You are required to apply for financial aid each year. Sometimes family situation changes: another child attends college, a parent returns to the workforce, or a parent dies. For the most part if your family situation does not change from year to year, your Wells grant will remain unchanged.
Wells values what all students bring to our community, and we show it by offering generous merit-based scholarships based upon what we learn about you in your Wells application. There are special scholarships just for transfers, too. Since your application to Wells doubles as your scholarship application, we encourage you to take the time to share your complete story so that we can award the highest possible level of funding. Visit our scholarships and aid page for more information.
Wells College is committed to making your education accessible and affordable. Our Office of Financial Aid will work with you to help take some of the guesswork out of the aid application, so you can focus on your future.
To unlock the maximum amount of scholarship funding, be sure to complete the FAFSA online and designate Wells College as the recipient: our code is 002901. We will determine your need and merit-based aid upon admission.
Please note: sending your FAFSA to Wells doesn’t mean that you are committed to attending Wells.
We also encourage you to explore and apply for outside financial assistance from federal, state, and institutional resources, in the form of scholarships, grants, loans, and part-time employment to cover student or family contributions.
For more information about applying for aid visit our Tuition & Aid page.
You can apply for financial aid by completing the FAFSA in December with the Federal Processing Center. We strongly recommend that new students complete the FAFSA by February 1 and returning students complete by May 1.
The Office of Career Services and Experiential Learning manages the student employment program. Students will have the opportunity to apply for jobs on-campus and off-campus. Due to the limited number of positions available, students are not guaranteed student employment. Returning students will have an opportunity to apply for a campus job during the spring semester and new students can apply online after August 1.
There are no income cutoffs when determining a student’s financial aid eligibility. Many factors are taken into consideration when determining a family’s ability to pay beyond parental income such as household size, number of dependent children in college, family assets, and cost of the institution; so it is impossible to determine your eligibility based strictly on income. To know if you will qualify for financial aid you must apply.
All financial aid, with the exception of work-study funds, will be credited to your billing account in two equal disbursements: fall and spring. Once your charges have been paid (tuition, fees, food, housing), any additional funds on your account will be refunded to you by the Business Office to help you pay for off-campus living costs, books, or personal expenses. Students awarded campus employment will receive a paycheck for the number of hours worked in a specific pay period. Students in general are paid every two weeks. Since students have not received any work-study earnings at the beginning of the semester, we encourage students to have book money upon their arrival to campus.
Not to worry! New legislation requires students and parents to complete their FAFSAs using the prior year tax information. For example, for the 2024-2025 FAFSA, families should use 2022 tax information.
Financial aid can come from numerous sources — federal or state government, private agencies, and Wells College itself. Types of financial aid include gift aid, which doesn’t have to be repaid, and self-help aid, which are loans that you pay back yourself or through work-study. The amount of financial aid is based on your financial need, and aid packages differ for every student.
FAFSA Code: #002901
New York State TAP Code: #1050
There are circumstances that will enable the Wells College financial aid office to adjust a student’s aid eligibility. These circumstances could include: job loss due to unemployment or illness, a one-time benefit that affected your federal adjusted gross income, separation or divorce, or unusual medical/dental expenses, elementary/secondary dependent tuition costs, nursing home costs not covered by insurance, and unusual high childcare costs. If conditions such as these occur during any of your four years at Wells, please contact the financial aid office. Do not send any letters to the federal aid processing center. They are not able to adjust your aid eligibility.
When you apply for financial aid, your family will be asked to provide information about income, assets, family size, and the number of family members in college. This information is applied to a federal formula that calculates the amount you and your family can afford to pay for educational expenses for one year. Remember, though, that not all financial awards are based on income. We encourage all students to apply for financial assistance!
You can apply for financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) after October 1. Unless your family situation changes, you should expect to receive approximately the same amount of financial aid each year. However, other factors can change, such as federal loan requirements, grants and other variables. Because these changes may make a difference in how much aid you receive, you are required to apply for financial aid every year.
Read through our Financial Aid Information pages to find detailed information related to financing options, the types of aid and their sources, our financial aid policies and requirements, and a number of helpful links, or get in touch with our financial aid office by emailing financial-aid@wells.edu.
For new applicants to Wells College, you must be accepted for admission before a financial aid offer will be sent to you. All students must have a processed FAFSA on file in order to receive a financial aid offer. Accepted new students will be notified beginning mid-December and returning students will be notified by mid-June.
Whether a student attends a state university or private college, student loans are a component of the aid package and help families meet their educational costs. Depending on your family’s ability to pay, you may be packaged with a student loan.
Outside scholarships must be included in your financial aid package as a resource to help pay for your educational costs. However, it is the policy of Wells College to make sure that students are awarded for achievements and efforts by first applying these funds to any unmet need the student may have incurred. If need has been met 100%, we will lower the student’s recommended loan amount. It is the responsibility of the student to notify the financial aid office of all outside scholarship awards.