Once your financial aid application and all requested information has been received and processed, you will be notified via E-mail that you have an Award Letter. The Award Letter will reflect all federal, state and University offers of aid, including scholarships, grants, loans, and student employment. Generally, the Office of Financial Assistance begins generating Award Letters to applicants in March preceding the beginning of the new award year.

Your Award Letter is provided electronically through the Financial Aid section of the Student Self-Service. Once you have accessed your Award Letter, thoroughly review and complete all requested actions. Your Award Letter should be used to report additional financial aid awards and to request financial aid processing changes throughout the year.

The Award Letter Overview page provides a summary of your financial aid. The top section provides your Cost of Attendance, and financial need calculation based upon the information you submitted on your FAFSA. The second section provides information on the awards that you have been offered and/or are receiving. The third section provides information on additional steps that must be completed to receive the awards you have been offered. Please be aware that the instructions will be removed as you complete these requirements. The bottom section contains buttons for you to navigate the Award Letter functionality.

The Award Letter provides a real-time, on-line version of your current financial aid awards. The information on your Award Letter may change throughout the award year. Click the “Print/Save” button if you wish to save a copy of the Award Letter for your files. Dependent students may want to use this feature to provide a copy of their Award Letter to their parents.

If you have an “Accept/Decline Awards” button, you have one or more financial aid awards in offered status that must be accepted or declined. You should click on the “Accept/Decline Awards” button to proceed in completing your Award Letter.

Click the “Not Attending” button if you have decided not to attend the University of Illinois at Springfield. This feature should only be used if you do not plan to attend any time during the award year. If you have attended/plan to attend part of the year, then you should use the “Accept/Decline Awards” or “Request Changes” button.

The Award Letter Information Request page allows you to report other financial aid awards that are not currently listed on your Award Letter as well as to request financial aid processing changes. Please be brief, but thorough, in providing additional information. This feature should be used throughout the year to report additional financial aid awards or to request financial aid processing changes. If you enter anything in the boxes on this page, the processing of your Award Letter will stop in order for the Office of Financial Assistance to review and process your additional information.

If you do not have anything to report/request, click the “Continue” button on the Award Letter Information Request screen. The Award Letter Accept/Decline Awards page is used to accept/decline awards in offered status. You must accept/decline all awards in offered status and may use the “Partial Accept” field to request a lower award amount. Guidance is provided at the top of the page regarding which awards may/may not be re-offered to you later in the award year. You should also read and accept the Financial Aid Terms and Conditions before selecting “Submit Decision”. Once submitted, you will be provided an updated list of any additional steps that must be taken to receive the awards that you have accepted. Internet links are provided to direct you to other Web sites to complete these steps.

If you have completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and do not receive an Award Letter or request for additional information/documents from the Office of Financial Assistance by mid-May, please check the Financial Aid section of the Student Self-Service, or contact us.