Financial aid - including federal, institutional, and state aid - is awarded to UW students who meet certain eligibility requirements and/or complete certain applications.
Most types of financial aid the University of Wyoming (UW) offers have some common eligibility rules. To qualify for aid, you must do and/or meet the following requirements:
- Apply for admission to UW and confirm your enrollment by paying your enrollment deposit by the posted deadline. This will allow you to be considered for most institutional scholarships or Commitments without having to submit an additional application.
- Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year at studentaid.gov. This is optional at UW but know that a completed FAFSA is necessary to determine your eligibility for any federal and/or need-based aid. Completing the FAFSA requires providing financial information for all FAFSA contributors (you, your spouse, your biological or adoptive parent, and/or your parent's spouse); however, completing the FAFSA does not lock anyone into enrolling in college or taking on student debt.
- Be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen. UW does have some institutional scholarships available for international students.
- Have a high school diploma or a recognized equivalent. This includes a home school credit evaluation or a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.
- Take either the ACT or SAT standardized test. A test-optional preference is available for institutional scholarships or Commitments, but a standardized test score may help boost your eligibility. A standardized test score is still a requirement for Wyoming high school graduates to be considered for the Hathaway Scholarship.
- Be enrolled at UW in a degree-seeking program.
- Be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours (half-time enrollment) for federal aid as an undergraduate. Notes: Graduate students need to be enrolled in at least 4.5 credit hours to qualify.
- Be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours for scholarships or Commitments when an undergraduate.
- Do not have federal loans in excess of the annual or aggregate limits of the federal aid program.
- Do not have reached your LEU (lifetime eligibility used) for the Pell Grant.
- Do not be in default on any federal student loan(s) or owe money on a federal grant.
- All continuing students receiving federal aid must be making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) towards a degree.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form that allows our office to determine a student's eligibility for several types of financial aid including:
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG Grant
- Federal Work-Study Program
- State-funded Hathaway need-based scholarship
- Institutionally-funded grants
- Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
- Federal Parent PLUS Loan
Who should complete the FAFSA? Although not required, all students should consider completing and submitting a FAFSA each year, even if you think you won't qualify for financial aid, so you don't leave any money on the table. Completing the FAFSA does not lock anyone into enrolling in college or taking on student debt, but it does ensure that you make a major life decision with full knowledge of the money you're entitled to! A basic assumption the federal government makes, when determining federal aid eligibility, is that parents of dependent students - as well as the student, themselves - have the primary responsibility to pay for their education. Submitting the FAFSA does not obligate parents to pay for college, but it does require a parent to provide financial information in order to fully determine a student's eligibility for financial aid. Dependent students who do not qualify grants or Work-Study are usually eligible to borrow a federal student loan to help pay for their education.
How do you determine your dependency status for the FAFSA? Your dependency status determines whether your parents' information will be required or not for the completion of the FAFSA. If you are a dependent student, it doesn't mean your parents are required to pay for your education, but the information is used to determine your eligibility for federal financial aid. Your answers to certain questions on the FAFSA will determine your status.
How often do you complete the FAFSA? The FAFSA needs to be completed each year because it uses a new tax year each time. The form is open for 21 months each cycle, so it uses the "prior-prior" tax year. The FAFSA normally opens on October 1 each year, and students must complete it by the earlier of June 30 of that academic year or their last day of their enrollment in the academic year. For example, a new first-time student starting in the fall could complete the FAFSA beginning the October of their senior year in high school, and they have until June 30 following their first year in college.
What happens after you submit the FAFSA? After your FAFSA has been submitted and processed, a FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) will be created. If you provided a valid email address when completing the FAFSA, you will receive an email with instructions to access the FSS online. If your FAFSA didn't have a valid email address, you will receive a paper FSS in the mail. The FSS will indicate if there are actions required or if the FAFSA is complete. Additionally, it will:
- summarize the information you and your contributors included on the FAFSA,
- provide estimated eligibility for federal student loans and grants,
- and provide the calculated Student Aid Index (SAI) which is a number calculated by the Department of Education based upon your FAFSA components such as income and assets. Our office uses the SAI to determine how much federal aid and need-based aid you qualify for. It is intended to represent your family's financial strength and ability to pay for college.
What about mistakes on the FAFSA? If you find a mistake when reviewing your FSS, you will need to login to studentaid.gov and correct your FAFSA form. To learn more about the FSS, visit the Federal Student Aid website.
This video provides some basic information about the FAFSA.
Students will be evaluated for merit scholarships through the application process at the University of Wyoming. If you want to be considered for federal financial aid, as well as any need-based aid (federal, state, or institutional), you will need to complete the FAFSA (Steps 1 and 2 below).
Step 1 - Create FSA ID
Create a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) on studentaid.gov if you haven't already. Also have your FAFSA contributor(s) create their FSA ID(s). The FSA ID, also known as the Federal Student Aid ID, is a unique username and password that acts as your digital signature to access and manage your FAFSA and other aspects of federal financial aid. A contributor could be a spouse, a parent, or a stepparent, and they will use the same FSA ID for all their children's education journey.
Step 2 - Submit FAFSA
Complete and submit the FAFSA online. UW's school code is 003932; if you do not include it on your FAFSA, UW will not receive your FAFSA information and cannot process your FAFSA.
Since the FAFSA uses a new tax year each year, you and your FAFSA contributors should plan on submitting the form annually for each new academic year.
Students complete the Student section of the FAFSA and they invite contributors to complete their section(s). The student and contributors will be required to provide consent to have their federal tax information released from the IRS, even if a tax return was not filed. After all contributors have consented and signed the form, it will be submitted for processing. For online FAFSA submissions, a confirmation will be sent at the time confirming successful submission.
After submission, your FAFSA typically takes 2-3 business days to process. Be sure to log back into your account on studentaid.gov to review your FAFSA Submission Summary and confirm that nothing has been flagged for follow-up.
FAFSA Hints:
- When creating your FSA ID, make sure your email address is entered correctly.
- Be sure your social security number is also entered accurately before submitting the FAFSA. This is used by the U.S. Department of Education and UW to match and process your FAFSA. Entering it incorrectly will result in an error that can cause significant delays.
- To determine who needs to be a contributor on your FAFSA, use this handy work-flow to determine which parent(s) should create a FSA ID and provide information on your FAFSA. Generally speaking, the parent who provided the most financial support over the past 12 months will be listed as a FAFSA contributor.
- The FAFSA asks about family size. Your response should include individuals who meet specific support and relationship criteria for the award year as defined by the Internal Revenue Code.
- When completing the income section, if a question does not apply to you (or your contributor), enter a zero (0). Leaving questions blank can result in processing delays.
- For asset information, not all students (or your contributor[s]) are required to report assets on the FAFSA. The application will guide you based on your situation and your previous answers. If you don't have any assets to report and the questions don't not apply to you, enter a zero (0). Leaving questions blank can result in processing delays.
- Before you submit your FAFSA, be sure to carefully look over the review page that summarizes all your responses. If you notice any mistakes, correcting them before submitting the form is always the preferred practice.
Step 3 - Access WyoScholarships
Complete the General Application in WyoScholarships, our scholarship platform. This will finalize your eligibility to receive a renewing Commitment or Award if you originally qualified for one, as well as the actual scholarships that will fulfill that Commitment amount.
After completing the General Application in WyoScholarships, you can review any recommended scholarships requiring applications if you meet the criteria. If you have been awarded a Commitment, any scholarship that you apply for, and receive, will usually help fulfill the Commitment amount.
Step 4 - Review Requirements and Submit Documentation
Navigate to WyoWeb and login to WyoRecords using the 'Students' link and review your Checklist for the current aid year Requirements. Monitor your UWYO email and Checklist regularly for notifications from our office. There may be requirements you need to satisfy or documents you need to submit to our office to verify data before we can provide your financial aid package. That includes any students who have been selected for FAFSA verification.
If you have submitted a FAFSA, there will be three requirements for Title IV (federal) aid to complete on your Checklist. The intent of each requirement is based upon if a student might ever have more federal financial aid than they have charges in any given semester. These can be a little tricky, so the table below will provide our suggestions.
| Title IV Charges Authorization | Prior Year Charges Authorization | Hold Title IV Credit Balances Authorization |
| If you ACCEPT: Non-standard current year charges will be paid for with any excess federal financial aid. | If you ACCEPT: Non-standards prior year charges will be paid with excess federal financial aid for the current aid year. | If you ACCEPT: Excess federal financial aid will be held by UW for charges in a future semester. Excess monies will finally be refunded to you towards the end of spring semester of that aid year. |
| If you DECLINE: Those charges will remain on your student account and must be paid. | If you DECLINE: Prior year charges will remain on your account and must be paid. | If you DECLINE: You will control any excess aid amount yourself and can choose to apply it to charges in a future semester. |
You only have to submit your preferences for these authorizations once as a student, but you can go back and adjust them anytime and then resubmit.
Monitor your email - Our office will notify you by email (your UWYO email account) about the status of your financial aid throughout your time at UW.
Submit required documents - If notify you that you have been selected for FAFSA verification, be sure to submit all requested documentation as soon as possible so the disbursement of your financial aid isn't negatively impacted.
Review aid package - Once you have been packaged with financial aid offers, you will receive an email from our office. Log into WyoWeb > WyoRecords > 'Students link' to access your Checklist for the current aid year Awards. Beginning each March, you will be able to accept or decline federal student loan offers and/or Work-Study awards (if eligible) that you have received for the upcoming academic year. Note: Federal Pell Grants and SEOG Grants are loaded as 'accepted', so no further action is required.
Complete donor thank you letters - Although students no longer need to accept the scholarship that fulfill their Commitments, we still encourage you to watch for email prompts from WyoScholarships so you can complete thank you letters to the generous donors who provide scholarship funds. Without their support, it would be more difficult for our students to pay for college!
