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Important Announcements

Technical Issue With the Loan Application in CUNYfirst

Due to a technical issue with the Direct Loan Application in CUNYfirst, students should not submit loan requests via the CUNYfirst platform. Administrative staff are presently unable to access the loan form to complete the processing of the application. Students who submit initial loan requests on CUNYfirst at this time will not have their loan request processed. Instead, you may submit your initial loan application using our web-based Initial Loan Form. The form is available on our Forms and Document Submission Webpage under the direct loan section.

Available Financial Aid Services Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Document Submission

Document submission for FAFSA processing for the 2022-23 academic year, except as listed below, will be accomplished through the Campus Logic Student Forms Platform. The Office of Financial Aid will continue to use  Electronic Financial Aid Dynamic Forms for loan requests, Federal Work-Study and non-FAFSA-related document submission. Additionally, staff providing limited in-person services will not accept any document submission except as follows:

• Students who are completing V4 or V5 FAFSA Verification. (Identity/Educational Purpose) 
• FAFSA signature page (for student or a parent) -cannot be submitted electronically through Campus Logic Student Forms or through Dynamic Forms.
• Requests to authorize a release of information to a third party or to obtain a breakdown of awards and/or cost of attendance.

For technical reasons the fax option is temporarily unavailable at this time.

Limited In-Person Services

The Office of Financial Aid offers limited in-person services at the Enrollment Services Center. Click here to learn more.

Virtual Financial Aid Office

The Virtual Financial Aid Office is available for remote walk-in style appointments.  Click here to learn more.

Important Changes to FAFSA Verification for the 2021-22 Academic Year

In accordance with the U.S. Department of Education's Dear Colleague Letter dated July 13, 2021, CUNY will waive most of the previous federal verification requests for income information, confirmation of household size, and the number of family members in college for the 2021-22 academic year. 

Students selected for the Verification tracking Groups V4 and V5 are still required to provide proof of identity, complete a Statement of Educational Purpose, and submit proof of High School Completion status, as necessary.

NOTE: Requests to resolve FAFSA comment codes in reference to student eligibility, conflicting information and verification for the purposes of professional judgment reviews are still valid and must also be resolved before federal Title IV aid can be administered.

Your CUNYfirst To Do List

Refer to your CUNYfirst "To Do List" in your CUNYfirst Student Center and make sure to resolve any financial aid items to ensure a smooth start for next academic year!

Meet With a Financial Aid Adviser

Schedule an appointment with a financial aid advisor to better understand your financing options.

New York State HESC Call Center

HESC has a phone appointment option available to answer questions or help with a specific issue related to your New York State financial aid application(s) (TAP, Excelsior, etc). Click here to learn more.

Important Application Dates

The 2021–2022 FAFSA and New York State Payment Application (formerly TAP application) were available as of October 1, 2020. 

2021–2022 New York State Excelsior Scholarship

The fall 2021 New York State Excelsior Scholarship application is available until August 31, 2021. Current Excelsior Scholarship recipients should not complete this application. Click here for more information about applying.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the reduction in state revenues, New York State HESC has indicated there may be changes to the administration of the Excelsior program. The full message is available on the Brooklyn College Excelsior Scholarship webpage and on the New York State HESC Excelsior Scholarship Application Webpage.

Using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on the FAFSA

We strongly encourage every applicant to make use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) on the FAFSA. Many applicants are eligible to utilize this tool, which makes it easy to transfer income and tax return data into the FAFSA directly from the IRS. Applicants who are not able to make use of the DRT can still enter income and tax return data manually to complete the FAFSA. The IRS DRT has a security precaution, which masks the data that was transferred from the IRS into your FAFSA.

An Important Note About Document Submission by E-Mail and Cybersecurity

Federal cybersecurity guidelines indicate that documents containing Personally Identifying Information (PII), such as all of the Financial Aid Office forms available on this webpage or those that may be sent to you, may not be submitted by e-mail. Document submission by e-mail is considered to be non-secure and unacceptable. All documents may be submitted through our secure online documents submission platforms Student Forms or Dynamic Forms as applicable.