If you or your family are expecting extreme changes to your personal life or financial situation, we may be able to adjust your financial information to reflect your current situation more accurately.
The goal of a special circumstance is to make qualifying adjustments to the family FAFSA information to improve a student's eligibility. In some cases, this adjustment will qualify the student for additional grant funding. If the student's EFC is already 0, there is no reason to submit a Special Circumstance. Please note that an approved appeal is not a guarantee of additional financial aid. You will receive email notification of any changes in your financial aid once your Special Circumstance appeal is reviewed.
Reasons for submitting a special circumstance include:
- Loss of employment - If the current year's income is equal to or more than the previous year's income, no changes can be made for loss of employment.
- Separation or divorce - Changes can only be made if both parent/stepparent income was included on the FAFSA and a separation or divorce occurred AFTER the FAFSA was submitted.
- Loss of child support - Changes can only be made if child support was included on the FAFSA.
- Medical
- Death of spouse or parent - Changes can only be made if income of the deceased was included on the FAFSA.
- One-time lump sum benefit or untaxed income such as an IRA distribution, pension distribution or Social Security 'back pay'.
Situations that do NOT merit a special circumstance appeal include, but are not limited to:
- Standard living expenses (e.g. utilities, credit card payments, children’s allowances, etc.)
- Mortgage payments
- Car payments
- Credit card or other personal debts
- Vacation expenses
- All other discretionary expenses
- Reduction in assets due to market changes
If you have a circumstance or situation not listed above, please contact our office.
Please contact the MSU Financial Aid Office at financial-aid@msutexas.edu or call 940-397-4214 to begin this process.