Get Started on Your Financial Aid Process

Applying for federal financial aid begins with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Coppin uses the FAFSA to determine which students get federal financial aid, and how much they receive. Remember, completing the FAFSA is the first step for any student to be considered for federal financial aid, including grants, loans, work study and some scholarships.

The FAFSA school code for Coppin State University is 002068.

Start Your FAFSA

What every student and family needs to know to complete your FAFSA:

Student and families often complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online. 

Step 1. Get your Federal Student Aid (FSA) User ID

Your FSA User ID is a username and password that acts as your login information and legal signature for federal financial aid applications, and online forms, like the FAFSA. Parents must create an FSA User ID if completing a FAFSA for a dependent. Any student applying for federal financial aid in their own name must have an FSA User ID. Create or look up your FSA User ID online through the Office of Federal Student Aid.

The FAFSA school code for Coppin State University is 002068.

Step 2. Collect all documentation required to complete the FAFSA

Remember, the documentation you need for your FAFSA is based on your dependency status. If you are a dependent, you must submit the required income documentation for your parents or legal guardians. If you are married, you’ll also need to submit your spouse’s income information in addition to your own.

Prepare to have these documents ready when completing your FAFSA:

• Social Security number (for you and your parents, depending on dependency status)
• Driver’s license number
• Alien registration or permanent resident card (if not a U.S. citizen)
• W2 forms (if you earned income, and did not file taxes)
• Federal Tax Transcript or Tax Return for the year you’re applying for aid. We encourage you to use the IRS Data Retrieval tool to automatically transfer your Federal Tax Return into your FAFSA.

Note: Some accepted tax forms include the IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040 EZ, or Tax Return for Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau.

Step 3: Complete, sign, and submit your FAFSA

The FAFSA is free to complete and never requires you to pay. Enter your FSA User ID to electronically sign your FAFSA before you submit.

What happens after I complete the FAFSA?

1. After submitting your FAFSA, you receive your Student Aid Report (SAR). This report comes via the email you put on your FAFSA or through the mail. Your SAR shows your eligibility for Pell and Subsidized federal loans. It may also say you’ve been selected to confirm your FAFSA information through Verification.
2. Coppin receives your SAR electronically via an Institutional Student Information Report (ISIR) after it processes.
3. Your SAR report might indicate you’ve been selected to verify your FAFSA information. If this happens, Coppin’s Office of Financial Aid (OFA) notifies you about next steps, which may include you (and/or your parents) submitting Federal Tax Transcripts, Verification Worksheets, or any other documentation needed to finish your financial aid process. Learn what your next steps are when selected for Verification.
4. Coppin’s OFA determines your eligibility for financial aid and notifies you once your file is complete.

How Coppin Awards Financial Aid

The Office of Financial Aid (OFA) awards federal financial aid based on each student's completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application, student need, and availability of federal funds. For the best possible financial aid package, we strongly encourage you to complete and file your FAFSA as early as you can. To ensure every applicant has access to federal funding, we follow the same process for every financial aid applicant.

Coppin's school code is 002068.

Step 1: Review Your Completed Financial Aid File

We start by reviewing a student’s financial aid file. Each completed file has:

• Electronic FAFSA information
• Verification package, if the student was selected
• Admission confirmation for a degree or certificate-seeking program
• Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) status (for returning students only)

Step 2: Calculate Your Cost of Attendance

We estimate the cost of a student’s education expenses for one academic year. This estimate considers:

• Tuition and related fees
• Room and board
• Textbooks and materials
• Travel
• Personal expenses

Step 3: Determine Your Financial Need

Once we understand your level of need, we create a financial aid package to meet federal, state, and university guidelines. We base financial aid awards assuming you will enroll full-time, and your awards may need to be adjusted if you decide on anything less than full-time enrollment. Financial aid packages often consist of Title IV aid, as well as outside aid, and cannot exceed the total cost of attendance.

Determining a student’s level of financial need starts with the information you (and your parents, if applicable) put on your FAFSA. Using that information, a FAFSA processor calculates your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). Your EFC gets calculated from a formula established by Congress and the information on your completed FAFSA. We receive your EFC, and then subtract it from your cost of attendance. The money left over is your determined financial need.

Step 4: Notify You of Your Award Decision

• New Students: Award notifications will be mailed to each student. Accept your financial aid award through your EagleLinks account.
• Returning Students: You will receive you award notification via your Coppin email account. Accept your financial aid award through your EagleLinks account. 

How do outside awards affect my federal financial aid?

Many students have both federal financial aid and outside funds, like private scholarships or grants. Financial assistance can be awarded based on need or other criteria, including academic excellence. We must follow federal regulations to make sure your financial aid package does not have more funds than the cost to attend Coppin.

If you do anticipate or receive financial aid in the form of outside funding, let the Office of Financial Aid know immediately.

The Verification Process

The U.S. Department of Education requires universities to verify the accuracy of information provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Verification is the process of confirming that information reported by the student and parent(s) or spouse on the FAFSA is accurate. Each year, a percentage of student who complete the FAFSA applicants are randomly selected by the U.S. Department of Education for verification. A student may also be selected by the Coppin State University.

If selected for verification, students will initially be notified on their FAFSA submission summary. In addition, the Office of Financial Aid will notify the student via alerts on their Student Financial Planning (SFP) portal if additional documentation is needed.

Students who are selected for verification must provide all required documentation and verification must be complete before any financial aid will be released to students. Failure to provide all required documentation before the last day of classes for the semester may result in the cancellation of the student’s financial aid awards.

Please remember to write the student’s name and Campus ID on all verification documents prior to uploading to your SFP portal. To safeguard your personal information, please upload ALL verification documents to your student portal. Please do not email verification documents to the Office of Financial Aid.

Verification of Income Data

• If you are selected for the verification process, our office will send you an email and post alerts on your SFP Portal specifying the documents required.
• When all necessary documentation is received, our office will compare the submitted paperwork to the information provided on the FAFSA. If there are any discrepancies, our office will make the corrections, and you will receive notification if your financial aid has changed. The revised awards will be available on your SFP Portal.
• Occasionally, our office must request additional documentation because the originally submitted documents do not provide all of the necessary information to complete the verification process. In these situations, you will be notified via e-mail that additional documentation needs to be submitted to our office.

Verification of Citizenship

If your citizenship status is not verified by the Department of Homeland Security when you initially complete your FAFSA, you will be required to submit documentation to the Office of Financial Aid verifying your citizenship status.

U.S. citizens flagged for verification of citizenship on the FAFSA should contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) to update their federal records to prevent repeated future requests. Use the link provided above and contact the SSA to find out how to update your record.

Acceptable Documentation for FAFSA Verification of Citizenship

For our office to verify citizenship, one of the following original documents must be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid in person:

If you are an U.S. citizen born in the United States, examples of acceptable documentation include:

• Your birth certificate
• Your U.S. passport

If you are a U.S. citizen born outside the United States, examples of acceptable documentation include:

• Your Certificate of Citizenship
• Your U.S. passport
• Your Certificate of Naturalization

If you are an eligible non-citizen, examples of acceptable documentation include:

• Your Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551 or I-151)
• Your passport stamped, “Processed for I-551 . . . valid until ___”
• Your Departure Record (I-94)

Find Your Financial Aid Fit

Coppin State University prides itself on being recognized nationally for transforming the lives of students from all socio-economic backgrounds through post-secondary education. We are committed to providing guidance on all forms of funding to finance your education and will take your request under review.

There are various types of financial aid. Financial aid is inclusive of grants (gift aid), scholarships (grant or payment awarded based on merit, athletic or other achievement) and educational loans (must be repaid).

Many Coppin students have a combination of grants, scholarships, loans and other funding sources to pay for their college education. Check out some of the available options to help make your Coppin education a reality.

Exit Counseling

Federal Direct Loan student borrowers are required to complete an Direct Loan Exit Counseling session. This Exit Counseling session has been created by the U.S. Department of Education to make sure that you understand your rights and responsibilities as a federal student loan borrower.

Federal Work-Study Program (FWS)

Federal Work-Study (FWS) is a need-based financial aid program that provides undergraduate and graduate students part-time employment opportunities, allowing students to earn money to help pay for educational expenses. FWS jobs are regular paid positions emphasizing employment in civic education and work related to your course of study whenever possible. Job opportunities can be on campus or off campus. Off campus positions will usually be a private nonprofit organization or a public agency, and the work performed must be in the public interest.

To become eligible for an FWS or SEP award, students must:

• Complete the FAFSA
• Be eligible to receive federal financial aid and have unmet need
• Stay enrolled in 6 or more credit hours

To maintain FWS eligibility, students must:

• Complete all personnel paperwork (e.g., I-9, W-4, Form 52, etc.) before starting employment
• Work no more than 20 hours per week during fall and spring semesters
• Stay enrolled in 6 or more credit hours in a degree-seeking program during FWS or Student Employment Program (SEP) opportunities
• Submit timely accurate timesheets
• Not exceed the FWS or SEP award

Private Loans

Private student loans (also known as alternative loans) are non-federal loans, made by a lender such as a bank, credit union or state agency. Federal student loans include many benefits (such as fixed rates, income-based repayment plans, and loan forgiveness plans) not typically offered by private loans. In many cases, private loans may be more expensive than Federal student loans. A student should NEVER consider borrowing from a private loan program until they have exhausted all their Federal Direct Loan options first.

• Dependent Undergraduate students applying for private loan financing with a parental cosigner are advised to first investigate the options offered by the Federal PLUS program before applying. A detailed comparison between the Direct PLUS and Private loan programs can be viewed in our Direct Loan Comparison Worksheet.
• Through our partnership with Fast Choice, you can now search for private lenders and loans that meet your needs.

Scholarships and Scholars Programs

Our Coppin Financial Aid Office provides a wealth of information on different scholarship programs. We encourage students to check the website often as new scholarships are added regularly. See our complete list of scholarship opportunities.

Student Loan Code of Conduct

The guiding principles for ensuring the integrity of the student aid process and the ethical conduct of employees in regard to student loan practices at Coppin State University.

Student Loan Code of Conduct

Financial Aid Basics

When it comes to paying for school, you have options—and we are here to help you understand what those options are. How can you make your Coppin education possible? Get answers below.

What is financial aid?

It’s money in the form of loans, grants, work study, or scholarships that you can use to pay for school. Students often use a combination of different types of financial aid to cover full school costs.

Some types of financial aid can come from private sponsors and scholarships. It can also come from the U.S. Department of Education (i.e. federal financial aid) in the form of loans, grants, or Federal Work-Study (FWS). Students, parents, or legal guardians must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to be eligible for federal financial aid. Schools use the FAFSA to award federal financial aid on a first-come, first-served basis, so it’s a good idea to file as early as you can.

The Coppin State University school code for the FAFSA is 002068.

Who is eligible for financial aid?

Students and their parents or legal guardians may both be eligible for financial aid. Each type of student aid may have specific requirements for who is eligible. Some types of aid, like loans and grants, are based on a student’s financial need. Other types, like scholarships, may be based on specific criteria around grades, or community service. The federal government determines who gets federal financial aid through the information you provide on the FAFSA. Be sure to read all the eligibility information to see what you qualify for.

Who has access to a student’s financial aid information?

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a student’s financial information is confidential and only available to the student. However, a student may give permission to other people, including family members, to discuss financial aid information. This permission must be signed in-person at the Office of Financial Aid (OFA) or students can also send a signed, notarized statement to the OFA.

Do students need parents’ information on the FAFSA?

A student's dependency status determines whether you must include your parents' information on your FAFSA.  Learn more about your FAFSA dependency status so you can be prepared with the documentation you need. There are 2 difference dependency statuses: 

• Dependent students must report their own and their parents' information.
• Independent students must report their own, and if married, their spouse's information.