16-17 Applicant Financial Aid Timeline
December 1, 2015
December 1 is the priority deadline to submit your online Application for Admission to CIM and
related Admission documents for the 16-17 academic year.
Feb 1 – March 4, 2016
CIM Audition; By February 1 the CIM Financial Aid Office will email all applicants with information
about the aid process so students may begin planning.
January & early
February, 2016
Collect 2015 tax return documents, as applicable; prepare federal tax return if possible. If unable to
complete tax return at this time, you may use estimates to meet the March 1 FAFSA and NetPartner
Application deadline(s). ***Do NOT delay submitting your FAFSA simply because your tax return
data is not yet complete.***
March 1, 2016
March 1 is CIM’s priority deadline to submit the 16-17 FAFSA at www.fafsa.gov. CIM’s FAFSA
code is 003031. This is required for all U.S. citizens and permanent residents (both undergraduate
and graduate) seeking any need-based aid. After submitting your FAFSA, be sure to review the
Student Aid Report (SAR) that is sent to you by the FAFSA processor 1-3 business days after you
submit your FAFSA online. Until you review the SAR, do not assume your FAFSA is complete. AND
This is also the priority deadline to submit the 16-17 NetPartner Application online at
https://netpartner.cim.edu/. This is required of all students, both undergraduate and graduate,
both U.S. and International, seeking need-based aid.
March 15, 2016
If you are a National Merit Finalist, be sure to send a copy of your certificate to the CIM Financial
Aid Office no later than March 15, 2016 to obtain the Outstanding Scholar Award from CIM if you
are admitted.
April 1, 2016
Admitted students should receive admission notification and the financial aid offer via NetPartner by
this date, assuming all required documents were completed by the due dates listed above.
April 15, 2016
If any estimated tax information was used, you must correct your FAFSA with actual completed tax
return data, as soon as the return is complete, as required by law. Be sure to also update on the
FAFSA that the tax filing status is "completed" and no longer in “will file” status. The best way to do
this is by using the FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool. See FAFSA Tips below for details.
April 15 is the deadline for graduate students to confirm intent to enroll. To accept graduate
admission to CIM, submit the Intent to Enroll and Tuition Deposit online as well as accept/decline the
financial aid offer by April 15. Submit any additional required financial aid documents as noted on
NetPartner.
May 1, 2016
May 1 is the deadline for undergraduate students to confirm their intent to enroll. To accept
undergraduate admission to CIM, submit the Intent to Enroll and Tuition Deposit online as well as
accept/decline the financial aid offer by May 1. Submit any additional required financial aid
documents as noted on NetPartner.
June 30, 2016
Finish any remaining supplemental aid documents needed by the Financial Aid Office. If you have any
outside or private scholarships, be sure to inform the Financial Aid Office in writing as they are
required to be included in your aid file. Aid may not be credited (disbursed) to the student tuition
account until all required documents are completed.
***If you have summer travel and/or festivals planned, make every effort to complete all aid
documents BEFORE you leave. Every year there are many students who arrive the first day for
classes and have significant delays in aid disbursement or obtaining registration sticker since they
didn’t get things done on time. PLEASE PLAN AHEAD!
No federal student aid may be disbursed to the billing account officially until final 2015 tax return
data is updated to the FAFSA and a copy of actual tax return(s) is submitted via either the FAFSA IRS
Data Retrieval Tool or official IRS Tax Return Transcript.
IMPORTANT: CIM’s applicant FAFSA and NetPartner Application priority deadline is 3/1/16. To allow the most opportunities
for all kinds of financial aid, be sure to meet this deadline! Due date refers to the date submitted online, not the date
processed. Transmittal date is one of the data fields sent to schools on the processed file. Do NOT wait until 11:59 pm on
3/1/16 to file, as we are not responsible if there is an issue with the FAFSA and/or NetPartner websites. Many kinds of aid
have limited funding and priority will be given to those students who adhere to the due dates. If financial aid is an important
consideration for your college decision, treat these deadlines with the importance they deserve.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Tips
The 16-17 FAFSA is required of all students, both undergraduate and graduate, who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents
who seek any need-based aid. Remember the graduate student FAFSA does not require any parental income or tax information; all
graduate students are automatically classified as independent for aid purposes, even if they are claimed as a dependent on a parent tax
return or if there is parental financial support. Dependency status for financial aid has no correlation to dependency status for tax purposes.
Note: The FAFSA is also required for any student, even those with NO need, who wish to borrow Federal Direct Stafford Loan and/or Federal
Direct PLUS Loans (Parent as borrower for dependent Undergrads or Graduate). These loans are eligible to students with NO NEED, but do
require a valid FAFSA to be on file as basic federal student aid eligibility must be confirmed. Even if you are certain you will show no need,
we do recommend applying for all aid possible and submitting both the FAFSA and NetPartner Application.
Please submit your 16-17 FAFSA online at www.fafsa.gov. CIM's school code for the FAFSA is 003031. While we strongly urge
you to submit the FAFSA online, you may order a paper form from the Department of Education by calling the Federal Student Aid
Information Center (FSAIC) toll-free at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). Keep in mind, the online FAFSA processes in just a few days;
paper applications will take several weeks. The 16-17 FAFSA will not be available to submit until January 1, 2016 and is due March 1.
We suggest you print out the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet. You can use this handy form to collect all data ahead of time to make sure
you have all the information needed before you sit down at the computer to enter your FAFSA online. See www.fafsa.gov and the "before
beginning the FAFSA" section. This worksheet is to assist you and should not be sent to CIM or the FAFSA processor. You will need to enter
the information from this form into the FAFSA online.
Be aware! There are several scam websites with similar names that will charge you a fee to complete your FAFSA - DO NOT PAY TO HAVE
YOUR FAFSA FILED! Only use the official federal site www.fafsa.gov. Not only do these scam sites charge you for what is a free process,
they often submit incorrect data and it will take longer to process than if you use the correct federal site.
*A common mistake on the FAFSA relates to the following question in the “Student’s 2015 Additional Financial Information” section:
FAFSA QUESTION: Taxable student grant and scholarship aid reported to the IRS in your adjusted gross income. Includes AmeriCorps benefits
(awards, living allowances and interest accrual payments), as well as grant and scholarship portions of fellowships and assistantships.
When answering this question, do NOT simply list the full scholarship award amount you received the previous year. This answer
should only include any TAXABLE amount, which would only be amounts of grant aid (school scholarship, federal/state grants,
outside scholarships, etc) that EXCEED the tuition fee and other allowable IRS fees. For most students, this answer will be $0
(zero). If any non-zero amount is entered, CIM will require documentation of your tax return to confirm you did report that value
as taxable income. Generally, any grant aid that is above and beyond allowable tuition/fees and is specifically used for living
expenses IS taxable.
You are NOT required to have your 2015 tax return(s) completed to submit your FAFSA! Yes, it is easier to do your FAFSA if your
taxes have been prepared first, but it is not required. You may estimate 2015 tax return data so you can get your FAFSA in by the deadline.
If you do this, remember you are required by law to submit a FAFSA correction as soon as actual tax data is known. Do not wait until
March or April to do your FAFSA just because your tax return is not completed. Some types of aid have limited funding and if you are late
with any particular school’s deadline, you may lose out on aid you would have been offered, had you met the school’s priority deadline.
IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) (see this link for the step by step process: http://www.irsdataretrievaltool.com/irs-data-retrieval-tool-step-by-stepinstructions). On February 1, 2016, students and parents who have submitted their 2015 IRS tax return will be able to select the IRS Data
Retrieval Tool option on the FAFSA to transfer tax information to the FAFSA. We strongly encourage you to select this option during the
initial filing, if possible, or when subsequent corrections are made to your 16-17 FAFSA. This option will expedite the processing of your
financial aid application. All aid awarded is pending until final tax data is verified for accuracy; always update as soon as you are able.
To successfully use the DRT you must:
Have a 2015 federal tax return filed and already processed with the IRS.
Have a valid social security number.
*You will be unable to use the DRT if:
Your marital status changes after December 31, 2015.
You filed married filing separately.
You filed an amended return.
You filed a foreign tax return.
*For any of these scenarios, filers will need to request an IRS Tax Return Transcript via IRS Form 4506-T, if required for
Verification by the school(s). Amended returns will require additional documentation.
According to the IRS, electronically filed tax return information will be available online from the IRS site 1-3 weeks after the return has been
filed. Data from paper tax returns will be available in 6-8 weeks. CIM will verify ALL TAX RETURN DATA on every FAFSA for
undergraduate students who are offered and accept any need based federal student aid. You will be required to submit your official tax
return data either via the FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool or by submitting a Federal Tax Return Transcript from the IRS.
Student Aid Report (SAR) 1-3 business days after you submit your FAFSA online, you will be emailed your processed FAFSA results, the
SAR. It is VERY IMPORTANT you review this document upon receipt. Make sure all data is correct… no typos, extra zero somewhere, etc.
This data is the same that is sent to the schools. The “confirmation” email you get immediately after submitting your FAFSA is NOT
confirmation it was successfully processed. The SAR is the important document.
No federal need-based aid will be disbursed for any student until the final tax return data has been corrected on
the FAFSA for student and parent(s), as applicable for Verification purposes. No exceptions. Late tax filers will
have alternate documentation to provide until the processed tax return is available from the IRS.