Change in Financial Need: Special Circumstance: Crookston

A student, whose financial situation has changed substantially during the year or since completing the federal aid application, can submit a Special Circumstance Appeal form for reconsideration of their financial need.

Students may qualify for a revision under the following circumstances:

• Separation, Divorce or Death - the student and their spouse and/or parents have become separated, divorced, or when their spouse or parent has died since filing the annual Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

• Loss of Employment - the student and/or spouse and/or parents earned money last year and have had a reduction in hours or have lost employment for at least 10 weeks this year that resulted in a reduction of wages. Ten weeks must have passed prior to submission of this appeal for either circumstance.

• One-Time Income - the student and/or spouse and/or parent received one-time income in last year that will not occur this year (e.g. rollover into Roth IRA, moving expense allowance, back-year social security payments, or a divorce settlement). Special consideration will not be given if this one-time income is a result of an inheritance, gambling winnings, pension, capital gain, insurance settlement, or early distribution of retirement accounts.

• Medical Care Expenses - (This only includes expenses already paid directly by the student, spouse or parent, not pending to be paid expenses.) Student and/or spouse or parent has paid for unusual or unexpected medical expenses for a member of their household that are not reimbursed. These expenses are over and above typical health maintenance costs due to an unexpected, extraordinary or nonrecurring emergency or incident. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships assumes that the student and their family members will have insurance coverage.  Only those costs not covered by insurance or another agency may be considered.

NOTE: the payment of insurance premiums, regular health maintenance and routine expenses such as eyeglasses and elective cosmetic procedure (e.g. orthodontic braces) are not considered unusual medical expenses and will not be considered for the Revision Request.

• Tuition Expenses for Elementary or Secondary Education - the student and/or spouse and /or parents pay elementary or secondary school tuition for a member of their family during this year. Only expenses not covered or reimbursed by another agency/source will be considered. Also, only tuition incurred during this year will be considered.

• Parent in College - The University will look at the amount that a parent is spending for tuition for classes that they are taking in a degree program at a postsecondary institution on case by case basis, such as: a parent who loses their job, or a parent who is involuntarily unemployed and needs to go through retraining, or an employer who requires the employee to be in college. If the college costs are being provided by the employer or an agency such as Job Training, the parent is not counted as a college student.

Financial aid programs do not cover costs associated with life-style choices or consumer indebtedness (house payments, selling of house, owning or operating a car, living without roommates, credit card purchases, etc.).