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Financial Aid at Chicago State University

The mission of the Office of Student Financial Aid is to support the University's overall goal of providing an affordable, quality education by providing financial assistance to those students and their families seeking to offset their educational costs.

FAFSA - By filing your FAFSA on, or as soon as possible after, October 1st, you establish eligibility for Financial Aid funds which have limited funding and are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, such as the State of Illinois MAP Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) and Federal College Work-Study. For more information please visit our Apply for Financial Aid (FAFSA) web page or the U.S. Department of Education “FAFSA: Apply for Aid” web page. The 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid is currently available.
Illinois Alternative Application - Allows qualifying undocumented students and transgender students who are not otherwise eligible for federal financial aid to apply for Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants to attend eligible Illinois colleges, universities, and career education programs. The 2024-25 Alternative Application is currently available.

FSA ID - All contributors to the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid need to create a FSA ID in order to access certain Federal web sites, such as studentaid.gov, and to sign certain financial aid documents, such as the Master Promissory Notes. Creating an FSA ID is a simple process. It will only take you a few minutes. Additional information is available on the Federal Student Aid Managing Your Account web page. Request your FSA ID early.

Stay Informed - Students are required to become familiar with all rules, regulations and issues (Federal, State and CSU) that may affect their financial aid eligibility by regularly reviewing the university's Undergraduate Academic Catalog and/or the Graduate and Professional Academic Catalog, the Office of Student Financial Aid web site, and their individual account information which they may access through Cougar Connect and on CSU X-press. Visit this web page periodically for information regarding any changes to financial aid programs that may affect your eligibility and remember to read all e-mail communications from the Office of Student Financial Aid.