When completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), students (and their families) are asked to provide income and asset information for the most recent tax year. The FAFSA does not take into consideration the subsequent year's (current year) income and any loss of income since the tax year reported on the FAFSA. In accordance with federal law, WSU's Loss of Income Petition allows students and families with special circumstances to document any decrease in income for the current year so that the Office of Financial Aid may reevaluate students' financial aid awards.

Loss of Income

• Loss of job;
• Reduction in pay;
• Roth IRA rollover (from traditional IRA to Roth IRA);
• Loss of untaxed income;
• Loss of income due to disability;
• Separation or divorce (after filing the FAFSA as married);
• Loss of income due to separation from the U.S. Armed Forces in the tax year reported on the FAFSA;
• Death of a parent or spouse; and/or
• Having filed the current year's tax return, the income has decreased from the tax year reported on the FAFSA.

NOTE: Often students and families must project current year incomes. The income projected for the current year must be at least fifteen percent (15%) lower than the income reported on the FAFSA for the prior tax year. The Loss of Income Petition, for a given aid year, only compares a loss of income from the tax year reported on the FAFSA to the subsequent calendar year and no further.

How to Petition Loss of Income

The student and family must first complete the FAFSA and WSU must have the results of the FASFA on file. The student and/or family then must contact the Office of Financial Aid to discuss their special circumstances with a Financial Aid Advisor. If the student and/or family is eligible to petition, they will be given a Loss of Income Petition to complete and return (with appropriate documentation) to the Office of Financial Aid. Loss of Income Petitions are made available no sooner than April prior to the start of the aid year.

If approved, the student's cost of attendance may be increased or Expected Family Contribution (EFC) adjusted to reevaluate the student's financial aid awards (such as the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Stafford Loan and Ohio College Opportunity Grant). In some cases, no change may occur to the student's financial aid.

Petitioning a loss of income is an annual process. If there is a continual decrease in financial circumstances, then students (and families) can contact the Office of Financial Aid to petition loss of income for the next aid year.