Appeal for More Financial Aid

Need More Money for College?

If you already filled out your FAFSA for the 2025-2026 school year, but you feel the amount of financial aid you got isn’t enough, you can ask for a “Student Aid Index (SAI) Appeal.”

What is an SAI Appeal?

An SAI Appeal is a way to update your FAFSA to show that your family’s current money situation has changed. If approved, this change can give you more federal financial aid, like the Pell Grant or subsidized (interest is deferred until you graduate) federal loans.

Only the financial aid office at Ozarks Tech can make these changes to your FAFSA, and this is not used to ask for more money from the school’s own scholarships.

Key Things to Know

You should only submit an SAI appeal if the information on your FAFSA, like family size or income, has changed. 

An appeal from one year does not carry over. For example, an appeal for the 2025-2026 school year only helps with money for Fall 2025, Spring 2026, and Summer 2026.

When Should You Submit an Appeal?

You should think about submitting an SAI Appeal if one of these things happened after 2023:

• You have another special situation that makes it hard to pay for college.
• Your family’s income went down because of something they couldn’t control.
• Your or your parents’ job income decreased.
• Your family had a one-time big payment (like from a retirement account) in 2023, which made your income look higher than normal.
• You have a brother or sister attending a private elementary or high school during the 2025-2026 school year.

When Should You NOT Submit an Appeal?

You should not submit an appeal if:

• You aren’t eligible for federal aid for other reasons (like being an international student or not keeping your grades up).
• Nothing on your FAFSA has changed since you submitted it.
• Your SAI (Student Aid Index), which you can see on the FAFSA summary, is already 0 or less. This means you’re already getting the maximum aid.

How to Start the Process

You can start the appeal process at any time through your Student Forms account.

1. Finish your FAFSA and get your financial aid offer from Ozarks Tech first.
2. Request the SAI Appeal in your Student Forms account and write a short reason why you need it.
3. Upload any papers you have that prove your need (like a letter about a job change).
4. Check your Ozarks Tech email for updates and requests from the financial aid office!

Just so you know: Appeals are reviewed in the order they are received and can take up to two months (60 days) for a full decision. Expect our team to want to know more about your situation after you submit your application. Your appeal will only be approved if it will benefit you.