APPLY FOR FINANCIAL AID

To be eligible for most types of financial aid, students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Oregon Student Aid Application (ORSAA). These applications compile financial information and other details about students and families, which the US Department of Education and the State of Oregon use to determine financial need and eligibility for various financial aid opportunities.

SOU’s school code is “003219” when completing your application. Please see below for important information on the delayed 2024-2025 FAFSA/ORSAA and the timeline for financial aid offers.

Who files the FAFSA? United States citizens and eligible noncitizens.

• The FAFSA opens October 1. You must reapply each academic year for financial aid.
• If this is your first time completing a FAFSA, you must create an FSA ID in order to sign your application. You and one of your parents (if you are a dependent undergraduate student) must sign your FAFSA electronically with your FSA IDs before the application can be fully processed.
• You should receive your Student Aid Report (SAR) Information Acknowledgment in the mail and/or email within one week of completing your FAFSA. Your SAR summarizes the information you reported on your FAFSA. Review the SAR for accuracy. If corrections need to be made, make the corrections online at studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa or correct the SAR and mail it to the address provided.
• The Office of Financial Aid at SOU begins processing new FAFSA data in December of each year. Award packages will be processed tentatively beginning on or before February 1 of each year. Students will receive offer notifications via SOU student email. Students who meet the priority deadline date will have their awards packaged first.
• SOU must receive your FAFSA by your last date of enrollment.

2025-2026 FAFSA/ORSAA Information

The new FAFSA/ORSAA form for the Fall 2025 – Spring 2026 academic year will have a soft launch by December 31st, 2024 on studentaid.gov. The opening date has not been announced at this time. We will update this website as more information is available. Please review the below information for the current academic year.

2024-2025 FAFSA/ORSAA Information

The new FAFSA/ORSAA form for the Fall 2024 – Spring 2025 academic year will have a soft launch by December 31st, 2023 on studentaid.gov. The opening date has not been announced at this time.

A few highlights from the changes that will impact students:

• Students and families will measure their ability to pay for college using the Student Aid Index (SAI) instead of the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

• Federal Pell Grant eligibility will expand to more students!

• Financial aid eligibility will be calculated using Federal Tax Information received directly from the IRS. There are also new regulations on FAFSA data sharing that may impact your area. We will provide you with more information as it becomes available.

During the soft launch period, the Department of Education will be monitoring site performance, conducting planned pauses for maintenance, and making updates to improve the user experience. A few things to note about this soft launch:

• Contributors (the student, parent, student’s spouse, or parent’s spouse), including those without a Social Security number (SSN), will be able to create a StudentAid.gov account to access and complete the online FAFSA form. Contributors who already have a verified account username and password will use their existing credentials to sign in and access the form.

• Applicants may experience a waiting room feature, which will help control website volumes to ensure optimal performance of the form.

• If a student completes their form during the soft launch period, their information will be stored for processing. They do NOT need to return to resubmit their application after the soft launch concludes. 

After all sections of the online FAFSA form are completed and submitted, the student will receive a confirmation email noting their submission date, their estimated Student Aid Index (SAI), and estimated Federal Pell Grant eligibility. However, the student will not receive a FAFSA Submission Summary until Federal Student Aid processes the FAFSA, beginning in late January. 

SOU will not receive FAFSA information for students until the end of January/early February 2024. SOU may not receive ORSAA information for students until April/May 2024. Financial Aid offers will be available during the Spring 2024 term but may not include Oregon State Aid information due to this delay.

We will continue to monitor the status of the FAFSA/ORSAA opening date closely. We know that submitting a FAFSA/ORSAA as early as possible is important to being able to attend. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will send additional notifications and reminders once the FAFSA/ORSAA becomes available. For more information about these FAFSA changes and what students can do to prepare visit https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/fafsa–support

Any questions regarding the FAFSA can be directed to https://studentaid.gov/help-center/contact

For more information about the ORSAA visit https://oregonstudentaid.gov/fafsa-orsaa/fafsaorsaa-information/