Apply for Financial Aid

Steps for Newly Admitted Transfer Students

Temporary Deadline Changes

The 2024-2025 FAFSA is now available.

The U.S. Department of Education is aware that some users are experiencing issues when they try to submit the form. If you are unable to submit the FAFSA, we encourage you to contact the U.S. Department of Education and document your issue.

Given these complications, we anticipate that we will receive your FAFSA record in mid to late February. Please take this into account when reviewing the instructions below, as UAlbany’s dates and deadlines will be different only for this upcoming year.

 

Financial aid awards are processed on a rolling basis as students complete all requirements. 

Undergraduate transfer students can start the financial aid application process by completing the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by December 1 to receive priority consideration for financial aid awards.  

Award notifications are sent by mail and email starting in February for the Fall semester and December for the Spring semester. Award details are also posted on MyUAlbany, where students must accept, reduce or decline their awards.
 

Click the printer icon in the top right corner of this page to easily print these instructions.

 

Step 1: Complete or update the FAFSA by December 1

The Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) should be completed and submitted online. 

The FAFSA opens each year on October 1 and newly admitted transfer students must complete the FAFSA by December 1. 

The University at Albany Federal School Code to be entered on the FAFSA is 002835. 

If prompted, use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to automatically load your federal income information to the FAFSA. This streamlines the application and eliminates the potential need to submit tax documents to the Office of Financial Aid. 

Have your Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) ready to electronically sign the FAFSA. Dependent students will need an FSA ID for themselves and one parent. 

Step 2: Change your TAP school code (New York State residents only)

Students who received NYS aid through the Tuition Assistance Program while attending their previous institution will need to change their TAP school code to 0895 for the UAlbany entry term and year. Sign into the Higher Education Services Corporation website to update your college information. 

Read about New York State residency requirements.

Step 3: Monitor MyUAlbany for Important Notices

Shortly after being accepted to the University at Albany, students are assigned a UAlbany pin number. Instructions on how to use the pin and log in to MyUAlbany are sent by Information Technology Services (ITS).  

Once UAlbany receives and processes the FAFSA, items may appear on the MyUAlbany Important Notices list. Financial aid processing cannot continue until these Important Notices are completed. 

Important Notices can be documentation requests, problems with your FAFSA that need to be fixed or processes that need to be completed by the student or parent. 

The student will receive notifications until the items are completed. Students can click each item in the Important Item list to get more detailed information on what’s needed to move forward. 

Important Notices can appear at any point during the aid processing cycle. Items most commonly appear on the Important Notices list after the FAFSA is filed and also after students accept their Financial Aid Award. 

Once you submit the requested documentation, or satisfy the outstanding request(s), we aim to review your documents within two weeks. Peak times, such as August, may result in processing delays. Please monitor your email for important updates or subsequent requests for information. 

If Important Notices are not resolved, it could prevent your award or refund being processed and/or applied to your account. 

Step 4: Submit Documentation to the Office of Financial Aid

Requested documents should always be submitted online, unless otherwise noted. You will receive notification via email and/or text message on how to upload these documents. If at any point you need to speak with a financial aid advisor, please feel free to contact our office at [email protected] or 518-442-3202

The student's nine-digit UAlbany ID should appear on each page submitted. 

Note: For the protection of your information, students and parents are advised not to send documents with private information such as tax data, social security numbers or citizenship verification via email. 

Step 5: Accept Award Through MyUAlbany

On MyUAlbany, students can review their financial aid and accept, reduce or decline their financial aid award offers. For information on how to accept awards, please visit the Accepting Awards page.

Step 6: Secure Your Awarded Aid

Once you’ve completed all of the above steps steps, please visit our Financial Aid page for information on securing the aid you're awarded and applying for additional financial aid.

Note: For financial aid purposes, an academic year is defined 12 months, in which the Summer session is three months long, the Fall semester is four months long and the Spring semester is five months long. 

Students’ financial aid awards are generally packaged using a traditional nine-month expected family contribution (EFC) calculation, as determined by the FAFSA

Students who need or want to receive financial aid for the Summer session must complete a supplemental application provided annually by the University.