Financial Aid FAQs

For need-based financial aid, you must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online. Be sure to include Taylor (code 001838); and complete it by April 15 prior to the semester in which you will enroll in order to be considered for Indiana state and Taylor need-based financial aid. If you are only interested in merit aid, you do not need to submit the FAFSA.

In order to electronically sign the FAFSA, you will need to get an FSA ID. Both the student and at least one parent will need their own FSA ID. Save your FSA ID, since it can be used each year to electronically sign your FAFSA and to access your federal financial aid records online. You should not share your FSA ID, nor should your parents share their FSA IDs with anyone. If you are eligible, you will use your FSA ID to access and sign any Direct or PLUS loans you may need to apply for.

When you sign your FAFSA electronically, select your application year, enter your FSA ID, and indicate you are a student before submitting the FAFSA application. One of your parents signs electronically by selecting the application year, entering parental FSA ID, indicating they are a parent, and identifying you as the student for whom they are electronically signing.

You can always check on the status of your financial aid file either through the student portal or at our external website, myfa.taylor.edu. Use the following steps to log into your account:

1. Your User ID is listed on your hardcopy award letter and included in our email correspondence with you. If you are unable to locate your User ID, please contact our office at 765-998-5358.
2. Enter your User ID. When logging in for the first time, do not enter a password. Instead click on the “First Time User” option.
3. Re-enter your User ID and then follow the prompts to list your birthdate (including the slashes between month/day/year) and the city as listed in your permanent home address.
4. Enter and confirm your new password. Your password must contain at least 9 characters and include at least one upper and one lower case letter, at least one number, and at least one special character: !@#$%^&*(). Click the “SUBMIT” button.
5. Click the dropdown menu on the left side, and select Forms. 

You can always check on the status of your financial aid awards either through the student portal or at our external website, myfa.taylor.edu. Use the following steps to log into your account:

1. Your User ID is listed on your hardcopy award letter and included in our email correspondence with you. If you are unable to locate your User ID, please contact our office at 765-998-5358.
2. Enter your User ID. When logging in for the first time, do not enter a password. Instead click on the “First Time User” option.
3. Re-enter your User ID and then follow the prompts to list your birthdate (including the slashes between month/day/year) and the city as listed in your permanent home address.
4. Enter and confirm your new password. Your password must contain at least 9 characters and include at least one upper and one lower case letter, at least one number, and at least one special character: !@#$%^&*(). Click the “SUBMIT” button.
5. Click on the left side dropdown and choose Awards. 

Students do not always receive a better financial aid package because they are married. To determine whether it is best for you to complete your FAFSA by the April 15 filing deadline as your parent’s dependent before getting married or to wait until after you’re married and file as an independent student, you should schedule an appointment with a financial aid counselor in our office. Once the FAFSA is submitted, your marital status cannot be updated for that academic year, even if you get married later.

The Financial Aid Office uses a different budget to determine your financial aid eligibility, depending on your housing status. The housing allowance for off-campus students is approximately 80% of on campus housing & food charges. The housing allowance for students who live at home with their parents is approximately 33% of on-campus housing & food charges. Your eligibility for financial aid will be reduced accordingly. Most of the time, this only affects a student’s loan eligibility. Contact our office for specific details related to your financial aid package.

Most of the time, students in study abroad programs are billed as though they were on campus in terms of housing costs so we use an on campus budget in determining their financial aid eligibility.

All institutional aid and Indiana state aid programs require a student to be enrolled full-time (at least 12 credit hours). Exceptions are made and institutional aid is prorated for graduating seniors who do not need a full load in order to complete their degree requirements. The Federal Pell Grant is the only source of aid available for students enrolled less than six hours (these students will also begin to use their grace period or go into repayment of their federal loans).

Taylor’s costs are published annually in the Tuition and Fee Schedule. This publication is available from the Student Accounts Office and is also available online. We encourage you to use our Payment Planner form to help you determine what your actual payment will be after financial aid sources are subtracted from your costs.

Taylor University’s policy is electronic billing; paper copies are not sent by U.S. mail as statements may be printed from the online billing site. Fall billing information is posted in mid-July and due August 20. Interterm and/or spring billing is posted in mid-December and is due January 20. Students may access their e-bill and other account information through the my.taylor.edu student dashboard. Choose TouchNet Online Billing and Payments—Student Accounts Office.

An e-mail will be sent to the student’s e-mail address when a new statement is ready to view and it is the student’s responsibility to access the online billing to keep informed of their account. The notification e-mail will be copied to their parents’ e-mail if the parent has been set up as an authorized user by the student. The parent will not be e-mailed unless the student completes the online authorized user information. This is separate from TOWER proxy or myfa.taylor.edu.

Most of your financial aid will be posted to your student account approximately 2 weeks after the semester starts (a few days after the drop/add classes changes have been processed). This includes Taylor grants & scholarships, federal grants, state grants, as well as the Federal Stafford and PLUS Loans (assuming the appropriate promissory note has been signed electronically). Alternative student loans will be posted when the funds are actually received via EFT or check. Scholarships from private foundations or organizations will be posted when the actual check is received in the Student Accounts Office.

You can make a full payment by the due date with check, cash, money order, or online at the secure billing site by electronic check or credit card. Payment plans are available for enrollment at the billing site.

Federal work study earnings are paid directly to the student through student payroll. It is generally recommended that students use their earnings for their miscellaneous and personal expenses throughout the year and not consider FWS toward the payment due each semester. If you are working on campus and wish to apply your earnings to your student account in payment of charges, you must contact Student Accounts to request the FWS payment plan. This payment plan requires online enrollment that will withdraw the authorized payment each pay period from the bank account to which the FWS earnings are deposited. Therefore, a student must have secured a job and begun working before enrollment in the plan can occur.

Taylor charges a monthly penalty on late payments. Any account balance not paid by the due date when first billed or deferred with a formal payment plan will be subject to a $5 late fee or interest accrued at an annual percentage rate of 13%, whichever is greater. A student’s account must be current to avoid a hold on advance registration and housing and must be paid in full for transcript and/or diploma release.

The Federal PLUS Loan is a parent loan. The parents can take out the PLUS loan in their name and they are responsible for repaying the loan. The PLUS loan has a fixed interest rate of 7.60% for the 18-19 academic year. The PLUS loan had a fixed interest rate of 7.00% for the 17-18 academic year. The interest rate for the 16-17 academic year was 6.31%. The interest rate for the 15-16 academic year was 6.84%. The interest rate for the 14-15 academic year was 7.21%.

Repayment can be deferred until after graduation or can begin within 60 days of the final disbursement for the academic year (typically at the end of March for loans taken at Taylor). The standard repayment period is 10 years. The parent may apply for the Federal PLUS Loan in the parent’s name using the FAFSA PIN and Social Security Number by going to studentaid.gov. After login, click the Request A Direct PLUS Loan link.

The student may apply for the Federal Stafford Loan in the student’s name by going to myfa.taylor.edu. You will need to complete Step 1, which is a request under the “Apply Online” tab. If you are a first-time borrower, you will need to complete entrance counseling, which is Step 2, as part of the loan application process. First-time borrowers should allow approximately 30-45 minutes to complete the entrance counseling and loan application process. Step 3 is the master promissory note (MPN). It is a legal loan document and must be e-signed by the student borrower. A link to both the entrance counseling and master promissory note can be found under the “Documents” tab.

For the subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, the federal government pays the interest on the loan while you are in school or drop below half-time status. You are not responsible for any interest on the loan while in school at least half-time. For the unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan, you are responsible for the interest on the loan from the date that loan funds are disbursed. While you are in school, you can choose to pay the interest on a quarterly basis or you can choose to have the interest capitalized, or added to the loan principal. If you choose this option, you will pay more overall since you will be paying interest on interest when you begin repayment of the loan principal six months after you graduate or drop below half-time status.

Be wary of any loan offer that you do not initiate. Direct to Consumer Loans are generally unsolicited loan offers sent directly to the student or parent. These loans have higher fees and higher interest rates than the federal loan programs, and most likely higher than other school certified alternative loans.

IMPORTANT NOTE: DTC loans typically do not require school certification; however, once the school is aware of the loan the school is required to include the amount as a resource and this loan will reduce eligibility for more desirable federal, state and institutional aid programs, including the loss of grant aid. It is always wise to contact the Financial Aid Office at 765-998-5358 before pursuing an educational loan such as an alternative loan or a Direct to Consumer Loan.

The Federal PLUS Loan is a parent loan. The parents can take out the PLUS loan in their name and they are responsible for repaying the loan. The PLUS loan has a fixed interest rate of 7.60% for the 18-19 academic year. The PLUS loan had a fixed interest rate of 7.00% for the 17-18 academic year. The interest rate for the 16-17 academic year was 6.31%. The interest rate for the 15-16 academic year was 6.84%. The interest rate for the 14-15 academic year was 7.21%.

Repayment can be deferred until after graduation or can begin within 60 days of the final disbursement for the academic year (typically at the end of March for loans taken at Taylor). The standard repayment period is 10 years. The parent may apply for the Federal PLUS Loan in the parent’s name using the FAFSA PIN and Social Security Number by going to studentaid.gov. After login, click the Request A Direct PLUS Loan link.

The Federal Stafford Loan is awarded to those students who file the FAFSA form. Repayment of the Federal Stafford Loan begins 6 months after graduation or the student drops below half-time status and the standard repayment period is 10 years. The maximum loan eligibility depends on the student’s grade level. Freshmen can receive up to $3,500, sophomores can receive up to $4,500, and juniors and seniors can receive up to $5,500. This base amount of loan may be split between subsidized and unsubsidized loans based on the financial need of the student. Additionally, all students are eligible to borrow an additional $2,000 unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan per year.

The Federal Stafford Loan consists of the subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

• Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan: The subsidized loan is available to students with financial need based on the FAFSA calculation. The interest rate for the 18-19 academic year has a fixed rate of 5.05%. The interest rate for the 17-18 academic year is a fixed rate of 4.45%. The 16-17 academic year has a fixed rate of 3.76%, the 15-16 academic year has a fixed rate of 4.29%, and the 14-15 academic year has a fixed rate of 4.66%.
• Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan: The unsubsidized loan is not based on need but a FAFSA is required to determine the student’s need level. The interest rate for the 18-19 academic year has a fixed rate of 5.05%. The interest rate for the 17-18 academic year is a fixed rate of 4.45%. The 16-17 academic year has a fixed rate of 3.76%, the 15-16 academic year has a fixed rate of 4.29%, and the 14-15 academic year has a fixed rate of 4.66%.

For the class of 2020, 57% of graduates borrowed from at least one student loan program (Taylor Loan, Federal Stafford Loan, and/or alternative student loan) for a total average indebtedness of $27,487. The national average for private colleges is $28,950 with 62% of the class with debt.

Only you can determine how much you can afford to borrow to cover your educational costs. Generally, financial planners recommend that you borrow no more than your anticipated annual first year salary or that your anticipated monthly loan repayment not exceed 8-10% of your anticipated monthly take-home pay. There are loan interest and repayment calculators at studentaid.gov to assist you in your financial planning.

Taylor University participates in the Direct Loan Program. The Federal Government is your lender. There are several steps you may be required to do for each loan, so make sure you read and follow the instructions associated with each loan.

You may apply by following the link associated with each loan at myfa.taylor.edu. Taylor University electronically transmits loan data and receives your loan disbursements via EFT through the Direct Loan Program. The Student Accounts Office will email a receipt once the funds have been credited to your student account.

“Verification” is a process that requires all colleges and universities participating in federal student aid programs to ‘verify’ or confirm that the data provided on the FAFSA form about family and finances is correct.

Sometimes factors related to the FAFSA form can ‘trigger’ a request for verification. For example, if there are problems that keep the FAFSA from being processed properly, or if some of the financial data reported by a family is outside expected parameters, the government may ask us to verify the records. Also, we as a school may see something that we need verified. Other times, the selection may be completely random. Overall, about 30% of all student records are selected for verification.

The verification process requires us to collect documents that confirm the FAFSA data regarding your family and your finances. This includes IRS tax transcripts for both you and your parents (if you are a dependent student) or your spouse (if you are married) unless you use the IRS data retrieval process when completing or updating your FAFSA. We’ll also need a Verification Worksheet (found on our website). If you happen to be one of those families selected for verification, you will usually be notified on your Student Aid Report (SAR) which can be viewed after you submit your FAFSA.

If your SAR indicates you have been selected for verification, you can expedite the process if you click on the “Forms” tab of this website to print off the applicable (dependent or independent) Verification Worksheet, complete, sign, and send it to us as soon as possible. If you didn’t use the IRS data retrieval process when completing the FAFSA, be sure to go back to the FAFSA website and do it a few weeks after you’ve filed your income tax return. We’ll need all of this information in order to complete your financial aid package. We’ll send you an email requesting additional information and/or directing you to use the IRS data retrieval process if the verification worksheet has not been received when your file is reviewed.

It depends. If the figures on the documentation you submit match the figures on the FAFSA form, there will be no impact at all on your aid. If the figures don’t match exactly, your need-based aid could increase or decrease depending on the exact differences found. Either way, since the figures involved are being confirmed, your aid will be correct once verification takes place.

If you have not already submitted the verification worksheet and documents requested, we will send you an email, telling you what we need to complete your aid package. The sooner you submit these forms, the sooner we’ll be able to tell you exactly what aid to expect.

Not necessarily. Keep in mind that the government puts billions of dollars into the programs providing financial aid to college students. It’s understandable that they’d want to check some records to be sure the dollars are being used properly.