1. Request a PIN from the Department of Education at www.pin.ed.gov. Do this one time only. If you lose your PIN, you can request a duplicate. Use the same PIN every year.

2. Complete the pre-application worksheets, collecting all needed documents such as tax forms. This application can be found in the Financial Aid Office, or online at FAFSA on the web.

Note: If you did not save copies of your tax returns, you can request copies from the IRS at the link below.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=110571,00.html

3. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

-For speed and accuracy, we HIGHLY recommend completing the online FAFSA.

4. On the FAFSA, list BYU-Hawaii as a school of choice (code 001606).

5. Submit the FAFSA online or by mail.

-If you are an independent student, using the PIN obtained from the Department of Education will eliminate the need to send in a signature page. If you are dependent, both you and your parents can obtain a PIN, also eliminating any need to mail in a signature page.

-If you choose to submit the FAFSA online, and NOT use a PIN, don't forget to mail the signature page as soon as possible (within two or three days) or you will have to resubmit the FAFSA.

6. If you are applying for a PLUS Loan only, you do not need to complete the FAFSA, but it is recommended.

-Online FAFSA without an email address: 2 - 3 weeks.

-Hardcopy FAFSA mailed with an included email address: 2 - 4 weeks.

-Hardcopy FAFSA mailed without an included email address: 3 - 4 weeks.

2. After receiving the SAR, review it to make sure the information is correct. If it is, do nothing.

-If it is not correct and you submitted your FAFSA online, make corrections online.

-If it is not correct and you submitted a hardcopy version of the FAFSA, make the corrections on the SAR, sign it, and mail it back to the FAFSA address provided.

-And you submitted it online, make corrections online.

-And you submitted a hardcopy version, make the corrections, sign it, and mail it to BYU-Hawaii Federal Aid, not the Federal Processor. We will process the changes electronically, which will save time.

4. Whether your FAFSA is processed and complete or it has been rejected, you will hear from BYU-Hawaii by email (using the email address listed on the FAFSA) within a few days of our office receiving your electronic SAR. If you did not include an email address with your FAFSA, we will mail a letter to you within two weeks of receiving your SAR.

Once we have your valid SAR we may ask for additional information from students and parents. Approximately one-third of applications are selected for verification. Students whose applications are verified are required to turn in a verification worksheet, along with tax forms, and other documents we may ask for.

As a result of verification, one of two things will happen:

-Your Federal Aid application is completed and we will determine the amount of Pell Grant and/or Stafford Loan funds you are eligible for.

-We will request corrections to your SAR because of discrepancies found during verification. These would be discrepancies between the original FAFSA data you submitted and the verification information you have provided to us. Corrections to the SAR generally take an additional three to five business days. When the correction process is completed, we are able to process your Federal Aid awards.

• Pell Grant: The amount of Pell Grant that you are eligible for will be determined by the EFC (expected family contribution).  You can check the status of your Federal Aid by logging in to my.byuh.edu.
  
  
• Stafford Loan: In order to finalize a stafford loan, you need to do the following.

-Complete and submit a BYUH Loan Request Form (17k PDF). Subsidized Stafford loans will be awarded automatically if you indicated on the FAFSA you were interested in Stafford loans.  Later you can Accept/Decline/Reduce the amount on Self Service and my.byuh.edu.  If you would like an additional unsubsidized Stafford loan, you will need to complete a Loan Request Form.

-If you are a first time borrower, you will need to do the following:

-Complete Entrance Counseling

-Choose a lender from our preferred lender list (if you would like a different lender, please see the financial aid office)

-Complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) after the above have been completed (we will email a link to the student to sign the promissory note online.)