Appeals

Students have the right to appeal or request a review of various financial aid components. The information below describes the most typical types of requests. When submitting an appeal, please use one of the following appeal forms as a cover to your request. Please note that submitting a request does not guarantee approval.

To help you determine if submitting an appeal may increase your financial aid offer, please consider the following: 

  • There is no exact income cutoff for the Federal Pell Grant, but in general, eligibility begins to decrease at a family income around $40,000 and is usually eliminated at approximately $70,000.
  • Therefore, if your income was significantly impacted by unemployment, divorce, or death of a parent/spouse, but remained above $70,000 in a subsequent year, an adjustment to the amount of financial aid offered is unlikely.
  • In comparing your current income to the FAFSA, consider severance pay, unemployment compensation, and projected future employment.

If you feel that you may qualify for an adjustment, please use the Need-Based Appeal Form below, explaining your special circumstances. A counselor will review your appeal, perform a rough calculation, and request a formal appeal if appropriate. Please note that appeal decisions are typically not final until after the start of school in the fall, as summer processing is devoted to finalizing initial aid packages for all students.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form
Scholarship Appeal Form
Need-Based Appeal Form

  • General Appeals

    Students who feel that they have received an unsatisfactory response to a financial aid request can request an appeal. Along with the Need-Based Appeal Form, you can submit a letter to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee stating your situation and requested change.

  • Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals

    If you have received notice that you are ineligible for financial aid because of a failure to maintain “Satisfactory Academic Progress”, you can submit either the Graduate Student Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form or the Undergraduate Student Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. To appeal, you must submit a detailed letter documenting the extenuating circumstances for why the deficiency has occurred, actions you have taken to resolve the issue and any supporting documentation.

  • University Scholarship Appeals

    To appeal the loss of a University scholarship: you must submit the Scholarship Appeal Form, letter, and supporting documents to the Office of Scholarships. As part of the appeal, you must clearly document the reasons beyond your control that contributed to not meeting the renewal requirements of your scholarship(s).

    **University Scholarship Appeals are reviewed during the fall semester each academic year. The Scholarship Appeal Form and supporting documents must be submitted by the last day to register or add a class.

  • Need-Based Eligibility Appeals

    If you have extenuating circumstances or a significant change in financial status since you filed the FAFSA, you can submit the Need-Based Appeal Form to the Financial Aid Office and request a review. If a comprehensive review is warranted, you will be requested to provide additional supporting documentation.

  • State of South Carolina Scholarship Appeals

    To appeal the loss of a state scholarship (Palmetto Fellows or LIFE), you must appeal directly to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) as Clemson University does not have the authority to make exceptions to state legislation and/or regulations. More information can be found on the Commission’s website.

Notifications Policy

  • Email

    The official method of communication with the Clemson University Student Financial Aid Office is via the University issued email account. In order to stay informed and aware, students are required to set up and maintain their email accounts.  You should check your email frequently.

    We recommend that you add the following email addresses to your "safe" list within your email system's spam filters:

    finaid@clemson.edu — our general email account with two-way communication

    If you have issues with your email account, visit CCIT for more information.