Many students who have applied for financial aid this year have experienced challenges due to complications with the FAFSA Simplification roll-out. Columbia is pleased to affirm that admitted students who have completed required components of our financial aid application have received, or can expect to receive, a detailed estimate of their financial aid eligibility. For students with estimates containing Columbia Grants, the estimate contains a net cost for their first year that we guarantee won’t change. Because of this, our admitted student response deadline continues to be May 1.
We recognize that some students and families may still be waiting to receive full financial aid details from other colleges and universities due to the impact of FAFSA delays. If you have applied for financial aid at Columbia and are unable to confidently make a decision regarding your enrollment offer because you are waiting to hear from schools that have not yet provided you with a financial aid offer due to FAFSA delays, you may request an extension to our May 1 response deadline in your Welcome Portal. We hope this flexibility helps to relieve some of the stress and anxiety students and families might be feeling as a result of the disruptions in the financial aid process this year.
Students who plan to or have already submitted an official appeal to Columbia Financial Aid & Educational Financing and have not yet received a response are eligible to submit an extension request as well.