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Financial Aid Review and Appeal Process

Financial aid awards may be appealed based on special circumstances. If a student wants his/her financial aid to be reviewed, the student (and if applicable, his/her parent) should complete a Letter of Appeal and submit it to the Director of Financial Aid. Additional information and documentation may be required by the Financial Aid Office.

The most common special circumstances are:

Reduced Parent/Student Income: Parents or students can appeal if current year income will be substantially less than previous year income. Common reasons for an appeal would be a loss of job, reduction in hours, disability, and divorce/separation. If you have any questions please call the Financial Aid Director (505) 566-3323.

Unusual Medical/Dental Expenses: A student may wish to appeal if the family had excessive non-reimbursed medical/dental expenses in the previous year. For documentation, the Financial Aid Office requires either a Schedule A, as filed with a federal 1040, or an itemized list of medical/dental expenses paid out of pocket in the previous year, including insurance premiums. Expenses paid by medical savings through payroll deduction (cafeteria plan) should not be reported as they have already been excluded from income.

Adjustment to the Cost of Attendance: A student's budget is based on an assumption of full-time enrollment, and adjusted based on the actual enrollment at full-time, three-quarter time, half-time, or less than half-time. The living expenses are based on the student's response to the FAFSA housing question. The student may have responded that s/he would be "living with parents" or "not living with parents". If the student did not complete the housing code, the default assumption will be "living with parents". If a student provides proper documentation, i.e., rent contract, the living allowance may be changed.