For some people in college there will come time in their college career where extenuating circumstances will affect their standing in college. These extenuating circumstances may include being homeless, a death in the family, a learning disability, or any other situation which is beyond the student’s control. In such situations, a student’s emotional and mental state may be on such a decline that their grades and class work begin to descend as well.
Failing grades can be detrimental to a student’s financial aid especially if it is federal aid. In order to receive federal aid you have to be in good standing at your college which means you have to have a 2.0 or above grade point average. Anything else will result in a revocation of your federal aid. If this is your situation, you probably were advised by your college adviser to write a financial aid appeal letter.
A financial aid appeal letter is a letter written to the person in charge of financial aid at your college stating the reasons why your grades suddenly dropped and how you will do better in the future. I know a thing or two about writing a financial aid appeal letter because I was profoundly affected by the passing of my grandmother and my grades plummeted into oblivion because I couldn’t focus on anything else but grieving. I ended up taking the rest of the semester off, and when I was back to my normal self-and found out my federal aid had been revoked-I had to write a financial aid appeal letter. If you have never written a financial aid appeal letter, my personal experience should help you guide you in the right direction to where you appeal letter gets your financial aid reinstated.
When it comes to writing a financial aid appeal letter, you need to format it as if you were writing a business letter. The letter needs to be typed and hand signed. At the top of the left-hand corner of the letter should be the date written out by month, day, and then year. Double space; then you are going to write the name of the person (and their job title and department) and their address underneath the date. You are going to double space which is where you will put your salutations: Dear Mr./Ms./Mrs., followed by their name or their title (then their name) if they have one such as Dr. followed by a colon.
After you have typed your salutations, you are then going to focus on the body of your appeal letter which will be followed by a closing, your signature, and then your typed name. Your appeal letter should explain the situation that caused your grades to drop, how it influenced your standing as a student, and an outline of your plan to do better in the future. For example, when I wrote my financial aid appeal letter about the passing of my grandmother, I stated in the letter that my maternal grandmother had died while I was away at college and I further explained the relationship she and I shared. I stated her death had been a colossal blow because I was not there when she passed away which was where my grief was coming from among other places, and why I needed to take the semester off to get myself back on track. I iterated my plan of my new semester schedule, my study habits, and how I would overall buckle down and focus to get back on my former good standing as a student. After mailing off my letter I later received word my federal financial aid would be reinstated.
There are things in life that are going to happen to you in college: some things you may be able to control and other things you will not. However, when these life events begin to affect your grades and standing as a college student then you may need to turn to writing a financial aid appeal letter. No one likes letting strangers into our person business, but if it means getting your federal financial aid reinstated then you may need to share your story in order for your school’s financial aid officer to get a better understanding of your situation. You want them to be understanding of your situation, but not feel sorry for you at the same time.