The Appeal Process
- File your FAFSA and list the Brooklyn College school code 002687 on the application.
- Log on to BC WebCentral and schedule an initial in-person consultation appointment with a financial aid adviser.
- During this 15-minute appointment, the adviser will discuss the criteria for the appeal you are considering and determine whether or not your circumstances meet the appeal criteria.
- If you do not meet the appeal criteria, an explanation of applicable criteria will be provided and other financing options will be discussed.
- If the adviser determines that your circumstances meet the appeal criteria, he or she will provide you with the relevant appeal form(s), which includes instructions for obtaining required documentation.
- The adviser will counsel you on the appeal process and will provide you with a required document checklist indicating the required documentation and an appointment summary of your meeting so that you know what steps are necessary to proceed with your appeal.
- Your adviser will schedule with you a 30-minute in-person follow-up appointment within one to three weeks from your initial appointment to allow you time to gather the appropriate documentation and return for appeal submission.
- Bring the documentation and first meeting appointment summary to your 30-minute in-person follow-up appointment.
- Your adviser will review the documentation to determine whether or not it is adequate to be used, in his or her professional judgment, for the type of appeal you are submitting.
- Important: If the documentation you provide is outdated, unclear, unsigned where applicable, does not meet the criteria indicated on the appeal form, has conflicting information, or does not fully support the reason for the appeal, the adviser may request that you clarify this information or provide more recently dated or additional documentation to complete the appeal process before the documentation for appeal consideration will be considered.
- If all of the documentation appears to provide adequate support for your circumstance and meets the criteria on the appeal form, the adviser will receive the appeal and supporting documentation.
- Your assigned adviser reviews documentation, summarizes circumstances, and submits for additional review.
- The adviser will then review the documentation and will write a summary of the circumstances and his or her own professional judgment decision, which will be reviewed by the Special Circumstances/Professional Judgment (PJ) Review Unit.
- Important: The PJ Review Unit, upon further review, may also determine that additional documentation is required to complete the appeal process. If that is the case, you will be notified and will have two weeks from the date of notification to submit the additionally requested documentation. The notification will include instructions for document submission.
- Important: If the additionally requested documentation is not submitted by the stated deadline, the previously submitted documentation will be returned to you and you will need to begin the process over again from Step 2.
- Approval or Denial by the PJ Review Unit
- The PJ Review Unit will approve or deny an appeal based on the adviser's summary notes and documentation that you provided.
- If an appeal is approved, then the PJ Review unit will make the necessary FAFSA corrections or COA adjustments to reflect the changes to the FAFSA or CUNYfirst record. Note: There may be several corrections processed to a student's record if the initial FAFSA data was inaccurate.
- If an appeal is denied, the student will be notified by mail and e-mail with an explanation of why the appeal was denied.
- Turnaround Time
- The overall turnaround time for PJ review from when documents are accepted by the adviser is between three and six weeks, depending on the total volume of records received at the time of appeal submission. Turnaround times in the summer tend to be longer. Therefore, to reduce delays in processing and turnaround time, we encourage every student to carefully review the appeal form's instructions, ask questions of their adviser as needed, and make certain to review the required document checklist and appointment summary they are given in the initial visit to ensure as smooth a process as possible.
- Student Responsibility: As a student appealing for special circumstances you are responsible to ensure that the documentation you submit meets the criteria necessary to proceed with an appeal. You are also responsible to submit the documentation in a timely fashion according to any stated or published deadlines and for rescheduling an appointment if you need to cancel.
Note
Submission of an appeal does not guarantee approval.
