Your Financial Aid Notification

If you are eligible for federal and/or institutional financial aid, you will receive a notification from the financial aid office describing your offers. Your notification will be either paper (for new international applicants) or electronic (continuing students & new domestic applicants). The paper award letter will list your financial aid for the appropriate terms (fall and spring, fall only, or spring only). Review this letter with your parents. The electronic notification will direct you to your financial aid portal, where you can click on the My Award Letter tab to view your financial aid offers.

You will need to accept or decline your financial aid offers. By accepting your offers you are authorizing us to post these funds to your College bill, and, if applicable, to originate your federal aid. Log onto your financial aid portal to accept or decline your individual offers.

If you are an international student, you and your parent will need to sign your paper financial aid offer letter and return it to the financial aid office. This signed form will act as your authorization to post your aid offers to your bill and to acknowledge your responsibilities, terms, and conditions of these funds.

You may decline a loan online, but you are not able to reduce or increase a student loan using the portal. If you wish to adjust the amount of a loan, please send an email from your Hampshire email account to loans@hampshire.edu indicating the amount you would like to borrow. Be aware that if you reduce or decline the recommended student loan, you will not be eligible for additional institutional grant aid.

Review the various messages under the "My Documents & Messages" tab on your financial aid portal. Be sure to review the assumed housing and meal plan used to calculate your aid offers. There is a reduction in your financial aid budget if you do not purchase the full meal plan, resulting in a reduced Hampshire Grant, if applicable. Please contact the financial aid office immediately if our assumption does not reflect your plans.

If you do not accept your awards by early August (for fall term or full year) or by early January (for spring term), you will have an e-check-in hold for the following term. We will release this hold after receiving the acceptance(s) from you.

If you are planning to be on field study or exchange, be sure to accept your offers before leaving the area or the country to avoid any delays in the processing of your aid.  Note that you will not be able to check-in on TheHUB from off campus at the start of the semester unless you have a VPN requested through the College's I.T. department.  We are not able to process your aid until you check-in for the semester.  If you don't have a VPN, you will need to work with the advising office to make appropriate arrangements with them so you can check-in for the semester while away from campus.  

You may request a second review of your financial aid application due to significant changes in your family's financial situation by completing a Financial Aid Appeal Worksheet. The information presented for an appeal should be new information or information that has changed significantly from your initial application. These circumstances may include the death of a parent, a parent's loss of employment, and extraordinary medical, special needs, or elder care expenses. Please contact the financial aid office to request the appeal worksheet.

Statement of Award Terms

By accepting your financial aid offers you agree to the following responsibilities, terms, and conditions:

Your responsibilities

1. I must officially accept my offers online on the financial aid portal, or the paper offer letter sent to international applicants. 
2. I must provide the necessary documents for the financial aid office to finalize my offers.
3. I must notify the financial aid office of all outside scholarships and other aid I receive.
4. I must notify the financial aid office of any changes in the college or secondary school plans of any siblings.
5. I must apply for the Federal Pell Grant using the FAFSA and indicating Hampshire as a recipient (use code 004661).
6. I must apply for my state's scholarship (if resident of Massachusetts or Vermont) by the state's deadline using the FAFSA and any other application the state requires.
7. I must reapply each year for a renewal of my financial aid.  Note that International students do not need to reapply each year. 
8. I must be making satisfactory academic progress, as stated in Hampshire College publications, to continue to receive aid.

Terms of your awards

1. I understand that financial aid cannot be credited to my student account until 10 days before classes begin each semester.
2. If I do not receive the private outside scholarships included in my aid offers, I must cover the deficiency with increased family contribution or loans.
3. If I am awarded appeal funding and subsequently decline or reduce my federal loans, I understand that the appeal funds will be withdrawn and my bill will be increased.
4. I understand that the self-help (loan and work) portions of the award are optional, except that students who decline or reduce the recommended student loan are not eligible for additional institutional grant aid. 
5. I authorize the director of financial aid to share the information contained on my award letter with other authorized College, federal, state, and private officials on a "need to know" basis. 
6. If I go on leave or withdraw after the beginning of the semester, I understand that there may be a return of funds from each financial aid program that provided assistance according to the federal return of funds formula, a state's return of funds formula, and Hampshire's refund schedule.  In some cases this may result in an amount due on the College bill.
7. I understand that my Hampshire Grant will be reduced if I am not purchasing the College's full meal plan.
8. I understand that if the final Pell and/or State Grants are different than the original estimate, my Hampshire Grant will be adjusted for the difference.
9. I understand that tuition benefits from other educational institutions reduce my Hampshire Grant dollar for dollar.
10. I understand that living at home with my parents or living in off-campus housing will change my aid significantly and I must inform the financial aid office of this living arrangement.

Conditions of your aid offers 

1. Hampshire reserves the right to adjust this offer if anticipated federal and state funds are not received.
2. Aid offers shall become null and void if and when incorrect information, false statements, or misrepresentations are revealed.
3. Hampshire reserves the right to adjust this offer (retroactively, if necessary) if an error is discovered regarding eligibility.
4. Hampshire will adjust this offer to prohibit any student from receiving more aid than the amount of need demonstrated by either the federal or institutional methodology. Financial aid offers, including loans, cannot exceed the student's cost of attendance.

If you have any questions or concerns about your financial aid offers, please call the financial aid office at 413.559.5484 or email us at financialaid@hampshire.edu.