Financial Aid Terms

Required from all contributors for the IRS to share tax data directly to the FAFSA. If any contributor does not provide consent, the student will automatically be ineligible for aid.

Previously known as IRS Data Retrieval; this tool imports tax data directly from the IRS to your FAFSA.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is an application completed yearly that collects information about your family's financial circumstances to determine elibility for federal aid programs. Programs that required a completed FAFSA include the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, applicable state grants, Federal Work-Study, Federal Direct Loans, and Auburn University need-based scholarships.

A parent, stepparent, student, or spouse of the student who is providing information to the FAFSA. 

The FAFSA family size is based on the number of exemptions from the parent’s IRS tax return. If the student's current family size differs from that of the prior prior tax year, enter the current size for FAFSA purposes. 

For a dependent student whose parents are divorced or separated, the primary or custodial parent is the parent who provides the more significant portion of the student’s financial support and is required to provide their information (and, if applicable, their spouse’s information) on the FAFSA form.

A summary of your completed FAFSA information. This replaces the Student Aid Report (SAR) that was used in previous years.

Federal regulations require that all students under the age of 24 be considered a dependent of the parent for the purposes of financial aid. However, if a student is able to answer "yes" to any of the personal circumstance questions on the FAFSA, the student is classified as independent for federal aid purposes. Documentation of the circumstance will be requested.

If a student has unusual circumstances that prevent them from providing parental data, please contact our office at finaid7@auburn.edu. 

Calculated by FAFSA data and will determine student aid eligibility. This replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) that was used in previous years.

Verification is a process where the student submits additional information to confirm or verify the information entered on the FAFSA. If you are selected for verification, Auburn University will send an email to your Auburn email address notifying you of the required task(s). These tasks can be viewed and completed through your Student Forms Portal.

The estimated cost of attendance including tuition and fees, housing and meals. Your individual cost of attendance is determined by your academic status, residency status, expected housing status and program of study.

The difference between your estimated cost of attendance and your Student Aid Index (SAI). The formula is: COA minus SAI minus other aid = Financial Need. The need amount represents the limit of your eligibility to participate in need-based programs which include grants, Federal Direct Subsidized Loans, and Federal Work Study. If your calculated need is 0, you may qualify for non need-based aid such as Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and/or Federal Parent PLUS Loans.

The amount that the family pays for one year of college. This is calculated by subtracting the total amount of grants and scholarships from the Cost of Attendance.

Outside resources include other aid sources that either you have reported to us or we have identified on your student billing statement. These resources include but are not limited to fee waivers, AL GI Dependents Scholarship Program, Vocational Rehabilitation, and any other outside scholarships or loans.

The portion of need that cannot be fulfilled through need-based aid programs. It is calculated as Unmet need = Need minus need-based aid. Unmet need may exist even after you have been offered the maximum limits available through need-based programs.

All credit hours a student enrolls in, including withdrawals (W), incompletes (I), failures (F), and repeated courses. 

Credit hours from a course where the student successfully completed and received a grade that awards credit (A, B, C, D, S). Grades that fail, withdraw, or remain incomplete do not award earned credit.

A student's overall Auburn GPA at the time we review you for scholarship renewal, which includes all of the Auburn grades you've earned while enrolled. Unadjusted includes all your Auburn grades, even if you used the Grade Adjustment Policy, meaning your original grade will be reviewed as well as your new grade if you've already retaken the class.