Deadline for Financial Aid Documents
March 1, 2013

The Scholarship Committee and the Associate Dean for Enrollment Management will first deliberate on those students whose files are complete by the deadline. Students who file materials after the established deadlines will receive lower awards due to reduced availability of funds.

Required Financial Aid Materials Checklist

• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
  

     - YouTube playlist guiding you through the entire FAFSA (still applicable for 2013-2014)

• College Scholarship Service (CSS) PROFILE Form (for dependent students only)

• Scholarship/Grant History Form (if you attended college before)

• Document Under Construction -Due Date June 15^th 2013

• Statement of Educational Purpose

• Any other information we deem necessary after preliminary review

Please Read Carefully. If you have not used the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on FAFSA, it is highly recommended that you do.  It will save you time in the financial aid process.  If you do not you will need to order Tax Transcripts, and have them sent to MSM using the form IRS Form 4506T-EZ (Method in red text below).  You must mail or fax the 4506T-EZ to the IRS. The fax number will depend on where you live, instructions on are the 2nd page of the document.  On the form Box 5 will say,"Mail direct to third party", please fill in,Manhattan School of Music, 120 Claremont Ave, NewYork, NY 10027.  This method is faster then the other two methods in the table.  The other two methods listed below will be mailed to you and not he school, which you will then have to mail, fax, or scan and email to MSM.  

Financial Aid Procedures

Filing the FAFSA: This is a free (no cost) form which asks you to supply financial data for you and, if applicable, your parents. Most students and their parents now complete the FAFSA online. The Web site for accessing the form is www.fafsa.ed.gov. Before you access FAFSA on the Web, you and your parents will first have to obtain a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from the PIN Web site, www.pin.ed.gov. Your PIN will be e-mailed to you within 1-5 days. If you don’t provide an e-mail address, your PIN will be mailed to your address within 7-10 days. This PIN will allow you to electronically sign your FAFSA. In addition to using a PIN to apply for financial aid via FAFSA on the Web, students may also use their PINs to sign their Stafford and PLUS Loans Master Promissory Notes. Students will also be able to view a history of their federal student financial aid on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Web site.

For assistance with either the PIN process or FAFSA on the Web, you can contact the Federal Student Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). Our office will also be happy to assist you with any questions or problems you may encounter during the process. Once you have successfully completed the FAFSA on the Web and used your PIN(s) to sign the form, your information will be sent electronically to Manhattan School of Music. Remember to include Manhattan School of Music’s Title IV School code – 002759. If this code is omitted, Manhattan School of Music will not be able to receive your record. If you do not have access to the Internet, the paper version of the FAFSA can be picked up in your high school guidance office or college financial aid office. We would also be happy to mail one to you if necessary. Please know that if you complete the paper FAFSA the processing time runs 4-6 weeks. FAFSA on the Web will turn around in approximately 10-14 days. As you can see, the Federal Government, as well as financial aid offices, are strongly encouraging the use of FAFSA on the Web. If you have questions or concerns about utilizing the electronic method, please feel free to contact our office so that we can reassure you that this is a secure method and easy way to simplify the application process.

Filing the CSS PROFILE Form (Manhattan School of Music’s code is 2396): This is not a free form. Manhattan School of Music uses the information on this form, along with your audition score and your admissions materials, to determine your eligibility for Manhattan School of Music Scholarship or the President’s Award. Your application process begins by completing CSS PROFILE. You can connect and complete the application any time of day (you will need a valid credit card). The fee is $25 for the initial application and one school report that is sent to the school you designate.

The College Board will electronically transmit your PROFILE data to us. The PROFILE application is required of all dependent students. We will notify you if you are missing information, but valuable time will have been lost, and any scholarship that you may be deemed eligible to receive will most likely be less than if the information had been provided by the deadline.

If you have any questions about or need help with the CSS PROFILE, you may email the College Board at help@cssprofile.org or you can call 305-829-9793.

Once we have received the processed results of your FAFSA and PROFILE applications, a record will be created on our financial aid database. We will track all received materials and send you a letter indicating all other documents (listed at the top of this page) that we will require for a complete application.

Important Notes

• It will cause a delay if you do not SIGN and DATE all application materials. Regulations require signatures; therefore missing signatures may create processing delays and may even require that the forms be returned to you.
• It will cause a delay if you do not Answer ALL questions. If a question does not apply to you, enter N/A or 0. Questions left blank may require you to be contacted for the answer and a reprocessing of the form.
• If you are applying for need-based merit MSM Scholarship, you are required to complete the entire financial aid process. If you want to be considered for the no-need, merit-only President’s Award (and no other aid), please direct a letter to the Office of Financial Aid indicating such. Please keep in mind that the President’s Awards generally range from $1000 - $5000 maximum.
• If you or your parents feel that the family 2013 income will be drastically different from the reported 2012 income on the FAFSA and PROFILE, you must submit a letter of explanation to Amy Anderson, Associate Dean of Enrollment Management. Reasons for drastic change in income include unemployment, separation, divorce, serious illness or death. In the letter please project, to the best of your ability, the new 2013 anticipated taxable and nontaxable income from any and all sources.  Please provide documentation of these circumstances such as a letter from your employer, medical documents, a separation agreement, or a divorce decree.
• We highly recommend that you make photocopies of all application materials that you submit to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. Create a file at home that will resemble the file we have in our office. This will make any conversations we have more productive and beneficial.

Please, ASK QUESTIONS if you do not understand any part of our application process. We understand that the scholarship/financial aid process is, at times, frustrating and intimidating. We want to assist and support you from start to finish. It is our goal to make applying for scholarship and financial aid as pleasant and painless as possible. When students and parents ask how they can speed up the process, we always begin by saying, “provide all the required information by the required deadline, and be as accurate as possible when completing your forms – if you do your part, we are able to do our part.” If you have suggestions or comments, or if you experience problems, please call our office at 917-493-4463. Financial Aid counselors are available to assist you. If necessary, you may schedule either a phone or in-person appointment.