Financial Aid Links

Financial Aid

What to Expect After You Complete Your FAFSA

Approximately two (2) weeks after you apply online, you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) from the Department of Education.
Read the SAR carefully and if you find errors, use your pin number and make the necessary corrections to your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online.
If you have not received your results within three (3) weeks, contact the Department of Education at 1-800-433-3243.
The Department of Education randomly chooses students to verify the information submitted on their FAFSA. If you are selected for verification, you will have to bring in signed copies of tax forms and other verification forms to Southwest. Begin NOW to locate these documents.

All communications from Southwest will first be sent to your Southwest email account, ex: jdoe@southwest.tn.edu.

Approximately two (2) weeks after you apply online Southwest will receive an electronic version of your SAR.
If additional information is needed to complete your financial aid file, Southwest will send an email to your campus email account listing the documents that are needed. Return the documents immediately to ensure that Southwest continues to process your file.
Reviewing your file and awarding financial aid may take two (2) to three (3) weeks from the date we received your SAR and any other requested documents.
If there is any difference between the information submitted on your FAFSA and your submitted documents, Southwest is required to make corrections to your FAFSA and resubmit to the Department of Education. This may add additional processing time.
We will notify you by your Southwest email of your Federal Financial Aid award.
Your award will be applied to your account to cover your tuition and fees.
- If the award amount does not cover your entire tuition bill. You will be responsible for paying the balance.
- Any remaining award amount will be provided to you in the form of a Southwest Refund Card [Comdata Debit Card].