Financial Aid

Sweet Briar College offers merit- and need-based financial aid to students who qualify. The student and/or her family are expected to pay for Sweet Briar’s cost of attendance (COA) to the extent they are able. If the family demonstrates that it lacks the financial resources to do so, the student becomes eligible to receive need-based financial assistance.

The student demonstrates her eligibility for assistance through an application process, beginning with the Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (FAFSA), in which she and her family submit documents detailing their financial income and assets. Sweet Briar applies the Federal Methodology Need Analysis formula to this financial information to calculate the family’s ability to pay the College’s full cost of attendance. The dollar amount calculated is determined to be the expected family contribution (EFC). If that amount is less than Sweet Briar’s cost of attendance, the difference is called financial need, and the College offers the student an award package to help make up the difference.

The student receives an award letter that specifies the total amount in scholarships and need-based aid, including the individual sources of assistance such as scholarships, loans, grants and work-study, and any follow-up action the student must take to have the assistance credited on her tuition account.

The Award Package

The award usually consists of scholarship, grant, loan and work-study job money. Scholarship and grant money is not repaid, loan money must be repaid, and job money is received in the form of a biweekly paycheck for work the student performs in the campus job to which she is assigned.

If the student receives a scholarship from the College, or a scholarship or grant from outside the College, that amount must be considered part of her financial aid award. Also, if she obtains additional grant money from a source outside the College after she has received her award, her award must be reviewed and, if appropriate, adjusted to ensure that her package does not exceed her need.

The loan and job portions of the award are optional - the College does not require the student to accept either - but if the student declines either or both, she and her family are responsible for finding the additional funds to make up the difference.

Grants that may be part of the financial assistance award include the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant, Vermont State Grant, Rhode Island State Grant, the grants provided under the auspices of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, Sweet Briar College Grants and private scholarships or grants, which the student obtains on her own initiative.

Loans that may be part of the financial assistance award include the Federal Direct Ford Loan, the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Ford Loan, the Sweet Briar College Dairy Loan and the Mary and Lee Ashcraft Loan.

Funding for the student’s campus job may be derived from the Federal Work-Study Program or from Sweet Briar funds. The typical job award is $1,000 per year. To earn that amount during the course of the school year, the student works approximately six hours per week at the federal minimum hourly wage.

Eligibility Restrictions

Only U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to receive federal or Sweet Briar need-based financial aid.

Most institutional, federal and state scholarship and financial aid is portable to a Sweet Briar-approved study abroad or off-campus study program during a semester/year. Students are encouraged to research and apply for external scholarships for study abroad.

Application Process

The application process for need-based assistance is an annual one. Each academic year, the student must submit information about her family’s income and assets on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If she is selected for verification by the Department of Education, she also must provide signed photocopies of her and her family’s IRS tax return transcripts and W-2s, as well as any other documents specified by the financial aid office.

Application Deadlines

Financial aid applications for new students are accepted beginning Oct. 1 each year and the priority deadline is Feb. 1.

Refund Policy

If a graduate student drops or withdraws from a course during the fall or spring semester, refunds are made as follows:

Federal law requires the return of unearned federal aid funds to their respective programs when a student withdraws from the College before completing 60% of any semester for which she received such aid. “Unearned” funds mean the amount that would have been used to cover student’s charges for the portion of the semester she was not enrolled, according to a federally prescribed formula.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

1. Unsubsidized Direct Stafford loan (other than PLUS loans)
2. Subsidized Direct Stafford loan
3. Federal Perkins loans
4. Federal PLUS loans
5. Directs PLUS loans
6. Federal Pell Grants for which a return of funds is required
7. Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) for which a return of funds is required

If, as a result of the return of these funds, an unpaid balance is left on the student’s bill, she or her family is responsible for paying it. No refund will be given to any student who is suspended or expelled from the College for disciplinary reasons.