Apply for Scholarships & Aid

Applying for Financial Aid and Scholarships

For U.S. citizens and permanent residents, Denison requires the FAFSA and the CSS Profile to apply for financial aid, which includes federal, state, and Denison institutional grants, as well as optional student loans. Additionally, earnings statements and tax documents are required and must be submitted through IDOC. There is no charge for the FAFSA application or the use of IDOC. There is a nominal charge to submit the CSS Profile, but for families with an adjusted gross income of $100,000 dollars or less, there is no cost to submit the CSS Profile. The FAFSA form must be resubmitted each year that a student is enrolled at Denison. The CSS Profile only needs to be submitted once during the admission application process.

Student loans also may be necessary to help fund your education. Learn more about students loans and how to apply for them.

FAFSA Information

• Prior to completing the FASFA form, new students and one of their parents must obtain a federal student aid (FSA) ID number. This can be done at the FSA ID site.
• When completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, use code 003042 to designate Denison University.
• After you file your FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report from the Department of Education that summarizes your FAFSA information. It will give you some basic information about your eligibility for federal student aid as well as listing your answers to the questions on your FAFSA.
• Denison will determine your financial need from both the FAFSA and CSS Profile information and send you a tentative financial aid award notification.
• The award letter will contain information about scholarships, grants, work-study and offered loans. These award letters are sent beginning mid-March through May 1, as FAFSA forms are received. More information about next steps.

CSS Profile Information

When completing the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile, use code 1164 to designate Denison University. The CSS Profile must be completed before financial aid can be determined.

Earnings Statements and Tax Documents Information

Students and parents are required to upload income tax returns to Denison through IDOC — a College Board service that securely collects family financial documents and distributes them to institutions on behalf of the student. This includes personal returns, corporate and/or partnership returns (for business owners), and all necessary schedules and pages.

For most families, commonly required items include W-2 forms, 1099 forms, forms 1040 and/or 1041, and schedules A, C, E, and/or F. All documents should be sent individually through IDOC to prevent delays in processing or document rejection.

Please note: We strongly encourage all eligible families to utilize the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) when submitting the FAFSA. Those who use the DRT will NOT be required to submit tax documents, including forms 1040 and/or 1041 and schedules. Earnings statements are not part of the DRT process and will still be required.

New Students

Students applying in the first early decision round must complete their FAFSA and CSS Profile by November 15. All other applicants must submit their FAFSA and CSS Profile by January 15.

The applicant and one of their parents must obtain a federal student aid (FSA) ID number, to sign their FAFSA application. The FSA ID site, which asks you to supply three items: your email, a username and a password, is simple to use. Please retain this information as you will need to access it each year you are at Denison.

After you enroll and pay your deposit, you will receive a D-number (Denison number) from the First-Year Office. Once you have your D-number you can go to MyDenison and access your award letter once it is finalized.

Applicants who are considered independent for federal aid, based on federally defined criteria, do not have to submit parental information or have a parental signature on the FAFSA.

International Students

The Denison International Student Certification of Finances is required for all international students (non-US citizens). We do not require the CSS Profile for international students.

Returning Students

The FAFSA form must be resubmitted each year that you are enrolled at Denison. Returning students must complete a renewal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online by April 1 of each academic year for aid in the following academic year. Failure to submit a renewal FAFSA by April 1 will jeopardize financial aid eligibility at Denison.