Transfer students are admitted to Brown under a need-aware Admission policy. Need aware means that financial need will be taken into account in making the admission decision. To be considered for financial assistance at any time during their undergraduate years at Brown, students must apply for financial aid when they initially apply for admission as a transfer applicant. Students who do not apply for financial assistance with their initial admission application will not be considered for University Scholarship at any point during their undergraduate years at Brown, regardless of any changes in their family’s financial situation.
Transfer students can be considered for any federal/state grants and loans for which they qualify, regardless of whether they applied for financial aid at the time of admission. The Office of Financial Aid will continue to assist admitted transfer students in their efforts to obtain loans and federal/state aid. For more information, please visit: Financial Aid Policy for Transfer Students.
US Citizens and Permanent Residents
Applying for Financial Aid is a two step process:
| Step 1 - Requirements due by March 1, 2013 |
The 2013-14 Free Application for Federal Student Aid
The U.S. Department of Education recently created an enhancement to the FAFSA filing process by allowing applicants and parents to retrieve tax data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This new process is called the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, which is the best and easiest way to provide accurate income information on the FAFSA. Depending on when and how the tax return was submitted, you may be eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. With just a few simple steps, you and your parents can view information from the IRS tax return that was submitted and transfer that information directly into your FAFSA. Your family's income tax information will generally be available through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool 2 weeks after electronic filing and 8 weeks after submitting a paper tax return.
If the IRS Data Retrieval Tool was not used during the initial application, applicants may be required to update information to reflect the income and tax information reported on the actual tax return. We strongly encourage the use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to update this information after taxes are submitted. If families are not eligible or ultimately choose not to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to update the tax information, the U.S. Department of Education may require us to collect additional documentation, including a certified tax transcript that you would need to obtain from the IRS. If taxes are submitted early enough to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on your initial application, there will be no need to make corrections to the tax information.
Although the FAFSA may be filed any time after January 1st, we suggest you file your FAFSA after you have filed your Federal taxes in order to take advantage of the IRS Retrieval Tool (and prior to March 1st). By doing so, you will potentially reduce the need for future corrections and will limit additional requirements requested by our office. Indicate Brown as one of your FAFSA recipients by using our federal code number 003401. In the circumstance where your final tax information will not be complete by our deadline, you should complete the FAFSA by March 1st using the best estimated figures available.
Important tips regarding the Data Retrieval Tool
a) The parent who is signing the FAFSA and the student are each required to use the same unique PIN# used to sign the FAFSA to retrieve their own IRS data
b) The address on the FAFSA needs to match the address on the submitted tax return for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to be successful
c) Individuals who are filing “Married Filing Separately” or those who filed an amended return are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool
d) If notified that you are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, you must complete the FAFSA by manually entering your income/tax information or estimates in the online application. If a tax transcript or other documentation is required, it will be listed on Banner Web
e) Every effort should be made NOT to adjust the IRS information once the data has been populated within the FAFSA
f) Even if the actual tax figures are used on the FAFSA, we would still recommend using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to verify the information is correct
CSS PROFILE Application
Complete the 2013-14 PROFILE online and indicate Brown University as one of the recipients by using our CSS Code of 3189. (If your parents are separated or divorced, use information from your custodial parent.) Print a copy for your own reference.
Noncustodial Parent's PROFILE
If your parents are divorced, separated or never married, your noncustodial parent will need to complete a Noncustodial Parent's PROFILE online. You will receive instructions by email from the College Board to send to your noncustodial parent, explaining how s/he may complete this process after you have completed your custodial CSS PROFILE. For additional information regarding the non-custodial parent application requirement, please review the frequently asked question area of our website.
| Step 2 - Requirements due by March 11, 2013 |
College Board's Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC)
Brown does not require an IDOC packet from every family. Once you have filed your CSS Profile form, you may receive communication from the College Board providing you with instructions on how to submit the additional documentation requirements listed below. If you do not receive a request from IDOC the Office of Financial Aid has enough information to provide an estimated financial aid award at the time of admission. If additional information is needed you will notified be by the Office of Financial Aid directly.
Parents' Federal Income Tax Return
If requested by IDOC, parents should send signed photocopies of all pages and schedules of their 2012 federal tax returns (including photocopies of all W-2 forms) to the College Board by March 11. Please review IDOC Questions and Answers for further details.
Student's Tax Return
If requested by IDOC, and you file a 2012 federal income tax return, please follow the same instructions as for the parents' federal tax return above. If you did not file and were not required to file, submit a non-filer form (available on the IDOC website) in place of student taxes. Please review IDOC Questions and Answers for further details.
Noncustodial Federal Income Tax Return
If requested by IDOC, your noncustodial parent should submit all pages and schedules of his or her 2011 federal tax return (including photocopies of W-2 forms) to the College Board by March 11. Please review IDOC Questions and Answers for further details.
Additional Information
Feel free to include a letter of explanation in the packet you send to the College Board's IDOC Service if your family has special circumstances or unusual expenses, or if you feel there are any other details which will help us to understand more completely your financial situation.