Cameron Students posing for a picture on Campus

Office of Financial Assistance

applying for aid

Applying for financial aid at Cameron University (CU) begins with the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Cameron's Scholarship Application Portal. The FAFSA application is used to apply for nearly all types of financial assistance including federal, state and institutional aid. The results of the application assist the financial aid office in determining how much and what type of aid may be awarded.  The Scholarship Application Portal is utilized to award institutional scholarships that are offered through the university.

What do I need to do?

1.  Get a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID at www.fsaid.ed.gov.

The student and at least one parent of a dependent undergraduate student will need an FSA ID in order to sign and submit the FAFSA online. Do not share your information with anyone, and make sure to save all passwords, security questions, etc. to use for future years.

2.  Gather your information to apply .

The FAFSA gathers information about you and your financial situation. Information you may need includes:

  • Your Social Security number (it’s important that you enter it correctly on the FAFSA form!)
  • Your parents’ Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student
  • Your driver’s license number if you have one
  • Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen
  • Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student:
    • IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ
    • Foreign tax return
    • Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau
  • Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans non-education benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student
  • Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments, including stocks and bonds and real estate (but not including the home in which you live); and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student

3.  Complete the FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov .

Remember that filing is free!  Information and complete instructions are provided to guide you through the process. Need additional help? Chat with a FAFSA agent for the quickest response. Be sure to designate Cameron University as your first choice by entering our school code, 003150 .  Don't forget to sign the application!

4.  Review the Student Aid Report (SAR).

After completing the FAFSA, an email message is sent to you with a link to your SAR.  Please review your SAR for any necessary corrections or updates.

5.  Check your AggieAccess account for status and updates.

The CU Office of Financial Assistance typically begins pulling in FAFSAs for the new year by December/January. Once you submit your FAFSA you should allow approximately 3 - 5 weeks for us to process your application.  Once we receive and process your information, we may need additional documentation to complete or verify your aid package.  This information is available on the student "My Info" tab on AggieAccess.

6.  Review your awards .

Once your aid package is complete, your can view and accept your awards and amounts on AggieAccess.  The awards posted to your account are based on your current enrollment status and classification and may be subject to change.

What happens if I'm selected for verification?

Each year the U.S. Department of Education requires schools participating in the distribution of federal student aid to verify the consistency and accuracy of data submitted on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  Any student who completes a FAFSA may be chosen for verification by the Department of Education.

Nationwide, about one-third of all FAFSA applications are selected this way. In addition, CU also requires verification for any student who has petitioned for a special circumstance review and any student where there appears to be a possibility of conflicting information reported to the CU Office of Financial Assistance.

The CU Financial Aid Office will verify all mandatory items identified by the U.S. Department of Education (household size, the number in college, number of exemptions, adjusted gross income, taxes paid, untaxed income, untaxed IRS distributions, education credits, IRA deductions, tax exempt interest, etc.). In addition, some students will be required to verify High School/GED completion status as well as complete a statement of Educational Purpose. The CU financial aid office can also verify discretionary items if necessary.

To complete verification, students and parents, as applicable, are asked to submit federal tax documents and verification forms to the CU Financial Aid Office.  Students selected for any of the reasons listed above will find the verification forms at https://www.cameron.edu/financial_aid/apply/forms. Forms may be faxed, USPS mailed or scanned/emailed to the CU Office of Financial Assistance. Always keep a copy for your records. We strongly discourage emailing any document with anyone’s SSN listed; fax is more secure.

The FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) is the most secure way to verify tax return data.  If you are selected for verification and unable to use the IRS DRT, you must request a Tax Return Transcript from the IRS.

After the initial verification document request has been met, CU will compare the information provided on the FAFSA and might ask for additional information if we find discrepancies that cannot be explained.  CU’s Financial Aid Office will correct any variances and resubmit your FAFSA to CPS. CPS will then send you an updated Student Aid Report (SAR).

The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) may change based on the corrections made. If conflicting information is discovered after aid is awarded or disbursed, CU must resolve the conflicting information and the student will be required to repay aid received in excess of his/her eligibility. All conflicts must be resolved regardless of whether the student was selected for verification or not.

If you have received a financial aid package before completing verification, your aid eligibility will be reevaluated by a financial aid specialist after verification has been completed. You will be notified if your awards change after verification.

Please allow a minimum of three weeks for the verification process to be completed once all items have been submitted. The process might take longer if we receive incomplete documents or require additional information.  Financial aid funds cannot be officially disbursed until verification is completed. Return the requested documents to us as soon as possible.

To avoid a delay in the processing of your aid, verification must be completed by the dates below to allow processing time for your financial aid. If verification is submitted past the dates listed, aid may disburse; however, it may be on a delayed schedule.

  • July 31 for the Fall term
  • December 1 for the Spring term
  • May 1 for the Summer term

Please note: Loans cannot be disbursed if verification is not completed prior to the last week of enrollment t. Students who are eligible for Pell grant must complete verification no later than 120 days after the last day of enrollment.