Financial Aid

Financial aid notifications for incoming freshman are mailed beginning in the middle of March for all students that have completed their financial aid files. Returning students begin receiving their notifications in the middle of June. Once the notification is received the student needs to go to their my.butler.edu account and accept the awards that have been offered to them. If accepting loans, they will not be certified until the middle of July. After accepting the loan there is nothing further to do for incoming freshman until the loan is certified. Then your student will be contacted that they need to complete entrance counseling and sign their promissory note.

All students need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year by the March 1 priority deadline. The Office of Financial Aid reviews this information and need-based aid may fluctuate based on the information provided on the FAFSA.

Merit-based aid is awarded based on admission application information. In order to maintain your merit-based aid you need to maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average. If a departmental scholarship was awarded, you need to remain in that college. Audition and athletic awards are based on your  performance.

The largest free internet scholarship search is  www.fastweb.com. Per federal regulation you must report an outside scholarship to our office. This becomes part of your financial aid package. The package will only be adjusted based on the regulations of the programs offered to you and the regulations of the scholarship.

The Parent PLUS loan is a loan in the parent's name up to the cost of attendance minus all other financial aid. It has a fixed interest rate that is currently 7.9%. The loan does go into repayment when it is fully disbursed, but the parent can request an in-school deferment to suspend the payments while the student is in school. There is a 3% origination fee and 1% default fee at the time of disbursement.

A private student loan is a loan in the student's name with the parent as a co-signer up to the cost of attendance minus all other financial aid. It has a variable interest rate based on prime or the libor index and the credit history of the student/co-signer. The loan may be deferred until six months after the student graduates, depending on your lender. There are usually origination fees added on to the loan at repayment.

One-third of all students who file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are selected for verification which means copies of federal tax returns, W2 forms, etc. must be submitted to our office. In addition to a random selection to comply with federal regulations, students and/or parents who estimate their tax return information on the FAFSA are selected. We cannot proceed with the request for financial assistance until ALL of the required documentation has been submitted.

The amount of aid you receive is not affected by your choice of housing unless you are a Lilly Scholar. It is important for you to review the specifics of your awards with the Office of Financial Aid before you make that decision.

The financial aid packages are not negotiable, we always provide our best package with our initial offer.

You may qualify for a special circumstance, which is an event that is not taken into consideration on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Contact the Office of Financial Aid to discuss your individual situation.

When making our awards we know that not every student will be attending. This does not free up additional money.