Special Condition Application
What is the Special Condition Application (SCA)?
While the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data is intended to determine the amount a family can reasonably be expected to pay toward a student's college costs, occasionally circumstances arise that make the FAFSA data an inaccurate picture of a family's ability to pay. The SCA allows us to evaluate your current financial circumstances with the possibility of increasing your aid.
Examples of special conditions that may be reviewed:
- Retirement of dependent student's parent
- Death of dependent student's parent
- Parent loss of employment
- Reduction of untaxed income (child support or Social Security income)
- High unreimbursed medical expenses in the base year (the tax year reported on your FAFSA)
- Also see Are you a dependent or independent student?
How to file the SCA
Contact an advisor at the Office of Financial Aid (OFA) to discuss whether you might benefit from filing the SCA, which requires substantial documentation on your part.
When to file the SCA
Except in the case of a dependency override, you should wait until you have received your first MSU financial aid award notification. If the aid you are offered is not sufficient and you believe you have extenuating circumstances, call OFA and ask to speak to an advisor about your special condition(s). If you believe you qualify for a dependency override, contact an OFA advisor before filing the FAFSA.
SCA filing deadline
You must submit your SCA no later than February 1 of the aid year for which you are applying, for instance February 1, 2009 for the 2008-2009 aid year (fall '08, spring '09, summer '09).
