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Overview

The Financial Aid Office makes college education possible. We provide all financial information, services, aids, and resources for eligible students seeking an undergraduate or graduate degree from Gallaudet. To do this, we offer as many opportunities for financial assistance as possible.
  • Internal financial resources, such as university and endowment funds
  • Both federal and state government funding
  • Private agencies or organizations
  • Both on- and off-campus employment opportunities
We also work with the student’s family, the state Vocational Rehabilitation office, and other available sources, to support the student in achieving the degree they want from Gallaudet.

Programs

DE & PKZ Sororities Woman Scholarship Fund
This scholarship endowed by the alumni organizations of the DE & PKZ sororities seek to empower and support single mothers with who are full-time students at Gallaudet University. Criteria for applying include: Full custody of children Full time student Submission of rental agreement/lease Letter of...
Merit-based Scholarship Awards
Gallaudet University awards merit-based scholarships to students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and whose scholastic and personal achievements are exemplary. You will automatically be considered for merit-based scholarships at the time of your admission. To be considered for the President's Distinguished Honors Scholarship...

Meet the Team

Doryann Barnhardt

Director, Financial Aid

Rena Gordon

Administrative Support Specialist - Gallaudet

Na Zhuo

Technical Specialist

Justin Shaw

Financial Aid Specialist

Dylan Westbury

Financial Aid Specialist

Amanda Jackson

Assistant Director, Financial Aid

Bianca Mendoza

Financial Aid Specialist

Support

FAQs

Vocational Rehabilitation
The Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) that you and your VR counselor develop will include steps for reviewing your progress toward your career goals each semester. VR needs to see that you have a college academic plan that is clearly connected to your career goals, and that you are maintaining good academic standing. You must work with your Gallaudet academic advisor to ensure you stay on track to graduate. And you and your academic advisor must work with the Career Center to ensure you are seeking internships and other practical experiences that will prepare you to find a job in your field after graduation.
Contact your VR counselor before you drop a class, withdraw from a class, change your major or make other important decisions that affect your educational program.
VR is a federally funded state program designed to help state residents who meet specific requirements and have disabilities get the training and education necessary to secure employment. Many deaf and hard of hearing Gallaudet students receive funding from their state VR agencies. This includes help with tuition, books, technological aids and other items.
Contact your state VR agency to request assistance. A VR counselor will be assigned to you to determine if you are eligible for services. If you are eligible, he or she will work with you to help you plan and finance a college education related to your career goals.
Ideally, you should contact VR during your junior year of high school or earlier. You must allow enough time to meet with your VR counselor and establish your career goals and Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) before entering college.
If your local community college does not provide the necessary courses or support services for you to achieve your career goal, you may request that VR pay for Gallaudet. Contact us for facts that may help in your request. If you do not agree with the decision, you have the right to request a review from your VR agency.
Yes. It is important to have them participate in the VR process with you in the beginning, especially if you are under age 18.
Yes. Vocational Rehabilitation requires that students complete the financial aid process in addition to the VR process. VR often covers only a portion of your college expenses, not all of them.
Here are some tips for establishing a strong relationship with your VR counselor.
  • Discuss your expectations and goals. Decide how and when you will communicate with each other. Make sure to get a copy of your Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE).
  • Get a copy of your VR authorizations, if possible. These are your evidence that your VR agency has agreed to support your education at Gallaudet and will help you with your financial planning.
  • Keep a personal file for all your VR paperwork. This includes agreements, copies of authorizations, financial aid awards (grants, scholarships and loans) and personal budget plans. Plan in advance and refer to your file periodically to ensure your expenses are always covered.
  • Keep your VR counselor up-to-date. Show that you are following your IPE. Send copies of your class schedules, grades and university bills to VR as soon as you get them. Meet in person at least once a year.
Common Questions
Awards are semester-specific. Refer to your award letter for the amount of your scholarship for fall, spring, and summer terms. Unused scholarship money from one term does not automatically carry forward to another term. Award money cannot be transferred from one year to another.
If you are an international student, please contact the Office of Research Support and International Affairs (RSIA). The main roles of the International Affairs branch of RSIA are to ease international students’ transition to life in the United States and at Gallaudet University and to assist current international students who are seeking advice on academic matters, immigration regulations, and any other concerns.
A mix of grants and loans is available for eligible students from OSAP to pay towards tuition and other fees at Gallaudet. For questions related to OSAP procedures and application forms, you can contact:
  • Sherry Britton at Sherry.Britton@ontario.ca, or
  • Student Financial Assistance Branch, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities PO Box 4500, 189 Red River Road, 4th Floor, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6G9 Phone: (807) 343-7260 between 8:30 a.m – 4:30 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, Toll-free in North America: 1-877-OSAP-411 (1-877-672-7411), or
  • General Support Service (GSS) at the Canadian Hearing Society (http://chs.ca/services/general-support-services)
Check the website to find the closest location to your home, then contact that regional office to access the GSS counselors for assistance with OSAP procedures and application forms.
Once all the required documents have been submitted, the Financial Aid Office will review and compare the verification data with the information reported on our FAFSA. If the data is accurate, your financial aid eligibility will be determined, and you will be notified of any financial aid awarded to you. If there are inconsistencies between the verification data you submit and the FAFSA reported data, the Financial Aid Office will make the necessary changes to your FAFSA and will proceed with any financial aid awarding as soon as corrected FAFSA results are received from the U.S. Department of Education. In some cases, we may need additional documentation from you to clarify information or make FAFSA corrections that cannot be made by the Financial Aid Office staff.
Funding decisions are made by the departments with final review and approval given by the Dean of the Graduate School. There is no application process associated with this program. All contact and any questions concerning availability of tuition scholarships and assistantships should be directed to chairs of specific academic departments.
If you receive a tuition scholarship, you will receive an award letter from the Graduate School Dean. These awards:
  • Are used to cover only tuition. They cannot be used for other charges like room and board or books.
  • Are offered without the expectation of work for the department.
  • Are offered on a semester-to-semester basis.
  • May not be transferred to another semester
  • May not be transferred to another student.
  • Are specified on your award letter with regard to their exact dollar value. Your award will not pay for more than this amount. You will be responsible for all charges that exceed the stated dollar value of your scholarship.
Maintaining eligibility for any scholarship is contingent upon your satisfactory academic progress in all coursework. In general, satisfactory progress is defined as not receiving course grades of B- or lower and having no incomplete grades carried into a following semester. Your department will inform you if you fail to meet this criterion.
If you receive a tuition assistantship, you will receive an award letter from the Graduate School Dean. These awards:
  • Include a full tuition scholarship as described above
  • Include a stipend. The amount of the stipend is: $3,000/semester for master’s and specialist students, $4,000/semester for doctoral students
  • Include the expectation of students to perform 10 hours of work per week for the department
Maintaining eligibility for any scholarship is contingent upon your satisfactory academic progress in all coursework. In general, satisfactory progress is defined as not receiving course grades of B- or lower and having no incomplete grades carried into a following semester. Your department will inform you if you fail to meet this criterion.
Your scholarship will be applied to your student account or show up as an anticipated payment, after we receive your acceptance of the offer and after you register for classes. If you receive an assistantship, you will receive checks regularly and will need to submit your timecard to the administrative assistant in the Graduate Admissions Office.
You will receive a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR) once your FAFSA has been processed (3-5 days after you complete it). If you were selected for verification, there will be a message on your SAR stating that you were selected and instructing you to contact the Financial Aid Office. The Financial Aid Office will also send you a notification through your Gallaudet issued email with information related to the verification. The email will also contain the list of documents required to be submitted by you to complete the verification process. Do not ignore the email!
Participation in the verification process is not optional. If the student does not provide the verification documentation, the student is not eligible for federal or state financial aid. The student is also ineligible for many forms of financial aid that Gallaudet may have to offer. So, please submit the requested verification information promptly to avoid a delay in the processing of your financial aid application.
If your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was selected for verification, participation in the verification process is mandatory and must occur before need-based Federal financial aid is disbursed. Every verification is different, with different requirements. The Office of Financial Aid will notify you through Gallaudet Email about which documents you need to complete. Verification CANNOT be completed without your assistance in providing the required documentation. Please check your Gallaudet email for an email from the Office of Financial Aid, which will give you a list of documents we need you to bring to us. Do not ignore the verification email from the Office of Financial Aid. If you have any questions, please stop by the Financial Aid Office for assistance or clarification.
Every academic year, students and their families apply for financial aid by submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to help meet college expenses. This information is sent to the United States Department of Education. Sometimes, the U.S. Department of Education selects certain FAFSA’s for verification. Every school, including Gallaudet, is required to verify every student selected for verification before financial aid is disbursed to the student. There are many reasons why you could be selected for verification:
  • You can be chosen at random.
  • Your FAFSA contains estimated information.
  • Your FAFSA was incomplete.
  • There were inconsistencies found in the information you provided on the FAFSA.
  • Income reported is insufficient to support the household size.
Verification is not optional if you want to receive financial aid. The Financial Aid Office is not allowed to release federal aid to you if you have been selected for verification and have not completed it. If you are selected for verification, The Financial Aid Office will notify you by email and let you know what is needed to complete verification. It is essential to complete verification within 20 days of being notified. The Financial Aid Office may be required to verify the following items on your FAFSA:
  • Adjusted Gross Income (parent and student, if the student is a dependent).
  • Taxes Paid (parent and student, if the student is a dependent).
  • Income Earned from Work (for non-tax filers).
  • Certain Untaxed Income Items (parent and student, if the student is dependent).
  • Household Size
  • Number in College (excluding parents for a dependent student).
  • Any other inconsistent or conflicting information.
Services and Support
You will still need to submit additional items, even if you have completed your FAFSA. This is how you were chosen for verification. Your FAFSA was submitted to The U.S. Department of Education, which, in turn, selected you for verification based on your FAFSA. We need you to submit documents separate from your FAFSA, so that you can complete verification. Please respond to the email that the Financial Aid Office sent you regarding the documents needed from you.
Students will be asked to submit several documents as part of verification. Please read the email you received from the Financial Aid Office carefully for a list of items you need to submit. You will be asked to complete and submit a worksheet. The email will let you know which worksheet we need from the items below:
Verification Category and Required Documentation (FAFSA 2020-2021)
V4: Dependent Custom Verification, OR Independent Custom Verification
V5: Dependent Aggregate Verification, OR Independent Aggregate Verification
If you are looking for a verification worksheet, please email financial aid, and we will send you an email attachment of the correct worksheet you need to complete for verification.
We prefer using the Data Retrieval Tool provided by IRS for obtaining the documents required to be submitted for FAFSA verification. This option is recommended by Gallaudet University and provides you with the fastest, easiest, and most secure way to verify your tax data. Not all tax files can use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. To use the IRS Data Retrieval Option, you must:
  • Have a federal tax return filed with the IRS.
  • Have a valid social security number.
  • Have a Federal Aid Personal Identification Number (PIN)
You will not be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Option if:
  • Your marital status changes after December 31 of the same tax year
  • You filed as “Married Filing Separately.”
  • You filed an amended tax return.
  • You filed a foreign tax return.
  • You filed your taxes within the last eight weeks and submitted it by mail
  • You filed your taxes within the past three weeks and submitted it electronically.
There are several ways to obtain a tax transcript:
  • Order a copy online at https://www.IRS.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript (This will take approximately two weeks to arrive at the home address you used on your tax return).
  • Go to any IRS Office and ask them to give you an official, computer-generated copy of your return transcript. (You will receive a copy the same day you go to the IRS Office.)
  • Call the IRS at 1-800-908-9946 (This will take approximately two weeks to arrive at the home address you used on your tax return.)
Important Note: Do not ask the IRS to send the tax transcript/non-filing statement directly to the Financial Aid Office as we will shred it. Please send the tax transcript/non-filing statement to your mailing address, and then submit it to the Financial Aid Office. Please note that we cannot accept a Tax Account Transcript. This form has limited information on it, and we will ask you to request the correct return transcript documentation. Tax Account Transcript: Incorrect document Return Transcript: Correct document
Please submit verification worksheets and Tax Return Transcripts to the Financial Aid Office using one of the following methods:
  • Fax- 202-651-5740 (V1 only)
  • Email attachment to financial aid (V1 only)
  • Drop Off: Chapel Hall, Room G-02
  • Mail: Gallaudet University Office of Financial Aid800 Florida Avenue NEWashington DC 20002
Keep copies of any documents you send to the Financial Aid Office. Important Notes:
  • Once verification begins, you may be asked to submit additional documentation. If we need additional documentation, we will let you know via your Gallaudet email.
  • Keep copies of everything you send us, including worksheets and tax documents.
Yes! All students selected for verification must complete it if they want financial aid, including VR.
If you are under the age of 24 and single, you are required to include your parent(s) tax information on your FAFSA. To help determine if you are a dependent or independent student, review this link: https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency.
That is not true and could even be the worst thing you do! By ignoring emails from the Financial Aid Office and not submitting requested documents, there is no way for the Financial Aid Office to complete verification. If you choose to do this, financial aid will not be released to you, so it is very important that you provide the requested verification documents.

Contact Us

Financial Aid

Chapel Hall G-02

(202) 618-6844

(202) 651-5290

(202) 651-5740

Monday
8:30 am-4:30 pm
Tuesday
8:30 am-4:30 pm
Wednesday
8:30 am-4:30 pm
Thursday
8:30 am-4:30 pm
Friday
8:30 am-4:30 pm
Saturday
Closed
Sunday
Closed

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