The following information is only accurate for single returning students without dependents. Calculations for students who are married and/or have dependents are too complicated to outline on our website. For a general overview, see Married Students and Students with Dependent Children, and contact SFS if you have any questions.
The purpose of the information on this page is to help returning students determine how they should apply for financial aid. Because the amount of information we require to evaluate parent resources can be significant, we offer some general guidelines below to help you determine whether to apply as a need-based aid applicant or as a loan-only applicant. For loan-only applicants, only student information is required; no parent financial information is required or collected. Please bear in mind that our need analysis looks at dozens of specific data points for a typical family and we cannot guarantee the recommendations below are accurate.
You will need to know the following information before getting started:
- Your student resources (SR) from assets
- Estimated student resources (SR) from income
- HLS Determination of Need:
If you did not apply for grant assistance last year, you should review Should I apply for Grant Aid? to determine how you should apply in 2024-2025.
SHOULD I APPLY LOAN ONLY?
Are your SR from assets and estimated SR from income greater than $62,000?
YES: Apply as a Loan Only applicant.
NO: Continue to the question below.
How did you apply for financial aid last year (23-24)?
I APPLIED AS A NEED-BASED AID APPLICANT AND RECEIVED HLS GRANT.
Can you answer YES to this question?
1. Do you have fewer siblings who will be enrolled in a post-secondary education in 2024-2025 (as compared to 23-24)?
YES: You may want to consider applying as a Need-Based Aid applicant, but your HLS Grant eligibility may be reduced or null.
NO: Apply as a Need-Based Aid applicant.
I APPLIED AS A NEED-BASED AID APPLICANT, BUT I DID NOT RECEIVE HLS GRANT -OR- I APPLIED AS A LOAN-ONLY APPLICANT.
Can you answer YES to EITHER of these questions?
1. Will you have a higher number of siblings enrolled in a post-secondary education in 2024-2025 (as compared to 23-24)?
2. Will you be older than 25 as of September 1, 2024?
YES: You may want to consider applying as a Need-Based Aid applicant.
NO: Apply as a Loan Only applicant.