Frequently Asked Questions

The Department of Education has information on their website about how to submit the missing signatures on the FAFSA. It is important that all of the required signatures are submitted as soon as possible, this includes the student’s signature as well as the signatures of any other contributors (like parents or legal guardians). If these signatures are missing, you will not be able to receive federal aid for the academic year, including federal Pell grant.

Please review this document that provides a walkthrough on how to make corrections to your FAFSA? The department of education also has additional information on their website.

We recommend students and parents try and complete their FAFSA digitally. Although there may be delays when completing the FAFSA digitally, the delays will take much longer via paper/mail. The Department of Education has provided information on how to submit the FAFSA if your contributor (parent) does not have an SSN.

Yes, you will be required to complete it as soon as possible. We recommend for you to start the application and complete it as soon as you can. Students who do not submit a FAFSA will not be able to receive federal aid, including Pell Grant.

No. We are aware that the Department of Education is experiencing issues with the 2024-2025 FAFSA. However, our primary tool for determining student eligibility for need-based financial aid is the CSS Profile and family tax returns. Students who submit those application materials by our due dates should receive a complete financial aid offer letter with their letter of admissions to the college. For our current due dates for all financial aid applications, please check our website.

Please provide your original U.S. citizenship document to the Financial Aid Office no earlier than one week prior to the start of your classes to verify your citizenship status in person. Please also bring another form of federal or state-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license. Appointments are not required.

You will be asked to include your government issued photo ID and any of the following:

· U.S. birth certificate

· U.S. passport

· Certificate of Naturalization

· Certificate of Citizenship

We will continue to accept financial aid applications and materials well into May 2025 for the 2024-2025 academic year. Late submission will not affect the amount of aid a student will receive.

Yes. If you do not complete the FAFSA, you will not receive any federal student aid. That means that any estimated federal aid that we include in your financial aid award letter will not credit to your student account to help you cover your bill. Although we can determine how much federal aid (like Pell Grant) you may be eligible for from the information you provide on the CSS Profile, you cannot actually receive any federal funds until the Department of Education processes your FAFSA.

Yes, the Department of Education is accepting physical (paper) FAFSA forms this year, however we recommend completing the FAFSA online as soon as you can. Although there may be delays when completing the FAFSA digitally, the delays will take much longer via paper/mail.

No. Completing the FAFSA is a legal requirement to receive federal financial aid. The Department of Education will not permit substitution of a different application instead of the FAFSA.

No. Only the Department of Education can process the FAFSA. Students must submit their completed FAFSA to the Department of Education.

We will be releasing awards for our returning students beginning June 16^th. Please visit the FinAid47 portal to ensure all required documents are submitted. If you have a missing document, this can delay your offer of financial aid.

If your family circumstances have changed significantly, or if there is additional information you’d like us to consider, please feel free to complete the Change in Circumstance Form and email to financial.aid@pomona.edu

The updated Cost of Attendance budget for the year was just released. Although the cost of attendance budget increased, the expected family contribution has remained the same. Since we meet 100% demonstrated need, the general Pomona College Institutional grant was increased to meet the difference.

All students enrolled in SHIP who receive Pomona College financial aid will automatically be packaged with a Pomona Medical Grant to cover half the cost of the health insurance. Students may request a loan to cover half of the cost of the health insurance. Students who are not receiving financial aid or any student requesting a loan should send an email to the Office of Financial Aid. For additional information, please visit Student Health Insurance Program SHIP website.

Please note, living off campus will change your overall cost of attendance and can impact your offer of financial aid. Please schedule a Calendly appointment with your financial aid counselor to discuss potential financial aid implications.

Students that live off campus or at home are not billed directly for room charges. Instead, the cost of attendance for financial aid is based on average expenses for living off campus or living at home. (The average is determined from surveying students not living on campus). Students who live off-campus are required to have a meal plan. See the tuition and costs page for additional details on meal plan requirements.

Students who wish to live off-campus must fill out an off campus housing application and receive written approval from the Office of Housing and Residence Life. No student should sign a lease before receiving written approval. Explore how to apply for Off Campus Approval here.

The first bill for the fall semester will be available to view on CASHNET on July 11^th . Each month a new bill will be viewable on CASHNET on the 11^th of that month and bills are due the first day of the following month. For billing, payments and refunds, please contact Student Accounts.

When you receive scholarship funds from sources outside Pomona, they must be reported to us so we can incorporate them into your financial aid package. This includes tuition benefits paid on your behalf. (See more on tuition benefits and on our polices page.) If you are on financial aid, our policy is to use the full amount of your outside awards first to replace your student contribution, then your term-time job expectation:

• Reduce the standard student contribution
• Reduce the student work award
• Remaining outside scholarship funds are split evenly, with half reducing the Pomona College scholarship and the other half reducing the parent contribution

As the intent of these awards are meant to be used for education purposes and must be reported to our office. If you have or expect to receive an outside scholarship(s), please complete the Outside scholarship Notification form and email it to our office at financial.aid@pomona.edu

To get your refund, complete the refund request form which can be found on your my.pomona student portal. The amount of your refund must be entered on the refund request form. To get the amount, log into CashNet. If you have questions, please contact Student Accounts.

If you enroll for a less than full-time load, your financial aid tuition costs will be less, and your financial aid budget will be reduced to reflect the reduced tuition costs. Your financial aid award will be adjusted to mee 100% of the need based on the reduced budget amount. Please note, to received financial aid, you must be registered for at least 1.5 credits.

Students who go on a leave of absence before the start of the semester will not receive financial aid and will not be billed for tuition and fees. Students are eligible for eight semesters of financial aid (pro-rated for transfers), excluding the full semesters when a student is on a leave of absence.

Students who take a semester withdrawal after the first day of classes will incur prorated tuition and fee charges beginning on the first day of classes for the semester through the day that the student withdraws, and will receive a refund only as described in the section entitled “Refund of Tuition and Associated Student Fees” on the tuition and costs page. No refunds will be given after the course drop date. For students receiving financial aid from Pomona College, prorated financial aid will be applied to the charges incurred since the start of the semester and will count as one of the eight semesters of eligibility for financial aid.

Students who take a semester withdrawal after the first day of classes and who received a housing and food refund from financial aid must repay the prorated portion of their refund for the remainder of the semester from which they are withdrawing.

Students who have borrowed educational loans complete exit counseling upon taking a leave of absence or a semester withdrawal. Loan repayment begins six to nine months after the last day of enrollment (the end of the fall semester), depending on the type of loan borrowed. Students who want more information should contact their loan servicer. Students who borrowed a Federal Direct Student Loan will be contacted by the Financial Aid Office to complete Direct Loan Exit Counseling.

Students who borrowed a Pomona College Loan will be contacted by the Pomona College Student Loan Coordinator to complete Pomona College Loan Exit Counseling.

If you withdraw before the first day of classes, you will not be charged for the semester and you will retain your semester of aid eligibility. If you withdraw after the first day of classes, your charges will be prorated by student accounts. You are responsible for those charges. If you chose to use your financial aid to cover those reduced charges, you will use one of your terms of financial aid and may have to appeal for a 9^th semester of aid if you are unable to finish your degree requirements in the remaining semesters.

The Office of Financial Aid is committed to supporting our undocumented and DACA-mented students. If you are ineligible to work or your work eligibility has expired, please apply for emergency funding to help cover the expense that earnings from campus employment typically defray. To apply for emergency funding, please complete the work study replacement request and email the form to financial.aid@pomona.edu

Every student must reapply for financial aid for each upcoming academic year, including domestic, international, undocumented and DACAmented students as well as students admitted to Pomona through the QuestBridge National College Match and Posse Scholar programs. Log into your FinAID47 account on the Student Portal to view your Financial Aid Document Checklist to download forms, review missing items, and to check on the status of materials submitted. For more information, please visit application materials and deadlines.

Renewal Deadline: April 15^th

Financial aid that a student receives that is used for their tuition, fees, books and required course equipment is generally not taxable. Financial aid that a student receives above those costs may be taxable income.  This includes financial aid that a student receives for housing and meals, travel, non-required equipment and supplies and other costs.  The financial aid office is not able to provide tax advice to students, if you have questions about the taxability of your financial aid, we recommend contacting a licensed tax preparer.

The 1098T tax document is issued by the Finance Office. If you have questions about the 1098T, please read the FAQ on the finance office website here:

https://www.pomona.edu/administration/finance-office/student-account-information

Only courses taken for academic credit can be counted towards your course load for financial aid eligibility or to attain full-time status. You must enroll in enough courses for academic credit to be considered full-time in order to receive full-time financial aid.  If you enroll in audited classes, and your enrollment in classes for credit drops to less then full-time enrollment, your financial aid will be adjusted to reflect that you are not enrolled full time.

Please review this document that provides a walkthrough on how to make corrections to your FAFSA? The department of education also has additional information on their website.

It is an award that was provided by financial aid and made available to you through the Huntley Bookstore. The award is for $50 per semester ($100 for the academic year). The amount you spend will be deducted from your original award amount.

Up to $50 for books and supplies can be used per semester ($100 for the year).

You may charge books, materials, textbook authorization codes, and supplies such as notebooks, pens, highlighters or calculators. 

Items that cannot be charged to your student account include computer hardware, apparel, dishware, food and beverages.

• All student’s on financial aid are eligible for a bookstore award
• If you’ve already completed your financial aid application log in to my.pomona.edu student portal and select “Student”. Once there, click on the “FINAID47” link. using your online student portal login.
• Click “Menu” in the top left corner and select “Offer of Financial Aid” from the dropdown menu. Make sure you are in the current academic year. 
• You will see “Huntley Bookstore Award” in the amount of $100.

You can access your bookstore award to purchase textbooks at the Huntley Bookstore for a limited amount of time at the beginning of each semester. You have until November 30^th to use for Fall semester and until April 30^th to use for Spring semester.

You have until November 30^th to use your bookstore award for the Fall semester and then you have until April 30^th to use your bookstore award for the Spring semester. 

If you haven’t used the bookstore award for each term by these dates, any unused portion will be credited back to your student account at the end of the semester. Once we credit the unused Huntley Bookstore award, the credit will then be applied to any outstanding balance you have on your student account first.

If you have a credit balance on your student account (represented by a negative (-) amount), you will need to submit a Credit Balance Refund request from your Student Portal, then the *refund can be processed.

• If you’ve used a portion of your $50 award per semester, the amount available for a refund will be reduced.

After you check your bookstore award, you can either order your books online or visit the Huntley Bookstore to make your purchases.

If ordering your books online:

• At checkout, select Book Voucher as the payment method and enter your Student ID and the award will be applied to your total.

If you choose to visit the bookstore in person, please make sure you have:

• A Pomona ID
• A copy of your current schedule

Pomona's policy requires a financial aid application from both the biological or adoptive parents. While the application process has requirements for the student and both parents, we recognize that certain circumstances can prevent the completion of a financial aid application. If you are not in contact with your noncustodial parent, or have circumstances that would make obtaining the noncustodial information impossible, you can submit a petition to waive the noncustodial parent requirements by uploading the College Board's waiver request form and supporting documentation through IDOC.

Because our financial aid program is need based, we determine financial aid eligibility by evaluating each family’s ability to pay for education costs. Our office conducts a thorough review of each applicant’s financial information every year, and we take many factors into consideration during our analysis, which include parent(s) total income, assets, household size and number in college to name a few.

Review our Applying for Aid page for more information about how to apply for financial aid.

​​​​​​QuestBridge is a national nonprofit that connects exceptional, low-income youth with leading colleges and opportunities. Pomona is proud to be one of 48 college partners who are committed to increasing the presence of outstanding low-income students on their campuses and making our institutions accessible to high achieving students regardless of background.

For more information about the program and how to apply, please visit our QuestBridge Applicants page.

Yes, Pomona College uses the CSS Profile application for both the custodial and the noncustodial parent household in conjunction with supporting tax documents to determine the contribution from both parents. Please complete a separate CSS Profile application for both the custodial and noncustodial parent.

If you’d like to request an appointment with a financial aid counselor, please send an email to financial.aid@pomona.edu and we will be happy to facilitate this for you.

We ask for a translated copy of prior-prior year's tax documents or statement of earnings. You can either translate them yourself, or request they be translated by a translator. For more information regarding financial aid for international students please visit the International Student Aid section of our website.

Yes, you can complete both financial aid applications as early as October 1^st of the year you will be applying to Pomona. Every student that is interested in applying for financial aid consideration must have a complete financial aid application in order for our staff to calculate your financial aid eligibility. The FAFSA is required to apply for federal financial aid. The CSS Profile is required to apply for institutional financial aid. Both applications will be based upon information from prior-prior year's federal tax returns (or equivalent for non-US tax filers) and the current value of household assets (cash/checking, net worth of investments, real estate, business, etc.).