Professional Attire Application

• Class Year:  First years, sophomores, juniors and seniors (before graduation day) are eligible to apply
• Students must have high financial need to be eligible to apply for the Johnson Family Opportunity Fund Award
• To be eligible for the JFOF Award, students must have a level of high financial need that meets specific criteria. Domestic students with an Expected Family Contribution of $10,000 or less, and “high need” international students, are eligible to apply. If you are uncertain about your eligibility, or believe you may have extenuating circumstances that may affect your eligibility, please reach out to Financial Aid at finaid@stolaf.edu.
• International students receiving funding could be subject to income tax withholding per the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the state of Minnesota:  For international students that are nonresident aliens for tax purposes, any income received may be subject to a 14% or 30% Federal withholding tax. Minnesota withholding tax may apply when your individual income tax returns are filed each calendar year but not at the time of payment. In some instances, if your tax residence country and the United States have a tax treaty agreement for scholarship/fellowship payments you may be able to claim the treaty and no tax may be withheld, income limits may apply. International students that are resident aliens for tax purposes will not have any tax withheld.

Applications for funding toward Professional Attire will be reviewed on a monthly basis.

Submit your application by the 1st of the month in order to be notified about funding decisions and receive funding by the 15th of the month.

• Award Amount: Provides funding of up to $200 to cover professional attire associated with an internship opportunity or a general need.
• Eligible students may receive a maximum total of $5,000 in JFOF funding during their time at St. Olaf, including both funding for Internships & Career-enhancing Experiences and Graduate/Professional School-related funding.
• Students who are seeking funding for internships should apply for funding through the Summer Internship Funding and Interim Internship Funding processes.
• Eligible students who are seeking funding for graduate school expenses or other short-term career enhancing experiences (non internships) should apply for funding through the process outlined here.

STEP 1 – Complete the Payment Authorization Form (this form authorizes payment by Direct Deposit – if you have one on file with the Business Office and there have been no changes to your bank account you do not need to upload this form)

• Complete the Payment Authorization Form (see here for an example)
• Save as a PDF using your first and last name with “DD” (i.e., AlexSmithDD)
• Upload to the secure document exchange after signing in with your St. Olaf email

STEP 2 – Complete a W-9  (only required if you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien)

• Note that W-9 is not the form you completed for student employment
• Complete a W-9 form  — for a signature, please either use an electronic signature or print and sign (see here for an example)
• Save as a PDF
• Upload to the secure document exchange after signing in with your St. Olaf email

STEP 3 – COMPLETE & SUBMIT your ONLINE APPLICATION BY THE 1st of the month

Complete the ONLINE APPLICATION for Professional Attire through the Johnson Family Opportunity Fund.

Applications for funding toward Professional Attire will be reviewed on a monthly basis. Submit your application by the 1st of the month in order to be notified about funding decisions and receive funding by the 15th of the month.

After You Apply

Await Notification from the Piper Center
Applications for funding toward Professional Attire will be reviewed on a monthly basis. Submit your application by the 1st of the month in order to be notified about funding decisions and receive funding by the 15th of the month.

For Award Recipients – Final Steps

Complete an online form that indicates that you would like to accept the award (you will receive a link to the form with your award notification).

All award recipients are expected to utilize the funding you receive to purchase professional attire, as appropriate based on your industry and work setting. If you have questions about identifying and purchasing appropriate attire, please speak with a Piper Center coach about typical attire expectations based on your career interests.

If after reviewing the information on this website you still have additional questions, please reach out to Marietta Ruppe <ruppe2> and Nate Jacobi <jacobi>.