Virtual Financial Aid Office
The Office of Financial Aid is pleased to provide the Virtual Financial Aid Office! We will be hosting Zoom meetings (see below for days and times) to answer your general inquiries
Virtual FA office hours will take place:
As of August 16th, 2021 - Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Virtual Office services will be closed from 1pm-2pm. Students do not need an appointment as these are walk-in hours to assist with any general financial aid questions.
How it Works
An Important note about ZOOM Accounts
All students, continuing and prospective, are required to have a ZOOM account to be able to login to the Virtual Financial Aid Office. Continuing students should use their CUNY ZOOM account and prospective or recently admitted students will need to have a personal zoom account (see the instructions below). For quality assurance purposes and for protection of your privacy we strongly recommend that you use your own ZOOM account and do not login with a friend’s or relative’s ZOOM account.
Due to current security settings and requirements you will need to login to ZOOM using your CUNYfirst Single Sign On (SSO) credentials or, if you are a prospective or recently admitted student and do not yet have a CUNY ZOOM account, your personal ZOOM account before you will be able to access the Virtual Financial Aid Office ZOOM session. This is a layer of security that is required by the university and it is there to protect students and prevent zoom bombing. Please see the "Visit the Virtual Financial Aid Office" section below for steps on how to access the ZOOM session for continuing and prospective students.
After you have logged into ZOOM with your CUNYfirst SSO credentials or personal ZOOM account you will be able to access the ZOOM session by clicking on the link below. Once you have entered the waiting room, please enter only your EMPLID in the chat. This will allow the meeting host to queue students in the order in which they have entered the waiting room. Each student will then be assigned to a breakout room for a maximum of 10 minutes to speak with a financial aid representative about general inquiries such as finding about financial aid that is available, help with financial aid “To-Do” list items, and reviewing pending aid. More specific inquiries may have to be referred to an appointment with a financial aid advisor for further assistance.
Visit the Virtual Financial Aid Office
Instructions for Current and Continuing Students
Step 2: Access the session here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85404771805?pwd=Y0hURGtqVXhTUDZPR1ZVWjJObmpydz09
Instructions for Prospective and Recently Admitted Students without a CUNY ZOOM Account
Step 1: Since you do not yet have a CUNY ZOOM account, if you do not yet have a personal ZOOM account, using your personal email address create a free one at https://zoom.us/freesignup/
Step 2: Access the session here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85404771805?pwd=Y0hURGtqVXhTUDZPR1ZVWjJObmpydz09
A Note to Parents and Guidance Counselors
The Virtual Office of Financial Aid is open to prospective and continuing students who have questions related to their financial aid record or general financing questions. Both the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 as amended prohibit any staff member within the Office of Financial Aid from disclosing any specific information about a student’s record or information about an FAFSA applicant to anyone but the student or applicant (unless documented authorization is on file). Therefore, parents or guidance counselors seeking information on behalf of student’s or applicants can only be given general information unless the student/applicant is present with you thereby giving their consent to disclose such information.
Additional Resources
A considerable amount of general information is available online at the links below. We encourage you to visit them for additional information:
- Federal Student Aid Portal – A one stop location for information about Federal Student Financial Aid Programs and for FAFSA filing.
- NY State Higher Education Services Corporation Paying For College Page – Has considerable information about NY State Financial Aid programs such as TAP, APTS, Excelsior Scholarship and other programs.
- The Brooklyn College Office of Financial Aid Webpage (some highlights are below):
A Note to Entities and Agencies External to the University
If you are acting on behalf of an entity, agency, organization etc. that is seeking to contact the Office of Financial Aid for an inquiry please do not use the Virtual Financial Aid Office, as that is a student only service. Instead, please visit our Contact Page for more information on whom to contact.
