As a general rule, the Financial Aid Office awards financial aid to students on a weekly basis beginning in spring and continuously throughout the academic year. Since some aid programs have limited funding, and to ensure full consideration of all the various aid programs, NWTC has a priority date of March 15. The priority date is not a deadline. The Financial Aid Office recommends that you complete your FAFSA application and submit all requested documentation by this date. A completed aid application does not, however, guarantee that all aid programs will be offered to you.
Please note, to be eligible for financial aid you will need to be accepted into a degree program.
FSA (Federal Student Aid) ID
Beginning May 2015, the Department of Education replaced the FSA PIN with the FSA ID. This username and password must be used to log into secure Department of Education websites.
Students and parents should each apply for an ID and password before filing the FAFSA.
Am I Dependent or Independent?
Dependent Students are required to submit parental information on the FAFSA. If you meet one of the following criteria, you are independent:
- You are or will be 24 by December 31
- You are married
- You have a child(ren) or other dependents who receive more than half their support from you
- You are a veteran or serving on active duty
- You are an orphan/ward of the court
- You are a graduate student
- You meet the legal guardianship, homeless or emancipated criteria on the FAFSA
Who is a parent?
The answer to this question may seem obvious, but adoption, divorce, and remarriage situations may require students to think about who is considered their parent for FAFSA purposes. If the following information does not answer your question about your situation, contact the Financial Aid Office.
A foster parent, legal guardian, grandparent or other relative is not a parent unless the student has been legally adopted.
If parents are divorced, the student should provide information for the parent they lived with more over the last year. If the student lived with both parents equally, answer FAFSA questions about the parent who provided more support over the past year. Still not sure which parent? Contact the Financial Aid Office.
If the parent the student lists on the FAFSA is remarried, the stepparent information must be reported as well.
If same gender parents were legally married in a domestic or foreign jurisdiction that recognizes the relationship as a valid marriage, this is treated the same as opposite gender parents who are married. The student must report information for both parents/step-parents in the household.
Beginning with the 2014-2015 FAFSA, if the student's legal (biological and/or adoptive) parents are not married, but live together, the student must answer FAFSA questions about both parents.
After the FAFSA
Once the FAFSA is submitted, the student should receive an email confirmation from the Department of Education. While you may receive estimated award information from the FAFSA submission, this is not an actual award; it is for informational purposes only. You can log into the FAFSA website to review your FAFSA for accuracy.
Every FAFSA with NWTC’s school code (005301) will be sent electronically to the Financial Aid Office. We will not load this information for students not accepted to a degree program at NWTC. All other students will receive an email confirmation that we have received the FAFSA.
Students who receive an email confirmation stating their FAFSA is rejected should contact the Financial Aid Office.
Next Step: Verification