FAO - Special Circumstance Application (SPC)

Important Information:

• In some situations, it may be possible to appeal your original financial aid award offer due to special circumstances. Please review the examples of special circumstances provided on the next page before submitting a Special Circumstances Appeal. Include all required documentation listed.

• If you filed your FAFSA and received an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of Zero (0), you have already received the maximum in federal grants. However, students with a 0 Expected Family Contribution (EFC) whose personal or family income has deteriorated due to Covid-19 can, with documentation, be considered for an adjustment to their Cost of Attendance (COA) budget which could potentially result in additional aid. Please contact our office for additional information.

• If your EFC is significantly higher than 7000, submitting an appeal may result in either no change in aid or simply a loan offer change – i.e., full unsubsidized student loan offer to a portion of the loan becoming a subsidized loan offer.

• If you have other circumstances not mentioned but which you feel should be taken into consideration, please write a detailed explanation of your circumstance and we will be happy to review your individual circumstances and determine if any change is possible to your financial aid offer.

• Changes in federal aid eligibility do not affect eligibility for NY State aid as calculated by NYS HESC. You may wish to inquire with them directly regarding any possible special circumstance situations for state aid. They can be reached at 1-888-697-4372.

*Important note to business owners:

If you experienced a loss of business income you must be able to submit a current Tax return Transcript from the IRS before we can consider your appeal. If you are expecting a loss of business income for this year, please note that due to the unpredictable nature of business income, we cannot make a final decision on an appeal of this nature until your next years' federal income tax return transcript is available for verifying income.

Students and their families often experience unforeseen circumstances and/or expenses that are not reflected on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

If you have encountered a significant reduction of income, you may fill out this form to determine if you are eligible for additional federal aid.

A Special Circumstance Request is used to adjust the income reported on the current year’s FAFSA due to a change of circumstances during the calendar or academic year.

**Supporting documentation is required for all special circumstance requests*

Instructions:

• Select the reason for Special Circumstance Request .

• Review the required supporting documentation to determine what documents to send.

• Complete the “Special Circumstance Statement” - Be as specific as possible by including details pertinent to your family’s new financial and/or family situation such as dates, causes, etc.

• All required supporting documentation must be submitted with this form.

• Additional documentation may be requested after our initial review.

Required Supporting Documentation

You MUST submit the following supporting documentation with this form.

Loss of Income or Employment in 2018

You will need to submit supporting documentation of income pertaining to 2017 and 2018

Loss of Income or Employment in 2019

You will need to submit supporting documentation of income pertaining to 2017, 2018 and 2019

Loss of Income or Employment in 2020

You will need to submit supporting documentation of income pertaining to 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Loss of Income or Employment in 2021

You will need to submit supporting documentation of income pertaining to 2019, 2020 and 2021 (YTD)

Loss of Income or Employment

You will need to submit supporting documentation of income pertaining to 2023 OR YTD 2024

Upload a File -

Submit ONLY documents requested. Attaching additional documents may delay the verification process.

SUNY Orange will only accept the following file types pdf ,jpeg, bmp, gif, doc, jpg, png

*No ZIP files

*Please verify that files are not password protected.

Electronic Certification Agreement

By providing your “electronic” signature, student ID #, and by selecting the “Accept" button, you consent that you are signing this form electronically.

You agree your electronic signature is the legal equivalent of your handwritten signature. By selecting "I Accept" using any device, means or action, you consent to the terms and conditions of this form and its intent. You further agree that your signature on this document (hereafter referred to as your "e-signature" or "e-sign") is as valid as if you signed the document in writing.

You also agree that no certification authority or other third party verification is necessary to validate your e-signature, and that the lack of such certification or third party verification will not in any way affect the enforceability of your e-signature or any resulting agreement between you and the SUNY Orange Financial Aid Office.

You are also confirming that you are the student authorized to e-sign this form and this constitutes your agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions as they exist on the date of you e-sign this form.