Apply for Financial Aid
Looking for help financing your UND education? You've come to the right place.
UND students receive more than $108 million in financial assistance each year! Of course, the only way to take advantage of that aid is to apply for it. And the sooner the better, because funds are limited.
Tell Us Who You Are
Are you a new or returning UND student? Online or distance student? We'll walk you through the steps depending on what type of student you are.
How is financial aid calculated?
Your financial need is the difference between our estimate of your cost of attending UND and the amount federal and state governments expect you and your family to contribute to those costs.
The calculation is:
Cost of Attendance (COA) – Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need
For example, if the COA is $21,000 and your EFC is $7,000, then your financial need will be $14,000. If your EFC is more than your COA, your financial need will be considered $0.
Expected Family Contribution
In general, yes. Even if your parents don't contribute money toward your education, you're considered a dependent and will need to report their tax information. However, if any of the following describe you, your parents will not need to report their information:
- You are 24 or older.
- You are married.
- You will be enrolling in courses for a master's or doctoral program.
- You are a veteran or on active duty (not during training).
- You have children or legal dependents (other than a spouse) who will receive more than half of their support from you.
- When you were 13 or older, both of your parents were deceased, you were in foster care or a ward of the court.
- You are an emancipated minor.
- You are in legal guardianship as determined by a court.
- You are an unaccompanied youth who is determined to be homeless by your high school, school district homeless liaison, a director of an emergency shelter program, runaway or homeless youth basic center, or a transitional living program.
If your parents are required to report their tax information on your FAFSA and choose not to, you'll only be eligible for Direct Unsubsidized Loans. Please notify UND One-Stop Student Services if you're going to utilize this option.
When completing the FAFSA, please report information about yourself and your "custodial parent," the parent you've lived with the most during the last 12 months. If your parents shared custody, report the income of the one you lived with the most or who provides 51% of your support.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is used to calculate the amount of federal student aid you're eligible to receive.
EFC is calculated based on the financial information reported on your FAFSA and includes:
- Your parents' contribution from income and assets
- Your contribution and assets
- Number of people in household
- Number of people in college
- Taxed and untaxed income
- Taxes paid
- Certain assets
- Number of wage earners
EFC isn't a judgment about how much your family should be able to pay; instead, it's an estimate of their capacity to absorb the costs of education over time.
A financial aid advisor may adjust your EFC if the advisor believes your family's financial circumstances aren't accurately represented in the FAFSA. The advisor won't make this adjustment automatically; you must provide valid, substantiated reasons for it. Reasons may include a decrease in income, death of a family member, divorce, non-reimbursed employee expenses or others.
You can apply for an adjustment by requesting a Special Circumstance review. Normal processing time is 15-30 days once documentation is received.