Financial Aid Procedures

If I am a first-time student enrolling, when is the deadline for submitting the Student Accounts checklist items?
The current academic year deadlines for submitting the Student Accounts checklist items are July 20 for the Fall semester and December 20 for the Spring semester.

The Financial Aid Office administers available funds uniformly and equitably in accordance with the existing regulations and policies. If a student feels that his or her request was not given proper or adequate consideration, he or she may appeal the decision. In such cases the student should contact the Financial Aid Office for more information.

Not every student who demonstrates financial need will be given institutional scholarship assistance, given the large number of applicants for aid and the limited scholarship funds that are available. The College may decide that the applicant’s academic credentials, in spite of financial need, do not warrant scholarship aid for the entry year at Bard. A favorable decision for future years would depend on the applicant’s academic record at Bard and the availability of funds. Families need to consider their ability to cover educational expenses for the full four years that the student will be attending Bard College. If the family finds that they have income and assets to cover only a portion of that time, they should apply for aid for the student's first year of attendance. Consideration for aid for families not receiving it initially will be on a case-by-case basis and will depend on available funding in subsequent years. A committee that meets in June and December of each year will review these later applications.

An offer of financial aid, unless otherwise stated, is made on the assumption that the applicant will be a full-time student and will incur full-time tuition and room and board charges at Bard College - Annandale. If these assumptions are wrong, the applicant should expect a revision of the financial aid offer.

All Bard College financial aid is awarded for study at the College’s campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. It cannot be applied to the payment of tuition and fees for programs at other institutions in the United States or for study abroad.

Notification of financial aid awards for new students begins in mid-March and continues through the middle of April. Notification of financial aid offers to early action candidates with completed CSS Profiles will begin mid-December. Packaging and notification for returning students is completed in early May.

Rights

• The Financial Aid Office will treat information regarding your application for financial aid professionally and with confidentiality.
• If you have any questions, the Financial Aid Office will explain how your eligibility for aid and your financial aid package were determined.
• If your family circumstances change to the extent that you believe your eligibility for and amount of financial aid would be affected, you may present documentation of those circumstances to the Financial Aid Office. Funds permitting, the amount of aid may be increased following a review by the Review Committee.
• You may request in writing a reevaluation of your financial aid offer. The Review Committee considers such requests in June and August for the fall semester and in December for the spring semester.
• If you do not maintain good academic standing, but are able to document mitigating circumstances (such as a change in your academic program or an illness in your family), you may appeal the suspension or termination of aid by contacting the Dean of Studies. 

Responsibilities

• You or a member of your family must submit to the Financial Aid Office a written report of changes in your financial situation as soon as they occur. This applies to changes in resources (such as receipt of an external scholarship) that would be taken into account in determining your financial need.
• You must submit all required applications and documentation in a timely manner. You must reapply for aid every academic year.
• You must maintain good academic standing, defined as a satisfactory (C+ or 2.3) grade average and satisfactory annual progress toward a degree (at least 28 credits per year).  Some Scholarships may have different standards.  Contact the Office of Financial Aid for more information.
• You are expected to enroll as a full-time student (defined as taking a minimum of 12 credits each semester) and to graduate within the standard period of time; awards are typically limited to four years.  The time period may be shorter for students coming from schools within the Bard Network.
• You must participate in a loan entrance interview before the first loan disbursement can be credited to your tuition account.
• You must notify the Financial Aid Office if you withdraw from the College or intend to take a leave of absence, so that you can be informed about revision of aid.
• You must have an exit interview at the Financial Aid Office if you have received a Federal Perkins Loan or a Federal Direct Loan and do not plan to return to the school the following semester.

Student Complaint Process - New York State
Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

A student who enters Bard with a financial aid award can expect that the same amount of institutional aid will be renewed in subsequent years, provided the student reapplies for aid each year, continues to demonstrate a similar level of financial need, and maintains good academic standing.

Renewal Guidelines

• Standards for satisfactory academic standing vary with funding sources, but are generally similar. For example, the student must achieve a C+ or 2.3 grade average and annually earn at least 28 credits toward a degree. Some scholarships have a different standard for satisfactory academic standing and you will be notified if you receive a scholarship with different requirements about what those standards are.
• Bard scholarships are awarded with the expectation that the scholarship is granted for four continuous years of study at Bard College or until the student completes the degree requirements for the first bachelor's degree, whichever comes first.  Students coming from within the Bard Network should be able to complete in less than three years, depending on the program that the student came from.
• If a scholarship recipient takes an official leave of absence for a semester or year and has maintained appropriate academic standing prior to the leave, the scholarship will be reinstated upon the student’s return to Bard. Reinstatement occurs within the limits established above and within the stipulations of the specific scholarship program.
• If a scholarship recipient transfers or withdraws from Bard, the scholarship award will not be reinstated if the student decides to rematriculate at Bard. (The student may again apply for financial aid through the regular process, but with no guarantee that the award will be renewed or given in the previous amount.)
• Students who apply for financial aid but do not demonstrate financial need in one year may reapply for financial aid in subsequent years. First priority for financial aid is given to students who have received assistance in the past and continue to demonstrate financial need. Students who fail to demonstrate need at their first application but succeed in doing so in a subsequent application, as well as students who do not apply for financial aid upon entrance, will be considered for available funds. These applications will be submitted to the Review Committee for a decision to be made in the middle of June.

Continuing students may request a reevaluation of their financial aid offer if their family's financial circumstances have changed since they submitted their application. The Review Committee considers such appeal requests in June and August for the fall semester and in December for the spring semester. To submit your appeal request, please complete the Appeal Request Form. Students will be notified of the Committee's decision in writing via email.
Appeal Request Form

Revision Guidelines

• Students should be aware that a financial aid offer is typically made on the basis of the student’s full-time attendance and room and board charges. If a student is enrolled less than full time (11 credits or fewer), financial aid will be adjusted in accordance with the total billing charges. If a student decides to move off campus, the College scholarship will be adjusted in accordance with the total billing charges.
• Financial aid awards will be revised if additional assistance is received from sources unknown to Bard at the time initial awards are made or if outside awards vary considerably from estimates in the award letter. The student is required to notify the Financial Aid Office of any additional assistance that is received.
• If the data on the FAFSA and the CSS Profile do not concur additional documentation may be requested to resolve conflicting information. if revisions need to be made which change a students financial need, awards may be updated. 
• Students whose family financial situation changes due to death, disability, or unemployment of a major wage earner should contact the Financial Aid Office to discuss what assistance may be available to them at a time of financial crisis. Student Financial Services requires that any request for a review be made in writing, giving details for consideration in the review. This request is considered by the Review Committee, which meets three times a year, in June, August, and December.
• If a student withdraws before the end of the semester, Bard awards will be prorated in accordance with the tuition charges. Federal funds will be revised according to the formula established by the federal government.
• If a student ceases attendance without providing official notification to the College, the withdrawal date will be the mid-point of the semester or term, except that the College may use as the withdrawal date the student's last date of attendance at an academically-related activity, as documented by the college. This determination will be used for the Return of Title IV funds calculation.

Review additional information below about Title IV refunds when a student withdraws.
Title IV Withdrawal Refunds

Standard Requirements
Generally, financial aid awards are offered for the entire academic year and are credited to a student’s tuition account in two equal installments in the fall and spring. If awards are for one semester only, the full amount of the semester’s award will be credited in one installment, except for the Federal Stafford Loan and the Federal PLUS Loan, which require a dual disbursement regardless of the length of the academic period of the loan. The student must:
Accept your aid online through the Bard portal
Complete Loan Entrance Counseling (first-time Federal Direct Loan borrowers only)
Complete Master Promissory Note (MPN) for Federal Direct Loan approval (first-time borrowers only)
Submit to New York State and have approved the TAP application (New York State residents)
Submit Verification Worksheet (if selected)
Exceptions
The other exceptions are earnings from the Federal Work-Study Program, which are paid every two weeks, and the Trustee Leader Scholar stipend, which is paid several times a semester upon approval by the TLS coordinator.

All requirements for receipt of financial aid must be satisfied before any of the financial aid will be reflected as a credit in the student’s account statement. These requirements will be noted under the Eligibility tab of the Financial Aid page in the Bard portal.

Assuming that aid notifications are made in early May and all requirements are met in a timely fashion, financial aid awards will be reflected on the first billing statement for fall charges. An exception to this is the Federal Direct Loan, which will not be reflected until the MPN is submitted and an approval is received from the Department of Education for the loan. Another possible exception is the New York State TAP award. The state will not finalize a TAP award until the state budget is passed. 

Most need-based grant recipients are verified, therefore, the awards become final only when data on the FAFSA and CSS Profile concur.

Verification is a process that occurs throughout the summer. If the FAFSA and CSS Profile data are mostly accurate, the student should expect the final awards to be comparable to the original offer. Since the federal Pell Grant allows only a minimal tolerance in the financial data, the FAFSA information must be refiled for a Pell Grant if the original financial data submitted on the FAFSA differs from the supporting financial documents. The Pell Grant will not become final until the College receives a revised analysis from the federal processor. Student Financial Services will submit the corrections electronically.

If there are significant discrepancies between the data on the FAFSA and those on the CSS Profile and supporting documents, financial aid awards other than the Pell Grant may be revised. Student Financial Services will send notice to the student of any adjustments to financial aid awards and the student will view these changes in the Bard portal.