Financial Aid Services

virtual Support

Financial aid, bursar, and scholarship virtual office services via Zoom. The virtual office is your first stop for questions about your financial aid, scholarship, and bursar/account balance or refund whether you are on or off campus.

In-Person Services at the Enrollment Services Center (ESC)

The ESC is your first stop for in-person questions about your financial aid, scholarship, and account balance or refund.

Staff at the Enrollment Services Center (ESC) assist with general financial aid, scholarship, and bursar/account balance inquiries. Visit the ESC webpage for hours of operation. Note: Hours of operation may be different when classes are not in session.

To make use of in-person services, you must be cleared to enter the campus. Learn more about accessing the campus here.

Call Center

General financial aid inquiries are answered by designated call center staff. They are available during normal business hours at 718.951.5234.

Document Submission

Document submission is accomplished electronically through secure systems (Campus Logic Student Forms and NextGen Dynamic Forms) and is therefore not generally an available in-person service. Learn more about secure online document submission here. Exceptions to this are:

1. V4/V5 FAFSA verification
2. Authorization to release information to a third party
3. When original documents must be reviewed due to regulations or conflicting information

Financial Aid Advisement

Financial aid advisement is available by appointment only. Advisement services are reserved for appeal counseling and financial aid planning. All general inquiries, troubleshooting your CUNYfirst financial aid record, and questions about the financial aid process should be referred to the Office of Financial Aid staff at the ESC or Virtual Office.

Available financial aid advisement service options are:

• financial aid planning for each year and academic level, including graduate financial aid;
• students with special or unusual circumstances for federal aid;
• students completing a TAP waiver;
• students with questions about the effect of withdrawing from courses on their financial aid eligibility; and
• students who are not meeting SAP and need additional assistance with the appeal process.

Only students in the following programs have an assigned financial aid adviser:

• Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema
• Macaulay Honors College
• New York State Excelsior Scholarship
• SEEK

Students who are not in one of these programs and do not have an assigned adviser can schedule an appointment to see any available financial aid adviser. Students who would like to speak with an adviser about a special or unusual circumstance related to their FAFSA must submit the Special  or Unusual Circumstances Appointment Request Form available on our Forms and Document Submission webpage.

Schedule an Appointment With a Financial Aid Adviser

1. Log in to the Navigate Student mobile app or desktop at (using your CUNY login (Firstname.Lastname + last two digits of your EMPLI ID). (The first time that you log in, you will be prompted to fill out a questionnaire.)
2. Go to “Schedule an Appointment.”
   1. In the app, tap “Appointments” and then “Schedule an Appointment.”
   2. In the desktop version, just click “Schedule an Appointment.”
3. Select your appointment type (Financial Services and Financial Aid).
4. Select the type of service that best reflects the service you are seeking.
5. Choose from the available days and times and schedule/confirm your appointment.

Additional instructions are available in the Brooklyn College Navigate Appointment Scheduling Guide (PDF).

Self-directed resources

Log into your CUNYfirst account and check and review the information in your Student Center (Tasks and Holds tile and Financial Aid tile). The Tasks and Hold tile’s to-do list will indicate if there are outstanding items that need to be addressed before your aid is determined. The financial aid tile will show any financial aid that has been packaged (if any).

Review our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page and Information Guides page for questions you may have. The answer may be there already.

Browse Financial Aid TV to watch short videos to learn about different financial aid topics.

Visit the Federal Student Aid information portal and New York State HESC webpages to learn more about federal and state financial aid programs.

If you are considering a Federal Direct Loan to finance your education, you should review the interest rate, fees, and repayment information on the Federal Student Aid Web Portal before speaking with a Office of Financial Aid representative or financial aid adviser.

We recommend enrolling in direct deposit in CUNYfirst. If you are eligible for a financial aid refund or Federal Work-Study, this method is more secure and faster than receiving a check. Refer to CUNY’s Direct Deposit webpage for more information.

E-Mail

• Office of Financial Aid staff will answer general inquiries by e-mail.
• Students with an urgent matter should not use e-mail. Rather, they should use one of the direct person services listed above.
• Complex questions/situations that you e-mail about may be referred by staff to a program coordinator and/or financial aid adviser.

E-Mail Response Times

Office of Financial Aid staff endeavor to respond to student inquiries as quickly as practicable. However, e-mail response times vary depending on the available staff and the volume of e-mails coming in. Typically, response times are longer between June and September and January and March due to the high volume of inquiries related to registration and aid disbursement activities during that time. Consequently, response times can be as little as two business days to several weeks. As noted above, due to the fluctuations in response times students should not use e-mail to contact the Office of Financial Aid for urgent situations.