Applying For Need-Based Financial Aid

All students who apply for admission are considered for merit scholarships. Students who wish to apply for need-based financial aid must indicate their intent to do so on their application for admission. Families can use our estimating tools to help decide if they should apply for need-based aid.

Students who indicate they are not applying for need-based financial aid but wish to change this designation cannot do so after they are admitted. In these situations, the student could apply for financial aid for their second year at Macalester. They would not be able to receive need-based aid for their first year.

For this reason, if a student believes they will require need-based financial aid at any point during their time at Macalester, they should indicate their intent to apply for need-based aid when applying for admission and complete a financial aid application. This helps us communicate with families about whether they may qualify for aid at any point during the student’s enrollment.

If a student does not apply for need-based aid but their family’s circumstances change significantly and unexpectedly after they are admitted, the student would be allowed to apply for financial aid for their first year. Decisions about whether a change in circumstances is serious enough to meet this threshold will be made by the Financial Aid Office on a case-by-case basis. For U.S. students, examples of such changes could include:

• Unexpected parent job loss that significantly impacts the family’s income
• Unanticipated medical circumstances that result in significant expenses

For international students with significant financial changes, need-based aid would only be offered via our International Student Financial Aid Reconsideration process.

P.S. Some families may be concerned that applying for need-based aid may negatively impact their student’s admission decision. When financial need is a factor in a student’s admission decision, our admission process focuses on how much financial aid a student will require, as opposed to whether or not the student has applied for aid. Thus, a student who applies for need-based financial aid and does not qualify in their first year is not treated differently than a student who does not apply for need-based financial aid at all.