Gustavus Adolphus College

Gustavus Adolphus College offers grants to students who demonstrate financial eligibility by filing the FAFSA and Gustavus Financial Aid Supplement form. The grants include: Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG), Minnesota State Grants, and Gustavus Grants. They do not need to be repaid. Grants are made to students who demonstrate financial eligibility based on information provided on the FAFSA.

• Pell Grants are funded by the federal government and range from $400 to $4,731. Recipients are chosen according to a standardized federal formula that determines eligibility based on information provided on the FASFA.
  
  
• Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG) are awarded to students with highest need, generally a student who is Pell eligible. Gustavus selects the recipients of this federal funding based on the information provided on the FAFSA.
  Maximum award is $625 and grant is dependent on federal funding available for the academic year.
• Federal TEACH grant provides up to $4,000 a year in grants to students who are willing to commit to teach full time in a high-need field at a low income school.

  If you do not complete the four-year teaching obligation, this grant will convert to an unsubsidized direct loan

  To avoid repaying the TEACH Grant you must:

  • Complete the requirements outlined in the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve.

  • Be a highly-qualified, full-time teacher .

  • Obtain an education degree in a high-need subject area.

  • Complete four years of teaching within eight years of graduation at a school serving low-income students.

  More details can be found on Federal Student Aid's TEACH Fact Sheet

• Federal SMART Grant is available during the third and fourth years of undergraduate study to full-time students who are eligible for the Federal Pell Grant and who are majoring in physical, life, or computer sciences, mathematics, technology, or engineering or in a foreign language determined critical to national security. The student must also be enrolled in the courses necessary to complete the degree program and to fulfill the requirements of the intended eligible major in addition to maintaining a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 in coursework required for the major. The National SMART Grant award is in addition to the student's Pell Grant award.
• Federal ACG Grant provides up to $750 for the first year of undergraduate study and up to $1,300 for the second year of undergraduate study. More details can be found on the federal student aid website.
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• Minnesota State Grants are awarded to Minnesota residents who graduate from a Minnesota high school and who demonstrate financial need. Recipients must complete the FAFSA to be considered for state grant money, be enrolled as a full-time student, and registered for a minimum of 3.75 courses per semester to receive full funding. Your FAFSA must be filed no later than October 1, 2008 in order to receive full state grant funding in addition to meeting the enrollment requirements.
  
  
• Gustavus Tuition Grants are awarded to students who demonstrate financial eligibility, whose total eligibility cannot be met through other sources.
  

Enrollment Criteria for Financial Aid

Students must be enrolled full time in order to receive their full aid eligibility. Full time status for federal and institutional aid is 3.0 credits per semester. To receive full state grant assistance, a student must be enrolled for 3.75 credits per semester. All students must be making satisfactory academic progress in order to receive federal and state assistance. View the Gustavus Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards.

Part time enrollment is allowed at Gustavus. Your financial aid will be adjusted according to your enrollment status.

3.0 or more credits per semester = full financial assistance (3.75 for full state grant eligibility)

2.5 to less than 3.0 = 3/4 proration of institutional aid; state and federal aid adjusted per state/federal regulations.

1.5 to less than 2.5 = 1/2 proration of institutional aid; state and federal aid adjusted per state/federal regulations.

less than 1.5 is less than half time enrollment. No financial aid will be offered.

Verification Policies & Procedures for Federal Student Aid Applications

An applicant will be required to verify, or validate by documentation, application information, if the application is selected for verification in the federal processing and edit systems, or if the Student Financial Assistance Office has reason to believe that any application information critical to the calculation of the student's expected family contribution (EFC) is inaccurate, or is in conflict with other information.

Required documents for federal or institutional verification: 

• 2008-2009 Verification Worksheet
• Signed copy of parent(s)' 2007 federal tax return
• Parent(s)' 2007 W-2 statement(s)
• Signed copy of student's 2007 federal tax return
• Student's W-2 statement(s)
• If the student is a non filer, submit W-2 statement(s) and check the non filer section on the verification worksheet

If an application is selected for verification, the Office of Student Financial Assistance will give notice to the applicant. The notice will specify what items of information must be verified and will detail what documents and procedures are required for verification. It will also specify the time period within which the applicant shall provide the required documentation, and will advise the applicant of the consequences of the applicant's failure to comply within the specified period.

The time period granted to the applicant for completion of required documentation may vary with the complexity of the requirements and with the time remaining in the school term for which funding is sought. Normally, the student is afforded 45 days from the request date to provide verification documents. Overall, the deadline for submission of verification documents must be at least 30 days prior to the end of the school term for which funding is sought and to allow for processing (and correction if needed) before the end of the term.

Should the applicant fail to provide required documentation within the specified time period, the application is considered invalid and the applicant will forfeit eligibility for assistance from the federal Title IV student aid programs for the program year for which the invalid application was filed.

If the verification documents provided within the specified time period confirm the accuracy of all application items requiring verification, the application is finalized and, if all other requirements have been met, a letter is sent to notify the applicant. If the verification documents reveal inaccuracies in the application the SAR/ISIR will be corrected and submitted electronically. If incomplete or inadequate verification documents are submitted, the applicant is notified of deficiencies and instructed on how to correct them.

Should review of an application for Title IV student aid indicate that the applicant may have engaged in fraud or other criminal misconduct in connection with his/her application, the Office of Student Financial Assistance must refer the student for investigation on all relevant information to the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Education. Examples of such information include (but not limited to) false claims of independent student status, false claims of citizenship, use of false identities, forgery of signatures or certificates and false statements of income.

What is a named scholarship?

Gustavus provides almost $23 million annually in merit scholarships and need based grants to students. We are able to provide this level of assistance because of the generous contributions made by our generous friends and alumni.  If a student is selected to be a recipient of a named scholarship, the Gustavus tuition grant or merit scholarship may not be listed or will be listed as honorary on an award notification.  In its place, the named fund would be listed on the award.  Listed below is a sample listing of the many scholarships funded by those contributions:

• Dr. Frank Nelson Scholarship
• George and Mary Jane Patchin
• A.Y. Peterson Scholarship
• Allis Educational Foundation Scholarship
• Victor Beck Scholarship
• Cargill Foundation Scholarship
• Class of 1943 Scholarship
• First National Bank Scholarship
• Greater Gustavus Scholarship
• Clifford Hoy Scholarship
• Hickory Tech Scholarship
• Alfred Henderson Scholarship
• ING Foundation Scholarship
• Lutheran Brotherhood Endowed Scholarship

You can help this tradition of financial support for our scholarship budget.  If you are a recipient of a named fund, please write a thank you letter and submit to Ann Johnson via email.  Our donors would love to hear from you.