Application Process for New Freshmen

St. Thomas Institutional Funding

Nearly all incoming freshmen students receive an institutional commitment in the form of an award or scholarship from the University of St. Thomas. St. Thomas Scholarships and Awards are determined based on the credentials presented on your application for admission and your academic transcripts. You must first apply and be accepted for admission to the University of St. Thomas to be considered for institutional, merit-based funds.

Additional Financial Aid Application Process

To receive additional need-based financial aid at the University of St. Thomas, you must complete and submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). After we receive the results of your FAFSA, our office will notify you of your need-based aid eligibility for the upcoming academic year.

FAFSA on the Web

Students should always file the FAFSA online. This is the fastest, most secure, and easiest way to apply for federal student aid. Paper applications are still available but will take significantly longer to process.

It is also recommended that students and their parent(s) take advantage of the IRS data retrieval tool offered as part of the FAFSA on the Web process. Transferring tax data directly from the IRS to your FAFSA will eliminate the need to verify your tax information later and reduce the amount of time required to file your application. IRS data retrieval is available as of Feb. 1 to all applicants.

To file your FAFSA using IRS data retrieval, follow these steps:

1. Prepare taxes early and file taxes electronically
2. Receive your confirmation from the IRS indicating your tax return has been accepted. Within 10 days of this confirmation, your data should be available to transfer to your FAFSA.
3. File your FAFSA online at www.fafsa.gov

The St. Thomas priority filing date for the FAFSA is April 1. It is in the student's best interest to file the FAFSA before the priority filing date at each school they are considering. If your tax data is not ready to transfer before a priority filing date you should go ahead and file your FAFSA using the best information available. However, you should update your FAFSA using IRS data retrieval as soon as the information is available to transfer.

Paper FAFSA

The U.S. Department of Education strongly encourages applicants to file electronically. Paper applications are no longer made available to schools, but students can download a paper FAFSA by selecting "FAFSA Filing Options" on the FAFSA homepage.