Application Process
The financial aid process usually begins after a student is admitted to a degree program. To begin applying for financial aid, you must first complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form and the Luther Seminary Financial Aid Application.
Eligibility to Apply
In order to be eligible to apply for financial aid you must meet the following criteria:
- Admitted to a degree program. Non-degree and certificate students are not eligible for financial aid. Also at this time Doctor of Ministry students are not eligible.
- Meet minimum course load guidelines for the various aid types. These minimums can be found under their descriptions.
- Be in good academic standing.
Steps to Applying
For most students there will only be two steps in applying:
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
For anyone considering student loans, the FAFSA is required. We encourage all students to complete the form, even if not initially considering student loans. Things change over the course of a year and if we have your completed application, we can respond very quickly, via student loans, should an emergency arise.
Further, when endowment funds or outside scholarships are made available, our office is often asked to rank students by financial need. Without a completed FAFSA on file, your application cannot be considered.
On January 1, 2012, the FAFSA for the 2012-2013 academic year using completed 2011 taxes will be available for completion. When completing the FAFSA online, you may be asked if you would like the FAFSA website to obtain your tax information from the IRS website. If this is option is presented to you, and if you have already completed and submitted your taxes to the IRS, we recommend you select this option. If not, you will need to transfer the data from your tax form to the FAFSA online form.
The 2011-2012 FAFSA, to be used for the current academic year of 2011-2012 with completed 2010 taxes, will continue to be available on the FAFSA website until June 30, 2011. Be sure to select the appropriate FAFSA form for completion. If you are uncertain which form should be completed, please contact the Luther Seminary Financial Aid office.
As part of the FAFSA, you will be asked to provide the school code of the school(s) that you would like to receive your FAFSA information. Luther Seminary's federal school code is G02357. Clicking on the banner below will link you to the FAFSA website
Luther Seminary Financial Aid Application
This application is completed on-line. Only admitted students will be able to complete this step. Directions regarding completion of this form will be provided to admitted students after a financial aid file has been established. A financial aid file will be established when a completed FAFSA form has been received in our office electronically from the Department of Education - or – an admitted student may send an email to finaid@luthersem.edu and request to have a file started. View the online application. Continuing students at Luther will be able to complete the form in early January, being prompted by the Financial Aid Office via email.
For most students, that completes the application process. In rare occasions, random students may be selected by the federal processor to complete the verification process. If you are selected, our office will contact you with instructions regarding additional required documents that need to be submitted. This could include, but not limited to, an IRS transcript form, a verification form, copies of taxes and all W-2 forms.
Your chances of verification selection are greatly reduced if you choose the transfer of data from the IRS to the FAFSA website option, as explained above.
