Financial Aid Timeline for Incoming Freshmen

Junior year in high school; summer before, and fall of senior year

• Visit and gather information from colleges that interest you. Ask for a breakdown of all college costs. Inquire about the types and amounts of financial aid available to a student such as yourself. Find out how to apply for any aid or scholarships that you are interested in, and the deadline by which you must apply. Learn when you will be notified of any aid you have been awarded. Make notes of this information for yourself and your parents, and then create a schedule of scholarship and financial aid deadlines.

September, October, November of senior year

• Attend a financial aid night at your high school, local college, or local or regional college fair.
• Pay a second visit to the colleges that most interest you. Clarion University offers a number of special visit programs throughout the year. Click here to visit the admissions office visit page. These visit programs often include a presentation by a financial aid officer, and/or an opportunity for you or your parents to meet with a financial aid advisor face-to-face. During this second visit, ask any questions you forgot to ask on your first visit.
• Apply for admissions to your top choice colleges.

December, January, February of senior year

• After you and your parents complete your tax returns, file your FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov,  Clarion’s Title IV school code is 003318.
• Parents and students can apply for a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from the U.S. Dept. of Education on-line at www.pin.ed.gov. The PIN allows you (parents and students) to electronically “sign” your FAFSA when you apply on-line. It also allows the student to check the status of the FAFSA once it is filed (after January 1st), make corrections on-line, print a copy of the Student Aid Report (the report you get when you file your FAFSA), access federal student aid information on-line, and electronically “sign” your Master Promissory Note (application for a student loan).
• Please keep in mind that one of the criteria for some Clarion University Scholarships is financial need. Information from the FAFSA is used to determine financial need, so those seeking scholarship aid in particular are encouraged to file the FAFSA during this time period.
• Visit the financial aid section of Clarion University’s website.
• Glance through the section on “Scholarships,” to see if you meet the criteria for any of the listed scholarships. Apply for any scholarships in which you are interested. You may also want to check out www.FastWeb.com, a free national searchable scholarship data base.

March, April of senior year

• If you filed your FAFSA at least three weeks ago, you should receive a Student Aid Report (SAR). If you filed the paper version, you will receive the SAR by mail. If you filed electronically, you will receive an SAR via e-mail.
• Incoming freshmen who filed the FAFSA and who indicated Clarion University as a recipient of their information will receive estimated financial aid award letters in the mail.
• The deadlines for many Clarion University scholarships are either March 1 or April 1. If you have not already applied for a scholarship in which you are interested, now is the time to do so.
• If you plan to attend, or currently attend, the Venango campus of Clarion University in Oil City, Pa, you are encouraged to contact LaTrobe Barnitz at 814-676-6591 to apply for all Venango campus scholarships with one application form.
• About 30% of FAFSA applicants are selected for federal or state verification. If you are selected, you will receive notice by mail. We ask you to send in copies of your latest federal tax return, and other supporting documents. The more quickly you respond to this request, the faster we can process your financial aid.

May, June, July prior to entering college

• If you are interested in a student loan, please fill out a Master Promissory Note (MPN). You can obtain a paper version from any bank, credit union, or savings and loan association, or you can file on-line at www.aessuccess.org.
• By July, the PA state board of governors has usually established tuitione for the upcoming year at State System schools. Parents and students can receive final cost figures at summer orientation, or on our website.
• By subtracting your estimated financial aid from the University’s official cost figures, you and your parents can determine if you will need to apply for a Parent Plus loan (for parents to borrow for their son or daughter’s college education), a private loan, or enroll in the University’s payment plan.
• Those students who applied for scholarships receive notification letters.
• The summer orientation (Transitions) sessions scheduled over the summer are your opportunity to stop by the Office of Financial Aid, 104 Egbert Hall, to check on the status of your financial aid.

August and September

• You will receive notification that we have certified your Stafford, private, or PLUS loan (for the federal Stafford loan, this assumes that you filed a FAFSA, were not selected for/or have already completed federal verification, and have an MPN on file).
• You will also receive your fall semester bill in the mail, which is due by the first day of classes. Remember to subtract any aid-in-process, such as Stafford student loans.
• You can check on the status of your financial aid any time at Clarion’s Web for Students http://student.clarion.edu. You can also review your grades, pay your bill online, update your personal data form, access your account, and do many other things from this site. Similarly, if you submitted your Master Promissory Note (student loan application) through PHEAA, you can
• If you would like campus employment (work study job), you can look for available positions here.
  
  Scholarships for Incoming Students