Applying for Financial Aid

Federal Student Aid and the FAFSA

Many students will need to apply for Federal Student Aid to assist in financing their South Dakota Mines education. The first step in applying for federal financial aid is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). South Dakota Mines does not use a priority awarding date for filing the FAFSA, but students and parents are encouraged to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible prior to the academic year that attendance at South Dakota Mines will begin. Early submission of your FAFSA may improve your opportunity to be offered Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) and/or Federal Work-Study. All other Federal Student Aid Programs at South Dakota Mines (Pell Grant and Direct Loans) are awarded without consideration of when a student files their FAFSA.   

1. Obtain a Federal Student Aid FSA ID at http://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch. All students who do not already have a FSA ID, as well as parents for dependent students, are required to have their own FSA ID. This will be used as an electronic signature on the online FAFSA.
   
2. Go to http://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa to complete your FAFSA online. Our school code for the FAFSA is 003470.

Aid Offer Start Dates

In order to be offered federal aid of any kind, students must have been fully accepted for admission to South Dakota Mines.

The tentative date for informing incoming freshman of their Federal Student Aid offer is in March (all other students are awarded following the spring semester) and on a rolling basis thereafter.  Processing of aid offers for continuing and transfer students begins after spring grades have been finalized and Federal Student Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress is evaluated. Aid offers will be processed when your financial aid file is considered complete and ready for aid packaging.

Verification

Your application for Federal Student Aid may be selected by the U.S. Department of Education or South Dakota Mines for review in a process called verification. Verification is a systematic means of comparing various financial and informational documents with the FAFSA information you provided. You will be provided instructions if your FAFSA is selected for verification.

Finalizing Your Financial Aid Offer

If you decide to accept some or all of the financial aid options offered to you, then the next steps you need to take are detailed on our Finalizing Financial Aid webpage.