In rare cases, your household may experience a special circumstance that detrimentally impacts your household income (e.g., loss of a job or divorce). In these situations, on a case-by-case basis, financial aid administrators are allowed to adjust certain data elements used by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that are used to calculate your SAI. Households who believe they may qualify for such an adjustment may initiate the Income Reduction Appeal process.
Income Reduction Appeal
Income Reduction Appeals
About the Process
Since the Appeal for Income Reduction is tightly regulated, it is extremely important that the household understands the process BEFORE beginning. Not learning about the process before beginning will create extremely lengthy processing delays and may ultimately waste both your time and resources. We encourage you to read all the bulleted information provided below:
- If you are selected by the Department of Education to verify data elements on your FAFSA, you must complete that verification process before submitting an Income Reduction Appeal. You can check to see if you have been selected for verification by visiting the financial aid required documents section in your myUK Student Portal.
- Federal regulations require that Appeals for Income Reduction be thoroughly documented. No matter the circumstances, any adjustments made to the data elements on the FAFSA must be accompanied by clear and unquestionable documentation. Appeals without proper documentation cannot be approved.
- Due to the rigorous documentation standards and the potential monetary impact, students and families can mistakenly assume that our office is intentionally making the process difficult. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Please remember that any adjustments that financially assist our students do not create any additional financial burdens on the University, and, in fact, assist in keeping students enrolled. Successful appeals are important to students, their families, and the University. As such, our counseling team seeks to be liaisons that assist you in creating an appeal that will meet regulatory requirements. We cannot alter the regulations, but we can help you through them.
- Despite our desire to assist every student who submits an appeal, our ability to alter certain data elements on the FAFSA is tightly prescribed, and therefore there are some adjustments we are prohibited from making.
- Similarly, despite even extreme financial setbacks, some middle-to-upper income households may not benefit from an Income Reduction Appeal because these financial setbacks, as difficult as they may be, are not mathematically large enough to reduce your income into a category that merits any additional aid. While our office can adjust income amounts, it cannot adjust the methodology used by the FAFSA to determine financial aid offers and eligibility.
- If your household already has a –1500 SAI, you will not benefit from a recalculation. Your household is already receiving the maximum amount of need-based aid.
- Due to the volume of appeals and the time commitment of manually reviewing documentation, appeal reviews can commonly take about 4 weeks—longer if documentation is unclear, incomplete, or conflicting. As such, in order to prevent lengthy delays, it is important to ensure the initial appeal is detailed and complete when first submitted.
- Depending on the situation and the information provided, some details of your appeal may trigger the need for you to provide additional information not requested at the time of the appeal.
- Given the lengthy processing time, you must pay careful attention to deadlines and final terms of enrollment. Late appeals do not have enough time to be processed thoroughly and Federal regulations prohibit us from approving an appeal after a student ceases to be enrolled for the academic year.
- Finally, as these data elements are linked to the FAFSA, if you purposely give false or misleading information, you may be fined up to $20,000, sent to prison, or both. As such, please be honest and transparent as we attempt to help you create a successful appeal.
For Interested Households
After reviewing the information above, if your household is interested in submitting an Income Reduction Appeal, please complete this survey.
Appeal Processing Timeline
For consideration of more favorable aid, we recommend you submit your appeal as soon as possible but at least four weeks prior to the end of your academic year of your enrollment, to ensure that all documentation needed to approve the appeal is received and adequate time has been given for processing. Regulations do not permit us to process appeals after the last day of your enrollment within the academic year.
- Income Reduction Appeals for the 2023-2024 academic year closed on May 1, 2024.
- Based on guidance provided by the Department of Education, institutions will not have the ability to update or make corrections to FAFSA records before early July. We are collecting and reviewing the Income Reduction Appeals for the 2024-2025 academic year. However, we will not be able to make any corrections/adjustments until the Department of Education has finalized and provided the colleges/universities access to make the necessary changes to a student’s record. Appeals will be processed in the order received once processing commences. We appreciate your understanding as we work through these challenges that have an impact on finalizing and processing student aid.
Income Reduction Appeals Required Documentiation
The Department of Education requires that any adjustment to the data that determines your Student Aid Index (SAI) must be documented. Income Reduction Appeals that do not contain the required documentation cannot be approved. Substitutions and/or reinterpretations of the required documents are prohibited.
Once our office has confirmed you are eligible for an Income Reduction Appeal, you will submit documentation via our verification portal. All appeals must submit the following documentation:
- Completion of the PJ EFC/SAI Appeal Form including a detailed statement explaining why you are requesting an income reduction appeal and clarifying your extenuating circumstances which make you eligible for an appeal. Please make sure to be specific and include dates.
- IF AFTER 01/01/2023, 2022 Federal Tax Returns, all schedules, W-2s and 1099s or if Federal Tax Returns were not filed, you must provide BOTH a 2022 Wage & Income Transcript AND a 2022 Verification of Non-filing Letter from the Internal Revenue Service.
- IF AFTER 01/01/2024, 2023 Federal Tax Returns, all schedules, W-2s and 1099s or if Federal Tax Returns were not filed, you must provide BOTH a 2023 Wage & Income Transcript AND a 2023 Verification of Non-filing Letter from the Internal Revenue Service.
Circumstances Requiring Additional Documentation
The following circumstances require additional respective documentation. Please click the plus sign (+) to the far right of each circumstance to view examples of accepted documents.
Death of a Parent or Spouse
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Death certificate.
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Documentation of death benefits or life insurance payouts.
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Social Security Survivors Benefit Verification Letter.
Disability
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If applicable, Workers Compensation Award Letter or Award Order that clearly indicates the date(s) and amount(s) of compensation benefits.
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For households who receive or will receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a Social Security Benefit Verification Letter indicating the start date(s) and monthly benefit amount(s); other households, a Social Security Benefit Verification Letter indicating the household is not eligible for Disability Benefits.
Divorce or Separation
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Divorce Decree or Separation Agreement (if there is no legal document supporting the divorce or separation, you must upload proof of separate residences [i.e., driver’s licenses, official leases, mortgage statements]).
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For households who receive or will receive Child Support and/or Alimony payments, award letter/agreement documentation indicating the start date(s) and payment schedule(s).
Loss of Job or Unemployment
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Official employment verification letter from the past employer that includes the last date of employment.
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Documentation of severance pay.
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Unemployment benefits determination letter (including denials). Approvals must include amount(s) and pay schedule(s).
Loss of Untaxed Income or Benefits
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Benefits cancellation documentation from an agency or court indicating the loss of untaxed income or benefits, the date of termination, and reason.
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IF AFTER 01/01/2023, documentation of the total amount of untaxed income or benefits received in 2022 and, if applicable, the total amount of untaxed income or benefits received to date in 2023.
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IF AFTER 01/01/2024, documentation of the total amount of untaxed income or benefits received in 2023 and, if applicable, the total amount of untaxed income or benefits received to date in 2024.
Reduction in Pay or Underemployment
Documentation from employer indicating a reduction in hours, reduction in wage/salary, reassignment, or alteration of duties and the reason.
Retirement
Social Security, pension, IRA, and other investment vehicle documentation indicating start date(s) and monthly benefit amount(s).
Unreimbursed and Paid Medical or Dental Expenses
Every medical or dental expense must include billing statements that clearly indicate the amount(s) billed, the amount(s) covered by insurance, and proof(s) of payment.