How To Apply for Financial Aid

1. Obtain a user name and password from www.fafsa.ed.gov.  Please keep your user name and password in an easily accessible and safe place as you will use it periodically over the course of your enrollment.
2. Once you have obtained a user name and password, log in and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), at www.fafsa.ed.gov.  Once you complete the FAFSA, you will receive a letter from the Financial Aid Officer, which will either request additional information or detail the estimated financial aid for which you qualify.   If additional information is requested, upon receipt of the additional materials, a letter will be sent estimating the financial aid for which you qualify.
3. If you will be participating in the Stafford Loan Program you will need to complete the Entrance Counseling by using the FAFSA user name and password to log in at www.studentloans.gov.  Once you have completed the Entrance Counseling, you can then complete the Master Promissory Note for the Stafford Loan Program.
4. If you are a dependent student, which means you have to provide your parents’ information on your FAFSA, and one of your parents will be applying for a Parent Plus Loan, they will need to obtain a user name and password from the FAFSA website, www.fafsa.ed.gov
5. Once your parent has obtained a user name and password, they should log in to www.studentloans.gov and apply for the Parent Plus Loan.
6. If you have earned a scholarship or are receiving other funding not listed on your Student Aid Report, please inform the Worsham College Financial Aid Office, this would include VA Benefits.
7. An award letter will be uploaded to the student’s Worsham Account the first week of classes, which will require the student’s signature acknowledging that they wish to accept the financial aid for which they qualify.   The signed copy must be returned to the Financial Aid Office.  Appointments with the Financial Aid Officer to review at least the initial award are encouraged and can be done in person, over the phone or Zoom Conference.
8. Once a student begins classes, it is important to monitor the student ledger via the Student Portal and Worsham email account regularly. The majority of communications from our financial aid office will be emailed to the Worsham email, and allows for real-time updates with all the latest financial disbursements.
9. Approximately one to two months prior to graduation, the student must log in to www.studentloans.gov with their FAFSA user name and password to complete Exit Counseling.
10. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Stephanie Kann, the Financial Aid Officer at skann@worsham.edu or 847-808-8444.  If Stephanie is unavailable when you call, please leave a message with your phone number and the best time to return the call.