Apply for Aid Overview

Welcome to the HLS Financial Aid Application Process! While we know applying for financial aid can seem overwhelming, we hope that this section of our web site and its step-by-step approach to describing our application process will make applying for financial aid as simple as is reasonably possible. It is our goal to be transparent and clear in our descriptions of the various steps so that you not only understand what is required of you and when, but also why it is required. The timeline for the entire application process extends across much of the calendar year, with various steps along the way. At times, you may complete all that is possible at that particular juncture; however, more will be required of you in the future. This section gives a brief overview of the steps so that you can anticipate what's next even when it is not possible to complete it. We will email you regularly throughout the process to keep you posted on your application status and will always let you know when you can take action on the next step.

• Step 1 - Completing Your Preliminary Financial Aid Application
  In this step you will submit the main online HLS financial aid application, which will then create a personalized list of required documents to complete your application for aid. Once all of your documents are received, we can begin reviewing your application to determine a preliminary award offer for you.
• Step 2 - Reviewing/Understanding Your Preliminary Financial Aid Award Offer
  Once we complete our review of your financial aid application, you will receive email notification (on a rolling basis for admitted students and in early July for returning students) of your preliminary award. We use the word preliminary when describing your award information because HLS financial aid awards are not final until the fall review process concludes in October of each academic year. We hope when you receive your award notification you will review the information we provide, then contact us with any questions.
• Step 3 - Understanding Your Loan Options
  The goal of this step is to help you understand all of the loan options available to you so that you can confidently take the appropriate actions to secure enough funding to cover your education expenses. The step will outline both the details of the loans you were offered as part of your aid package, as well as your supplemental loan options for funding you may wish to borrow beyond what we have offered you in your package.
• Step 4 - Obtaining Financial Clearance for Fall Registration and Receiving Your Fall Cash Advance Check
  Harvard University’s central Student Receivables Office generates monthly e-bills, and you will receive email notice of your first monthly e-bill in mid-July. You should ensure that your preliminary financial aid award is sufficient to cover your e-bill balance. If not, you should plan to make an e-payment or apply for a supplemental education loan. If your anticipated financial aid credits exceed the total of your fall charges, you will be eligible for a fall cash advance check that can be used for living expenses. Eligible students will receive their check after fall registration.
• Step 5 - Finalizing Your Financial Aid Award and Getting Your Aid Disbursed
  Financial aid awards are always preliminary until the completion of our fall award review process in September and October of each academic year. In late August/early September we will send you a reminder of everything you will need to do to finalize your award; this includes e-signing master promissory notes for any federal and institutional loans in your package, completing our online financial aid entrance counseling session, submitting any remaining tax documentation still listed as outstanding in "Your Documents", and completing our online Summer Income and Expense Update Web Form. After receiving all of this final documentation, we will review your file once again, make our final award determination and then notify all aid recipients of their final financial aid award data for the year. Grant recipients should expect to receive their final award data, including our final determination of their HLS need-based grant eligibility no later than November 1 of each academic year. Loan only aid recipients can expect to receive their final award data, including our final determination of their maximum LIPP borrowing eligibility by January 15 of each academic year.