Frequently Asked Questions

For 2026-27, the comprehensive fee is $81,200. The Comprehensive Fee includes all tuition, housing (non-single room) and meal plan charges. In addition, we anticipate students will spend $1,000 on books and $900 on personal and incidental expenses per year. The costs of travel to and from St. Olaf may also be factored into an aid award.

The FAFSA code for St. Olaf is: 002382.

The CSS Profile code for St. Olaf is: 6638.

Most aid at St. Olaf is based on each applicant’s financial needs. This is called “need-based” aid. St Olaf takes many factors (such as income, assets, family size and others) into consideration when looking at a family’s eligibility for need-based aid.

Merit scholarships consist of scholarships that are awarded to students for specific talents or accomplishments: e.g., academic and fine arts (music, dance, theater, art and art history). They are awarded without regard to a family’s ability to pay for college.

No. We are an NCAA Division III school, which prevents us from offering any scholarships tied to athletics. However, many of our student-athletes have qualified for other scholarships or grants, including academic scholarships and need-based aid.

For any St. Olaf Financial Aid, you are required to be full time, in at least 3 credits a semester. If you receive the Minnesota State Grant, you are required to be in 3.75 credits a semester. For federal loans, you must be in at least 1.75 credits. The Pell Grant will adjust if you drop below full time.

St. Olaf bills twice per year. Fall semester bills are delivered electronically in early-July with payment due August 1st. Spring semester bills are delivered in early January with payment due  February 1st.

All students with a balance will be able to start class, but will incur finance charges and will not be able to register for future semester until your balance is below $1,000.

After the add/drop day (10 school days after the start of the term), financial aid will only change if there is a change to your billing. So if you drop one class later in the semester, billing will not change, so your financial aid will not change. If you do a full withdrawal, there are adjustments to your billing so we must adjust your financial aid. Our full policy can be found here: https://wp.stolaf.edu/financialaid/financial-aid-withdrawal-policies/

Yes. Your family can use the Net Price Calculator to estimate what your cost might be to attend St. Olaf. This is only an estimate. Due to the holistic nature of our merit scholarship awarding process, the estimator cannot completely predict your eligibility for our varied merit aid programs, nor can it take into account any of your family’s special financial circumstances that might be considered during the need-based aid application process.

You can also get a quick estimate of cost through MyIntuition. This asks fewer questions and gives family a range of costs to attend St. Olaf. MyIntuition is much quicker and is easier to complete than the Net Price Calculator. It is important to note that MyIntution gives a range of costs, whereas the Net Price Calculator shows a specific dollar amount for the estimate.

Prospective students can find more detailed information here on the application process. The Financial Aid Application deadlines are slightly different for each type of student (Early Decision, Regular Decision, or Transfer).

The FSA ID is a username and password that is required of all students to sign in and submit the FAFSA. If the student is a dependent student (almost all St. Olaf students are dependent students), then a parent will also need an FSA ID to sign and submit the FAFSA. Click here to find out more information about the FSA ID.

The best way to send documents to our office is to send them through our secure upload; Egnyte.

Assuming that your applications (admission application, CSS Profile, and FAFSA) are completed by the deadlines, notification will depend upon the type of aid for which you are applying. Most academic scholarship notifications will come shortly after the admission decision. Early Decision applicants may receive revised awards based on merit scholarship award processes.

Need-based financial aid awards are mailed one week following the admission decision. Please note: Some need-based financial aid awards may be delayed until merit scholarship decisions are finalized. You can find more information on financial aid dates and deadlines on our website. Returning students will be notified by June 30th.

Answer the questions on the CSS Profile and FAFSA as accurately as you are able. We do not negotiate packages based on what another college or university has offered. We want to ensure, however, that we use the most accurate and up-to-date information available to determine your award. If you have notified another institution about an unusual circumstance affecting your finances, be sure that we have that information as well. To provide extra information about your financial situation, you may use the “special circumstances” section of the Profile or send appropriate documentation and letters directly to the Financial Aid Office. Please use this link to send us secure electronic documents.

Applying Early Decision does not hurt your financial aid. If you are on the fence about applying Early Decision or Early Action, take a look at the benefits on Admissions’ website.

We encourage students to apply for outside sources of aid, especially through your local community, high school, church and community organizations. Additionally check with your parents’ employers to see if they offer scholarships for children of employees. Researching and applying for private scholarships is time-consuming but it can really pay off (last year St. Olaf students received over $3.0 million in private scholarship aid). Talk to your local high school guidance office for possible scholarship sources and conduct your own internet search of possible sources. While the large online scholarship databases, your best chances of winning a scholarship is at the local level. More information can be found on our Outside Scholarships page.

You are required to apply for need-based aid every year, but merit scholarships are automatically renewed each year, assuming you have met the minimum GPA and/or fine arts participation requirements outlined in your original scholarship offer. To reapply for need-based aid, please complete the FAFSA. You will not need to complete the CSS Profile form in your returning years at St. Olaf.

Typical assets generally include resources such as cash, checking and savings accounts, 529 college savings plans, non-retirement stocks and additional real estate. When reviewing financial information reported on the FAFSA and CSS Profile, we consider whether a family’s assets are generally consistent with its income.

Atypical assets are assets that appear unusually high relative to a family’s income. These situations may warrant additional context to help us better understand a family’s financial circumstances.

Examples of potentially atypical asset situations include:

• A family with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $75,000 and $750,000 in non-retirement assets.
• A family earning $30,000 annually that owns a business valued at $3 million with little outstanding debt.
• A family that receives substantial annual dividend income that is equal to or greater than wage income.
• A family making $100,000 in income but outright owns a home worth over $1M.

If you believe your family’s assets may be atypical, or if you have questions about how your assets may be considered in the financial aid process, please contact us at finaid@stolaf.edu. We’re happy to help clarify.

Most sources of financial aid require that you be at least 24 years old in order to be considered an independent student. For more information about dependency of the FAFSA, please look at the US Department of Education’s definition of an independent student.

Plus note we will need documentation. If you do not fall under any of the requirements, and still believe you should be an independent student, please look at our page on Unusual Circumstance for Special Circumstances.

If your parents are divorced or separated, you can still apply for financial aid at St. Olaf. Your family circumstances, including limited contact with a parent or a parent’s remarriage, may affect how you complete the FAFSA and CSS Profile, but they do not automatically disqualify you from receiving financial aid.

For the CSS Profile, each parent submits their financial information separately, which can help minimize direct communication and sharing financial information between parents. For example, if your parents, Angelina and Brad, are divorced and live separately, each would complete their own CSS Profile application.

The FAFSA generally requires information from the parent who provided the greater share of your financial support during the previous 12 months. For example, if Angelina provided more financial support than Brad, you would report Angelina’s information. If Angelina and Brad provided equal support—or neither provided financial support—you would report information for the parent with the greater income and assets. If Angelina and Brad live in the same household, both parents’ information must be included on the FAFSA, even if they are divorced, separated, or were never married.

If the parent whose information is required on your FAFSA has remarried, their current spouse’s information generally must also be included. For example, if Angelina is the parent required to provide information and has remarried, you would also include her current spouse’s information.

For the CSS Profile, St. Olaf requests spousal information and reviews each family’s circumstances individually to determine what information is needed. For example, if Brad has remarried, his CSS Profile would also request information about his current spouse. St. Olaf does not primarily count stepparents in its calculations for institutional aid, but other schools that use the CSS Profile may follow different practices.

You do not need to obtain information from the parent who is not required to complete your FAFSA. For examples, if Angelina is the parent whose information is required and you have no contact with Brad, you generally do not need Brad’s information for the FAFSA.

If you have no contact with a parent whose information is required for the CSS Profile, you may be eligible to request a Noncustodial Parent (NCP) waiver. Submitting a request does not guarantee approval. You can find the waiver and a link to upload the document on this page.

Every family’s circumstances are different. If you have questions about your situation, contact the Financial Aid (finaid@stolaf.edu) office for guidance.

When we create your need-based financial aid package, the merit scholarships you receive will be used to meet your demonstrated need along with any need-based grants for which you are eligible.

Generally, we will renew the need-based St. Olaf gift aid portion of your package each year, and we may increase it to cover a portion of future tuition increases. If, however, your family experiences a significant change in financial circumstances, such as a large increase in income (more than inflation) or a drop in the number of people in the household enrolled in college, your St. Olaf need-based gift aid may be reduced. Federal and state gift aid is determined using a federal formula, so even small changes in income may affect the amount awarded. Commensurate with federal loan limits and guidelines, sophomores, juniors, and seniors can expect increases in the loan amount of their financial aid awards. If you or your parents have specific questions about how your package will look for all four years, we encourage you to talk with your St. Olaf Financial Aid counselor, especially if you know that your financial circumstances will change (e.g., an older sibling is graduating from college or a younger one will start college while you are enrolled). We understand you are making a four-year commitment, and we are happy to provide an estimate of future eligibility.

Outside scholarships are added on top of the package already offered by St. Olaf. We will only reduce when we are required to. Federal regulations may require us to make adjustments to the package. In those cases, reductions will be split between student employment and the Federal Direct Loans. If a student receives enough outside aid to eliminate the self-help portion (subsidized student loans and work study) of the package and the student’s need has been fully met, only then will need-based St. Olaf gift aid be reduced. Merit scholarships generally are not reduced when a student receives an outside scholarship. In all cases, outside scholarships improve the financial aid package by increasing the total amount of grant and scholarship dollars in your award and sometimes reducing the amount you have to earn and borrow.

No. Every school has different financial aid resources and chooses to use those resources differently. We recognize that most families are looking at a range of costs when looking at different schools. Our mission in the St. Olaf Financial Aid Office is to provide access to a St. Olaf education to families of varied economic backgrounds. We administer financial aid programs with a commitment to equity, consistency and transparency in awarding resources. Although we do our best to take into account each family’s specific circumstances, we do not adjust financial aid packages based on the amount of financial aid offered from a different school.

Merit scholarships are awarded by the Admissions Office during the admission application process. Due to this, all questions regarding merit scholarship decisions should be directed to the Admissions Office.

Families may request a review of their financial aid award when the family’s circumstances have changed significantly. Job losses and major medical expenses (that have already been paid) are examples of circumstances that can be grounds for reconsideration. These requests should be based on the family’s financial situation changing, not other factors. Please feel free to contact us (finaid@stolaf.edu) if you have questions about your family’s circumstances and how to request reconsideration.

If your or your family’s financial circumstances have changed since you applied, or if you feel you provided us with incomplete information, you may request a review of the award by writing to the Financial Aid Office. We may adjust your award if the circumstances are both extenuating and documented. Please include specific information and data showing how your situation has changed since you completed the CSS Profile.

If your family’s financial situation changes at any time, we encourage you to contact the Financial Aid Office. We review each situation individually and can make adjustments to your award at any time during the year.

We offer student work award to all students as long as it fits in their financial aid package. While community based jobs in Northfield require a state or federal work award that is need-based financial aid, students with no need or lower need that do not qualify for those work awards can still have a campus work award and work on campus. If you would like a work award, email finaid@stolaf.edu or stop by Tomson 120 and we happy to add a work award if there is space.

Any need-based aid or merit scholarships that you receive from St. Olaf will still be available if you decide to study overseas or off-campus through one of our many approved St. Olaf programs. If you choose to attend a program that is not St. Olaf approved, your institutional grants and scholarships will not be available for you, although federal loans may still be utilized. St. Olaf also has additional scholarships available to help defray the extra costs associated with studying abroad on one of our approved semester or year-long programs. You will be instructed on how to apply for these scholarships when you are accepted to a program. Additional loans (for students or parents) will also be available.

The amount borrowed by St. Olaf students varies greatly with individual circumstances. For the graduating class of 2026, 53 percent of the students used student loans to finance a portion of their education. The median individual student indebtedness was about $23,000 in this cohort.