Financial Aid FAQ

Welcome to the HU financial aid FAQ webpage. We've organized a list of concerns and questions which we frequently address with prospective students and families. Please peruse this information at your convenience for insight into the financial aid process.  As always, if you have additional questions please do not hesitate to contact us at finaid@huntington.edu

HOW DO I LOGIN TO THE HU PORTAL TO VIEW MY FINANCIAL AID INFORMATION?

Prospective students and incoming freshmen and transfer students may access their portal information using the following login information. 

  • Usernames: Typically a student's HU ID is the username at an accepted status. Once you have deposited to HU, your username will change to your last name and first initial. If we have more than one user with that username (ex. John Smith) then we attach a number on the end of the username (smithj1@huntington.edu). You can look up your username here
  • Passwords  Users with a social security number in HU's system have their passwords set to the last 5 digits of their social security number. If we do not have a social security number in our system for you, use your date of birth in dd/mm/yyyy format (ex 01/01/2001). If that does not work use 99999 for the password (five 9s).
  • Assistance: If you are unable to login with this information, please contact helpdesk@huntington.edu for assistance. 

Current students will create their own unique password after their first portal login. If you do not remember your username or password please contact helpdesk@huntington.edu for assistance.

ONCE I AM ON THE PORTAL, HOW DO I FIND MY FINANCIAL AID INFORMATION?

Traditional Undergraduate Students (Main Campus and Arizona Campus) using a Desktop or Laptop

  1. Go to the HU Portal
  2. Login to the portal with your username and password. See above for information on obtaining your username/password. 
  3. Select STUDENTS tab (at the top). 
  4. Select Financial Records (on the left menu). 
  5. Click on Financial Aid (on the left menu). 
  6. Under Financial Aid Awards, select the appropriate award year from the drop down list. 
  7. Click View Financial Aid Awards to see your current aid offer. 

Traditional Undergraduate Students (Main Campus and Arizona Campus) using a mobile device

  1. Go to the HU Portal
  2.  Click on the three dashes in the top left.
  3.  Select Students
  4. Select the bottom left blue arrow.  
  5.  Select Financial Records
  6. Select Course and Fee Statement from under the ‘My Account Info’ section.
  7.  Select Fall 2023 under Select a Term.
  8. Select Generate my Course and Fee Statement
  9. Click ‘View my Course and Fee Statement’ to download a PDF 

Online Undergraduate Students/Professional Program Students

  1. Go to the HU Portal
  2. Login to the portal with your username and password. See above for information on obtaining your username/password. 
  3. Select PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS tab (at the top).
  4. Select My Financial Records (on the left menu).
  5. Click on My Financial Aid (on the left menu). 
  6. Under Financial Aid Awards, select the appropriate award year from the drop down list. 
  7. Click View Financial Aid Awards to see your current aid offer. 

Graduate Students (Masters and Doctoral Programs Online, Main, Arizona, or Ft. Wayne Campus)

  1. Go to the HU Portal
  2. Login to the portal with your username and password. See above for information on obtaining your username/password. 
  3. Select GRAD STUDENTS tab (at the top). 
  4. Select My Financial Records (on the left menu). 
  5. On the right side of the page under Financial Aid Awards, select the appropriate award year from the drop down list. 
  6. Click View Financial Aid Awards to see your current aid offer. 
WILL I BE ABLE TO AFFORD A  PRIVATE UNIVERSITY?

The HU Office of Financial Aid is here for you during your college exploration journey. We understand that the financial component of college can be overwhelming and emotional. Our goal is to partner with you and your family to make the financial process as stress free as possible so that you can focus on the most important thing—finding a college at which you can flourish spiritually, academically, and socially. 

We respect you and your family’s time, so we carefully put the best award package on the table in our very first offer, empowering you upfront with the information you need to make informed financial decisions.

We invite you to always call or visit our office with questions or concerns. Serving students and families is our favorite part of this job, and we look forward to getting to know future Foresters before they arrive on campus!

HOW DO I APPLY FOR FINANCIAL AID?  

1. You must be accepted for admission at Huntington University before you can receive financial aid consideration.

2.  Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon after October 1 as possible. Respond promptly to any requests made for additional information or documentation.

HOW DO I FILE THE FAFSA?
  1. If this is your first time filing the FAFSA, you and one of your parents will need to create a Federal Student Aid username and password. You may do this at fsaid.ed.gov.
  2. File the FAFSA online by going to www.studentaid.gov
  3.  Use your and your parent(s) two-year prior income tax returns to complete the FAFSA. As an example, for the 19/20 FAFSA you will use 2017 tax data. You may also choose to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer your and your parent(s) income from the IRS and into the FAFSA. This is the fastest and easiest way to ensure you are providing the correct tax data on the FAFSA. 
  4. Choose Huntington University as a school to receive your financial aid information. Our Federal School code is 001803
  5.  Indiana residents must file the FAFSA no later than April 15 to qualify for Indiana aid. 
  6. Out-of-state residents are encouraged to file the FAFSA as soon as possible, but there is no deadline to qualify for institutional aid. 
WHAT IS VERIFICATION? WHY HAVE I BEEN SELECTED? 

Students are selected for the verification process by the Department of Education, so each school to which you are applying will request similar information from you. Being selected for verification does not indicate that you did anything incorrectly on the FAFSA. Verification is simply a random quality control process used by the Department of Education to verify accurate FAFSA completion.

The verification process requires us to collect documents to confirm the FAFSA data reported for your family. Our office will not be able to finalize award information or transmit need-based aid or federal loans until this process is completed. If you have been selected for verification we will email you and will provide you with the information needed to complete the verification process. We understand that this can be an inconvenient process and your cooperation is appreciated. We are here to work with you and help you through all the steps. 

WHAT IS A CONSORTIUM AGREEMENT? 

Students who wish to take courses at another university while being enrolled in a degree seeking program at HU may benefit from a consortium agreement. The process allows a student who is not enrolled in at least 12 credits (full-time at HU) to combine courses from another university that will meet their HU degree requirements with their current coursework at HU. 

As an example: If Sally wants to take 6 credits at Huntington University in the fall semester, and also take 6 credits at Community College ABC in the fall semester, she can complete a consortium agreement to request that HU provide her with full-time financial aid for the fall semester. A consortium is only appropriate if the courses Sally is taking at another university will count toward her degree program at HU. 

If you would like to complete a consoritum agreement, please download and complete the Consortium Form prior to the start of classes in the semester you would like for a consortium to be considered. For your convenience, the form may be filled in and emailed, and electronic signatures are acceptable. Contact our office with additional questions! 

FAFSA INFORMATION DOES NOT REFLECT MY FAMILY'S CURRENT SITUATION. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

If you believe that your FAFSA does not accurately reflect your family’s current financial situation please give us a call. In some cases, we may be able to adjust your FAFSA due to loss of income, death of a parent or spouse, divorce, or natural disaster damage to your family’s residence through a process called "Special Circumstance Adjustment". Each situation is unique so it is difficult to outline all situations in which a FAFSA adjustment is appropriate. Please give us a call to talk through your specific situation to see if an adjustment may be made to the FAFSA and if such an adjustment will benefit your family financially. 

You may complete a request for a special circumstance adjustment by submitting a Special Circumstance Adjustment form along with the appropriate documentation. We will contact you if we need any additional information. 

WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MY FINANCIAL AID AWARD LETTER?

We package first time-freshmen and transfer students as early as the December prior to following fall term. In order to provide a financial aid award letter, you must be accepted by the admissions office, you must have completed a FAFSA or notified us that you are not planning to complete a FAFSA, and must have completed the financial aid verification process and provided any other documents requested by the Office of Financial Aid. Once all of this information is complete, we will provide you with your award letter via mail! Keep an eye out for a large envelope with the HU logo, mailed to your home address. 

WHERE SHOULD I LOOK FOR OUTSIDE SCHOLARSHIPS?

Our students are most successful at receiving scholarships through their local community resources. Most scholarship applications are open from December through February (some may open earlier or close later). Start searching for outside scholarships in late fall/early spring of your senior year in high school. We recommend applying through your community foundation (simply Google your county, state, and "community foundation" to determine which foundation serves your county), through parental employers, through your local church or through other local community groups. We also encourage students to check with high school guidance counselors to see if they know of any additional scholarship opportunities. 

WHAT IS WORK-STUDY? HOW DO I KNOW IF I AM ELIGIBLE FOR WORK-STUDY?

You may be eligible for Federal Work Study if you qualify for Federal Pell Grant.  Jobs are available in various departments and listed on the portal page under the ‘Student’ heading. A student may wish to use Federal Work Study, but is not required to do so. If a student decides to be employed in an on campus, work study eligible job, Human Resources will ensure that the student is paid from work study funds. Funds earned through the work study program can be listed as ‘need based employment’ on the appropriate year’s FAFSA, which will prevent the funds from increasing the student contribution portion of the EFC. Students may choose to use funds for any purpose (such as living expenses, tuition expenses, etcetera). We encourage families to discuss expectations of how Federal Work Study funds should be used and applied by the student.

Students who choose to work off campus or in a non-work study eligible position on campus will not be eligible to list their income earned as ‘need based employment’ on the following year’s FAFSA, but may otherwise use any of their earned funds in the exact same manner as students who qualify for and are employed in a Federal Work Study position.

After obtaining a student position on campus,  you will receive a paycheck each month.  The funds earned WILL NOT be deducted from your student bill unless you apply them or make specific arrangements with the Business Office to have them applied to your bill. You will receive your paycheck through ACH transfer to a bank account or to a pre-paid credit card.

CAN I WORK ON CAMPUS IF I AM INELIGIBLE FOR WORK-STUDY?

All students are eligible to work on campus, regardless of whether or not you qualify for work study. To search for and apply for student positions, login to the portal, navigate to the 'Students', and select 'Student Employment'. 

HOW CAN I GET ADDITIONAL INFORMATION?

Feel free to contact us by email (finaid@huntington.edu), by phone (260-359-4326 or 800-642-6493), or in person (Becker Hall, first floor). We look forward to working with you and answering any additional questions you have! You may also book an appointment with us using our online scheduler.