Professional Judgment

• What is it?
• How to Appeal
• Required documentation

The information below will help you complete your Professional Judgment Appeal.

Professional judgment is the ability of a financial aid counselor to re-evaluate a student’s financial aid based on documented special circumstances. Circumstances may include a decrease in income, change in family size, unusual expenses, etc. Examples of possible circumstances are listed on the appeal form. This list is not intended to be all inclusive since you may have a situation that is not categorized.

Your eligibility for financial aid was originally calculated based on the information you provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The income and asset information you submitted was evaluated by a formula called Federal Methodology as set by Congress. The formula assumes that your previous year's income, assets, and family size are good predictors of your family’s financial strength during the student’s current enrollment year. Based on this assumption, financial aid eligibility is determined using the previous year’s income information.

The Office of Financial Aid at CU-Boulder recognizes that many families experience changes in income, assets, or family situations that are not reflected in the previous year's tax return data. Therefore, it is possible for you to appeal your financial aid offer if you have special financial circumstances.

You will be reconsidered for federal, state, and institutional funds. Depending upon fund availability, this may include the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal College Work-Study, Federal Direct Student Loan Programs, state grants, CU-Boulder grants/scholarships, etc.

The changes made by the professional judgment team may or may not increase your financial aid. Since funding is limited, it is important to submit your appeal as early as possible. The review process may take as long as eight weeks.

Should your appeal information change or prove to be incorrect, notify the Professional Judgment Committee as soon as possible to avoid repercussions at a later date.

Professional judgment appeals can be initiated by completing the Professional Judgment Letter of Appeal form and submitting it to our office at the address or FAX number listed below. Upon receiving your appeal form, the committee may ask for additional required documentation. All appeals require you (and your parents if you are dependent) to submit a copy of your federal income tax return(s) to the Office of Financial Aid if you have not already done so.

Once your appeal is received and your situation has been documented, the professional judgment team will review it and notify you of the result. For continuing students, notification of a change in aid will come in via email. All incoming freshmen and those whose appeals resulted in no change to aid will receive a paper letter.

In order to make changes to your financial aid, documentation of your unusual circumstances must be submitted. Typical documentation may include the following:

• Decrease in income: Parent or Student Estimated Income Form, copies of year-to-date pay stubs, federal tax returns, termination notice from employer, and notice from Social Security regarding termination of benefits.
• Medical expenses: Completed CU-Boulder medical appeal forms, copies of Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statements, cancelled checks or receipts indicating payment, and letter from doctor(s) indicating cost of future care required.
• Divorce or separation: Copy of court documents showing separation/divorce, documentation of living in two separate residences (utility bills, leases, etc.).

Return the appeal form to: