Financial Aid Appeals

Income Appeals

Longwood uses the FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid – to determine your eligibility for financial aid. We understand that circumstances can change, and in some cases, the information on the FAFSA no longer represents your current financial situation.  Below are examples of situations that may be eligible for an appeal, and those that are not.

Reasons to appeal include, but are not limited to:

• Death of a parent or spouse.
• Divorce or separation of parents or student since the FAFSA was filed.
• Loss of parent or student income due to unemployment, change in employment, medical leave, recent disability, or loss of recurring income such as child support, alimony, or other sources of income.
• One-time, non-recurring income was received in the tax year reported on the FAFSA.
• Unusual or high medical and/or dental expenses were recently incurred.

Situations we cannot recognize in an appeal:

• Credit card debt, typical living expenses (i.e. mortgage, car payment, student loan payments) or other consumer debt.
• Your financial situation has not changed since filing the FAFSA, but you did not receive enough financial aid to cover educational expenses.
• You would like Longwood to match a financial aid offer from another school.

Appeal Forms

Dependency Status Appeals

There are a series of questions on the FAFSA that determine whether a student is considered Dependent or Independent for financial aid purposes.

Dependent students are required to provide parent information on the FAFSA.

Independent students are not required to provide parent information on the FAFSA.

If you are unable to provide parent information or feel your situation warrants an appeal based on the information below, please contact our office so we may talk with you about it.

Appeal Forms 

Reasons a Dependency Appeal may be submitted include, but are not limited to:

• Unsafe domestic environment
• Neglect or abuse by parent or other family members
• Abandonment by parents
• Unknown whereabouts of parents
• Homelessness or risk of homelessness

Examples of reasons a Dependency Appeal would not be considered:

• Parent’s unwillingness or inability to provide financial information
• Parent’s unwillingness to provide financial support
• The parent no longer claims the student on their tax return
• A student’s ability to be self-sufficient

Parent Unwillingness

If a student has contact with his/her parent(s) but the parent is unwilling to provide their information and sign the FAFSA, there is a very limited loan option available to the student. Contact our office for more information.

Cost of Attendance

Longwood University establishes a cost of attendance (COA) each academic year. The COA may sometimes differ from the customary amount based on variables such as campus housing location, meal plans, and course load. The COA also serves as the maximum cap on financial aid.

Under certain circumstances, students whose awards reach that COA limit may appeal for additional aid eligibility. 

Appeal Forms

Merit Appeals

A Lancer who does not meet the renewal requirements for a Longwood merit-based scholarship is given the opportunity to appeal based on extenuating circumstances.

• Presidential Scholarship
• Lancer Distinction Scholarship
• Deans Scholarship
• Lancer Achievement Award
• 1839 Award
• Joan of Arc Award
• Rotunda Award
• Heart of VA Scholarship
• Longwood Award
• International Scholarship

Extenuating circumstances for which a Lancer can appeal include:

• Serious health condition(s)
• Death/serious illness of an immediate family member
• Significant traumatic event(s)
• Other extraordinary/unexpected events

Merit Scholarship Appeals must be received by the end of day on June 23, 2023.

Appeals received after June 23 will be reviewed at the discretion of the Merit Review Committee.

An email notification containing the appeal decision will ONLY be communicated to the Lancers Longwood Live Mail account.

Taking Summer Classes? A Lancer who is attending summer school at Longwood may have their scholarship reinstated if completion of the summer course(s) results in their meeting the scholarship requirements. Upon completion of summer coursework, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at [email protected] to self-identify and request merit renewal re-evaluation.

Lancers who did not maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) will receive a separate email about those requirements and how to submit an SAP Appeal. An SAP Appeal may be submitted if there was an extenuating circumstance(s) that affected student success. The SAP Appeal, if granted, will then be reviewed by the Merit Review Committee.

There is no need to submit a Merit Scholarship Appeal if an SAP Appeal has been submitted.

Appeal Forms

Contact

Please contact our office before submitting any documentation for an appeal.

Every situation is different, so the documentation we request may vary from one student to another.

We like to talk with you about the situation to ensure an appeal is appropriate, and determine what documentation we will need from you. 

Questions?

Please contact our office by phone at (434)395-2077 or email [email protected].