College of Professional Studies

To apply for financial aid, please adhere to the following process:

• 2020-2021 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

If you are selected for the verification process, you will also need to submit the following to the Office of Financial Assistance:

• If a dependent student, as determined by the FAFSA criteria:

1.  2020-2021 Dependent Verification Worksheet     
   
2. Signed copies of custodial parents'/stepparents' 2018 US Federal or Puerto Rican Tax Returns, including all schedules (if filed), and/or all 2018 1099 or 1099R Forms
3. Signed copies of the student’s 2018 US Federal Puerto Rican Tax Returns, including all schedules (if filed), and/or 1099 or 1099R Forms
   • If student did not file a 2018 Tax Return, student will need to complete the Student Non-Tax Filer Statement

• If an independent student, as determined by the FAFSA criteria:

1.  2020-2021 Independent Verification Worksheet
   
2.  Signed copies of the student’s (and spouse's if applicable) 2018 US Federal or Puerto Rico Tax Returns, including all schedules (if filed), and all 2018 W-2 and/or 1099 or 1099R forms
   • If student did not file a 2018 Tax Return, student will need to complete the Student Non-Tax Filer Statement

*To complete verification, students and parents are strongly encouraged to use the IRS Tax Data Retrieval Tool when filling out the FAFSA. If you are not eligible for the DRT, please request an official IRS tax transcript.  Please view the Federal Verification Process for more information regarding completing this federal requirement.

Please Note: The documentation mentioned above is ONLY required if you are selected for the verification process.  You can determine if you are required to submit these documents by viewing your outstanding requirements via MyNova account.

By using the above documentation that we receive from you, the Office of Financial Assistance will verify your information.  If a discrepancy or conflicting information is found, we may need additional documents from you to complete the verification process.  Our office will notify you in writing if an item is missing or incomplete in order to complete this review. 

All documents can be submitted to the Office of Financial Assistance via our Secure Dropbox.

All undergraduate students who file a FAFSA may be eligible to borrow Federal Direct Loans, which can be subsidized and/or unsubsidized.  Direct Subsidized Loans are available to students who demonstrate financial need while the Direct Unsubsidized Loans are awarded to students regardless of financial need.

First-time undergraduate students who file a FAFSA are reviewed for the following forms of aid:

• Federal Pell Grant, for exceptional financial need
• PHEAA State Grant, for PA residents with demonstrated financial need

The Office of Financial Assistance will notify you of your loan and/or grant eligibility in the financial aid award letter we send to you.

In accordance with the regulations governing Federal Student Aid, students who are enrolled in pre-requisite or preparatory coursework for admission into a degree-seeking undergraduate or graduate degree are eligible for a limited amount of Federal Direct Loans.  A preparatory course of study is considered to be at the undergraduate level, and so the annual loan limits for a student enrolled in a preparatory course of study are the same as the limits for a first-time undergraduate student, even if the coursework is at the graduate level.  Please note that per federal guidelines, students can only qualify for Federal Direct Loan funding for Pre-Requisite Coursework ONCE.

A student enrolled in a preparatory course of study is only eligible for funding from the Direct Loan Program and for no more than 12 consecutive months.  If the student continues enrollment in a preparatory course of study that exceeds 12 consecutive months, the student ceases to be eligible for Direct Loans after the 12-month period.

If you are a student enrolled in at least 6 credits per semester in pre-requisite or preparatory coursework at Villanova University, and are interested in borrowing a Federal Direct Loan, the student will need to provide the following information to the Office of Financial Assistance

• A signed letter from the student confirming that they have never used Federal Direct Loan funding for Pre-Requisite Coursework
•  A signed letter from the degree-seeking program you will be attending confirming the courses you are taking at Villanova University are required to be completed before granting admission/enrollment into the program. The letter provided must specifically state which courses you are taking at Villanova.

The signed letters can be submitted to the Office of Financial Assistance via our Secure Dropbox.  Please allow approximately 2 weeks for the documents to be reviewed and your Federal Direct Loan eligibility to be determined.

The Federal Direct Loan funding can only be used to cover the courses required to be completed as Pre-Requisite/Preparatory coursework; you are not able to take additional courses to meet the 6 credits enrollment requirement.

If you are a new or returning undergraduate student in the College of Professional Studies who plans to enroll for at least 6 credits during the summer sessions, please notify the Office of Financial Assistance in writing by sending an email to finaidloan@villanova.edu from your email account. 

Please Note: To have your Federal Direct Loans secured for the summer term, the Office of Financial Assistance needs to be notified in advance of the start of the summer sessions.  We are unable to retroactively award Federal Direct Loans for the summer term once the summer sessions have concluded.