans are now eligible for more significant benefits than in the past. According to federal regulations, beginning with the 2009-10 academic year, federal military benefits are no longer included as Other Financial Assistance (a resource) when calculating eligibility for federal forms of financial aid. However, due to the significant amount of benefits some student veterans are receiving, Messiah University will include any benefits of which we are aware when awarding and adjusting institutional grants and scholarships (including all institutional merit-based scholarships).

Military Benefits and the Messiah University Grant

When a student who is the recipient of a Messiah University Grant has received total gift aid, including military benefits, that exceed the student's calculated financial need, the Messiah University Grant will be reduced until the total amount of gift aid equals the student's financial need, or until the Messiah University Grant has been eliminated from the student's financial aid package.

Military Benefits and Total Gift Aid

Students who receive military benefits in combination with non-need-based forms of institutional gift aid will be allowed to keep institutional gift aid up to the point at which the total amount of gift aid equals the student's total cost of attendance budget.

When the institutional gift aid, in combination with the military benefits, exceeds the student's total cost of attendance budget, institutional gift aid, including merit-based scholarships, will be adjusted so that the student's total gift aid equals the student's total cost of attendance budget.

It is within this policy to have a student's total gift aid exceed the student's calculated financial need when military benefits are included if the only type of institutional aid is a non-need-based form.

Other Forms of Aid

Because military benefits are not to be included as Other Financial Assistance in the aid package for federal aid, the amount of other forms of need-based aid (including but not necessarily limited to subsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Work Study) may exceed need when totaling a student's need-based aid. However, these forms of aid may be adjusted to preserve the student's eligibility for need-based institutional aid. Nothing in this policy should be interpreted to mean that adjustments to other forms of aid will not be necessary to resolve overawards in these situations.

GI Bill^® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at www.benefits.va.gov/gibill. 

If a student's financial aid package requires additional action on the part of the student (verification, etc.) the Financial Aid Office will submit a document in the student's MyAid Financial Aid portal. 

An informational message directing students to the document(s) with the forms necessary to apply for almost all types of financial aid is sent to each student during the fall preceding the first year of the award year. For example, this information for the 2025-2026 academic year would have been sent out during the fall of 2024, or at the time of acceptance for new students. 

Financial aid forms and applications

Messiah's financial aid forms page contains applications and instructions to apply for most forms of financial aid, and the various Federal and state forms each contain extensive instructions of their own. In addition to this, please visit our Seven Steps to Financial Aid for comprehensive instructions on completing the financial aid process.

The United States Department of Education also has a toll-free telephone number that you can call for information and instructions on applying for federal student aid. This phone number is 1-800-433-3243.

It is the responsibility of the Financial Aid Office to assist you in applying for aid to further your education, and it is our desire to keep this as our main purpose. Students and parents must realize, however, that participation in the various federal and state financial aid programs carries a serious responsibility for the institution. Students and their parents going through the financial aid process don't necessarily see the complexity behind the various federal, state, private, and institutional student aid programs administered by institutions. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) published an Electronic Encyclopedia of Student Financial Aid containing regulations and explanations of federal programs that, if printed out, would comprise about 2,100 pages and weigh 24 pounds. The government makes numerous changes to its regulations for federal student aid programs annually, and wholesale changes are made by Congress every 5 to 7 years. It is the responsibility of the Financial Aid Office to make sure that these programs are administered according to these regulations. Failure to do so can result in real penalties to the institution and to individual aid administrators.

Unfortunately, the regulatory requirements don't always mesh with the desires of the aid applicant. The Financial Aid Office will always try to do what is best for the applicant, within regulatory boundaries, but we often find ourselves in a situation in which we have little or no discretion in regard to the course of action we must take. You must accept our decisions; it is not appropriate for students and parents to argue with Financial Aid Office staff over these decisions. Please work with us as we try to do the best job we can for you.

A basic premise of financial aid is that, first and foremost, it is the responsibility of the student and parents to fund the education. Financial aid exists as a resource to help pay the educational costs, but you should not expect that it is the responsibility of someone else (including Messiah University) to fully fund your education.

Return of Title IV Funds/Institutional Refund Policy
Refunds for undergraduate students who completely withdraw from Messiah University voluntarily or otherwise are determined according to the following policy:

1. The portion of tuition and residence charges to be refunded to withdrawing students during the fall or spring semester will be as follows:

   Week 1	100%
   Week 2	75%
   Week 3	60%
   Week 4	50%
   Week 5	25%

2. Student Activity, Student Services, Applied Music, Lab and other course related fees are not refunded after the first week. Nursing course related fees are not refunded unless the major is dropped prior to the first day of class.
3. Students who withdraw from the University after the completion of the fifth week of classes during fall or spring semester will not receive a refund of tuition or residence fees.
4. Dining Dollars Refund Policy can be found online at: messiah.edu/studentmealplan
5. Spring semester room charges will be adjusted only for students enrolled in credit-earning, off-campus activities during Spring term. Adjustments will be uniformly applied to all campus housing charges. Housing charges will be adjusted for students participating in directed and independent studies only if there is an academic requirement that necessitates living off-campus.
6. There are no refunds for enrolled students vacating a room after the start of the semester.
7. There are no refunds for incomplete courses, independent study, directed study, internship/practical and online courses.
8. If there is a credit available after the completed adjustments to a student's bill, a refund will be sent to the student's home address following the withdrawal.
9. In accordance with federal regulations, when federal financial aid (Title IV) refunds are involved, the amounts are allocated in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan, Subsidized Federal Direct Loan, Federal Direct PLUS Loan, Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), TEACH Grant, IRAQ and Afghanistan Service Grant, and other Title IV aid programs.
10. The term "Title IV Funds" refers to the federal financial aid programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended) and includes the following programs: Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Subsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grants, Federal SEOG, TEACH Grants, and IRAQ and Afghanistan Service Grants.
11. Institutional and student responsibilities in regard to the Return of Title IV Funds
    • Messiah University's Responsibility: Providing each student with the information given in this policy, identifying students who are affected by the policy and completing the Return of Title IV Funds calculation for those students, and returning any Title IV funds that are due the Title IV Programs
    • Student's Responsibility: Returning to the Title IV programs any funds that were disbursed directly to the student and for which the student was determined to be ineligible via the Return of Title IV Funds calculation.
12. Institutional financial aid will be refunded according to #1 above.
13. Dropped course fees follow the dates published on messiah.edu/registrar. Students must be full time (12+ credits/semester) through the "LAST DAY TO DROP A COURSE" in order to maintain full-time eligibility for financial aid.
14. Medical Leave Refunds and information can be found at: messiah.edu/refunds
15. Small student account credit balances of $5.00 or less, if not specifically requested to be refunded within two weeks after the student leaves Messiah, will automatically be cleared and donated to the general scholarship fund.

The fees, procedures, and policies listed above supersede those published previously and are subject to change at any time. Not all fees are listed.

Any notification of a withdrawal or cancellation and request for a refund should be in writing and addressed to the appropriate institutional official. These would be respectively the Registrar, an Admissions Office representative, and the Controller.

If you believe that your individual circumstances warrant that your charges or refund should be determined in a manner other than the published policy, or you would like examples of the refund policy, contact: JR Harris, Director of Student Financial Services, Messiah University, One University Avenue, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.

All students (including international students) enrolled at Messiah University are subject to the academic standards of the University, which are printed in the Graduation Information section of the University catalog. The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), as amended, mandates institutions of higher education to establish minimum standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for students receiving financial aid. To review those standards, please proceed to one of the following pages. 

If you are an undergraduate student:

Undergraduate Students - SAP

If you are an graduate student:
Graduate Students - SAP

Each year a number of financial aid applicants request that we revise their financial aid eligibility because of special circumstances that have occurred. This is an accepted part of the financial aid process, and we are happy to help in any way we can. Many of these circumstances don't occur until a late date, and we certainly understand that it is not possible for the applicant to make us aware of such a circumstance until it has occurred. Unfortunately, these situations sometimes occur much earlier, but some people don't decide to make us aware of their circumstances until after they receive their financial aid award notice and decide that it is not sufficient. At such a late date, it is highly unlikely that there will be any additional financial aid available, and we would view such late requests with some skepticism since the applicant didn't think that the circumstance was important enough to bring to our attention until after the award notice was received. If you encounter special circumstances, please let us know as soon as is reasonably possible.

Applicants should also keep in mind that the financial aid budget is not unlimited. At some point, we will expend all of our funds and, regardless of how deserving an applicant might be, it will not be possible to make adjustments to the aid package after that point.

Here are comments on some specific types of adjustments that we often encounter:

• Each year we receive a number of requests for adjustments to the results of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) based on private elementary or secondary school tuition that was paid by the family. We do not normally make such adjustments for several reasons.
  • First, Federal regulations require that this type of adjustment be made on a case by case basis. The regulations do not allow schools to make adjustments for an entire class of students (e.g. All students who attended a private high school). Since it is normally a family's personal decision to choose private high school or elementary education, we cannot make an adjustment simply because of personal choice since this would constitute making an adjustment for a class of students. For situations in which there are medical or other reasons outside of the control of the family which require the private education, we will consider the adjustment.
  • Second, many families of Messiah students choose private school options and we receive many of these requests each year, but our budget simply doesn't allow us to make adjustments for all of these people.
  • Third, many institutions use a more stringent formula (one that assesses a higher contribution from the family) when determining eligibility for their need-based institutional forms of aid, causing a reduction of the amount of aid they offer to a student. Messiah University uses the straight Federal Methodology to determine a student's eligibility for all types of need-based aid, including our need-based institutional forms of aid. The Federal Methodology ignores many items that other formulas consider (e.g. home value, retirement savings) and, on average, assesses the smallest family contribution of any formula of which we are aware; we have limited discretion to adjust this formula since it is codified in federal law. Because we are not using a more stringent formula for our institutional aid, we feel that it is reasonable to ask that applicants accept the results of the Federal Methodology and not ask us to make further adjustments.
• Adjustments for medical expenses are also a request that we receive frequently. We will make such adjustments under the following conditions:
  • We must receive documentation of the expense in the form of bills/statements/receipts related to the payment.
  • We must have documentation that the expenses were not reimbursed by insurance.
  • The un-reimbursed expenses must be greater than 7.5% of the adjusted gross income in the year that the expenses were incurred.
  • If, at any time during the year, there is a change to any of the data that you included on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or other financial aid application forms, it is your responsibility to notify the Financial Aid Office of the change(s).

Each year, a number of students ask us to consider them as independent for financial aid purposes, even though they do not meet the federal definition of an independent student. These cases often involve delicate family situations, which we review individually to determine the merits of the case.

The student will sometimes state that the parents have simply decided that they no longer have a responsibility to support the student. A basic premise of all financial aid programs is that the parents/contributors listed on the FAFSA are responsible for assisting the student with educational costs. This responsibility does not end at age 18 or 21. Currently, for federal programs, a student must be 24 years of age before he can be considered independent based on age alone, and the institution still has the option of requiring parents' data for use in determining eligibility for institutional aid. The United States Department of Education has informed us that a parent's declaration of non-support is, by itself, not sufficient reason to declare a student independent. Consequently, Messiah University will not consider a student independent unless he or she meets one of the standard definitions or has extenuating circumstances beyond the parents' declaration of non-support.

Learn more about independent standard definitions on studentaid.gov

Students who get married during enrollment: Another common situation we encounter is the student couple who decide to get married during the period of their enrollment. Frequently, one or both of the couple will state that their parents will no longer be assisting them with educational expenses and they want the institution to award them institutional aid to replace the parent contribution. As stated previously, a student's need-based institutional aid will stay about the same during their enrollment and the parents are responsible for assisting with college expenses. Students who decide to get married are making a personal decision and need to take responsibility for the consequences of that decision. The unmet financial need of the aid applicants at Messiah University is already far greater than the amount of money we have to make awards. We do not feel that it is fair for students to ask us to fund their decision to get married when this does not change their parent's ability to contribute, but would result in another needy student receiving a reduced award. For this reason, we will continue to ask for parent's data on the financial aid applications of these students and use this data in determining eligibility for need-based institutional aid. As long as the student meets the federal definition of an independent student, the parent's data will not be a factor in determining eligibility for federal aid.

Messiah University does not offer institutional financial aid for regular summer classes. Because the cost of a credit during the summer is less than 40% of the cost of a credit during the regular academic year, a student's institutional financial aid for summer classes comes in the form of this greatly reduced cost.

Amounts of scholarship or grant aid (not loans or work) that exceed amounts used for payment of tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment are considered taxable, and it is the student's responsibility to report these amounts on the federal income tax return. Remember that the costs and financial aid amounts are for the tax year, so a student would have to combine costs and aid from the spring, summer, and fall semesters that are a part of the tax year (even though they might not be part of the same academic year) in order to determine whether or not any amount must be reported.

Learn more about this provision of Federal tax law by reviewing IRS Publication 970

Verification is a federal process which requires the institution to check the accuracy of the information a student and/or a student's parents have given when applying for federal financial aid. Information is verified by securing additional documentation or, in some cases, a signed statement attesting to the accuracy of the information provided.

The stated purpose of verification is to reduce error rates in applicant-reported data and to assure, to the maximum extent possible, that eligible applicants receive the correct amount of financial assistance.

When a student files a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a certain number of these applications are selected for verification by the federal government. In a given year, anywhere from a few percentage points up to 30% of Messiah University applicants are selected. Some applications are selected purely at random, others are selected based on questionable answers to application questions. The selection criteria are established by the U.S. Department of Education and the financial aid office does not know why a particular person has been selected. If a student's application is selected for verification, the school that the student plans to attend is required to collect certain information in order to verify the accuracy of the student's application.

There are a number of possible items that might be selected to be verified for a particular student. For a dependent student, these items must be verified for the student and parents. For an independent student, they must be verified for the student and spouse.

Verification requirements are now more specific to the student. If your FAFSA is selected for verification, you will be placed into one of several groups defining the specific items you are required to provide. These items include one or more of the following:

• Adjusted gross income (AGI)
• U.S. income tax paid
• Untaxed portions of IRA distributions
• Untaxed portions of pensions
• IRA deductions and payments
• Tax-exempt interest income
• Education credits
• Income earned from work
• Foreign Income Exempt from Federal Taxation
• Family size
• Identity/statement of educational purpose
• Documentation of High School Completion Status

The Messiah University Office of Financial Aid will inform you of exactly which items you need to send us. The documents necessary to verify these items are described in the 'Financial Aid Requirements' section of the student's account in the Messiah University on-line portal (currently accessed through the Falcon Link system - a link will be in the email sent to inform you of your selection). When a student has verification requirements, an email directing the student to the Financial Aid Requirements will be sent to the student's Messiah University email address.

Corrections to the application data, that result from verification, will be made through the institutions' need analysis software and submitted to the United States Department of Education's central processing system, if necessary. Applicants will be informed of any specific actions they must take to correct the application data.

No deadlines are established for the submission of verification documents.

• For most required documents, an award will not be sent, aid will not be disbursed to the student, and Federal Loans will not be originated until verification is complete.
• The exception to this is that a financial aid award will be completed prior to receipt of one or both of the documentation of High School Completion Status or the Statement of Educational Purpose/ Verification of Identity Form. However, aid will not be disbursed to the student and Federal Loans will not be originated until these items have been received.

Receipt of a final financial aid award notice or loan promissory note constitutes notification to the student that verification has been completed. Students who receive a financial aid award notice prior to submission of documentation of High School Completion Status or the Statement of Educational Purpose/ Verification of Identity Form must still submit these items before verification is considered to be complete.

Receipt of an estimated financial aid award notice does not constitute such notification.

If, for some reason, an award was sent prior to verification, a revised award will be sent if the award changes due to verification. If the amount of the revised award is less than the original award and aid that the student is now ineligible for was disbursed to the student, the student will be responsible for repaying the amount of the overpayment. The student will also be responsible for repaying the amount of any aid disbursed if he or she fails to complete the verification process.

The U.S. Department of Education provides information on who to contact to find out about financial aid programs available from your home state, including links to information on the state's education programs.

Learn where to apply for a loan/grant from your state

The names of associations, agencies or governmental bodies which accredit, approve, or license the institution and its programs, and the procedures by which the documents describing that activity may be reviewed by a current or prospective student upon request. This information can be found in the Messiah University catalog.

An accurate description of the academic programs of the institution, including: the current degree programs and other educational and training programs; the instructional, laboratory, and other physical facilities which relate to the academic programs; and the institution's faculty and other instructional personnel is available in the Messiah University catalog. Choose the appropriate catalog (undergraduate or graduate), and then choose the 'Programs of Study' link.

Descriptions of all federal, state, local, private, and institutional student financial assistance programs are  available to students who enroll at Messiah University. 

Learn More About Messiah's Financial Aid Options

Additional information regarding the U.S. Department of Education's federal resources can be found online at the federal website studentaid.gov.

While Messiah's Financial Aid Office might have some information regarding scholarships from outside individuals or organizations (non-institutional scholarships), in many cases interested applicants would have to contact the awarding individual or organization in order to receive additional information.

Students and families are encouraged to review Messiah's Financial Aid Resources to learn more about free scholarship search engines and outside scholarships. 

The annual report required by the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act can be found through the Athletic Office.

FERPA information is provided to all students via publication in the Student Handbook, the online Student Handbook, and information in mass emails sent from the Registrar, to both undergraduate and graduate student populations, during the fall and spring semesters.

Additional information about FERPA can be found on the Registrar's Office FERPA pages:

Undergraduate FERPA Graduate FERPA

Information on the following additional financial aid topics can be found on our Student Consumer Information web page. 

• Federal Student Financial Aid Penalties for Drug Law Violations
• Student Loan Information
  • Initial Loan Counseling for Student Borrowers
  • Exit Counseling for Student Borrowers
  • Institutional Code of Conduct for Education Loans
  • Preferred Lender Lists & Arrangements
  • Self Certification Form
• Graduate Student Financial Aid Information

Loan terms refer to any loan received as part of the student's financial aid package, a sample loan repayment schedule, information on the necessity of repaying loans, deferment and cancellation provisions of the various loan programs, and the general conditions and terms applicable to any employment provided to a student as part of the student's financial aid package.

The only institutionally awarded loans that a Messiah student would receive as part of his or her financial aid package would be the Nursing Student Loan and/or the Federal Direct Stafford Loan. The required information is available in the promissory notes, Borrowers Rights and Responsibilities, and various other counseling publications, which are available upon request and are given to each student as part of the loan entrance and exit counseling processes.

Federal Student Aid Entrance Counseling

Federal Student Aid Master Promissory Note (MPN)

Students requesting Medical Leave of Absence need to be aware that Leave of Absence status exists largely to assist the student with non-financial aid related issues, such as remaining on the parent's medical insurance plan while on Leave of Absence. From a financial aid standpoint, Leave of Absence status must be treated as a withdrawal and the student's financial aid will be adjusted accordingly. 

View Medical Leave policies, procedures, instructions and forms

The titles of persons designated by the institution to disseminate consumer information to students and prospective students, and information as to how and where such persons may be contacted. This information is available in the Messiah University catalog. Choose the Contacts Directory link.

School requirements for officially withdrawing from Messiah University are available in the Messiah University catalog. 

• Choose the Academic Policies and Procedures link
• Then select the Withdrawals and Termination of Attendance link

A description of any special facilities and services available to students with disabilities is available from the Office of Academic Accessibility.

The terms of student employment are published in the Student Employment Handbook, which is available on the student payroll web page.