First-Year Applicants
Brandeis meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for all domestic undergraduates, and for all international undergraduates who apply for aid during the admission process.
Before Acceptance
Brandeis requests that entering first year undergraduate applicants file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the College Board/Financial Aid PROFILE form.
Please note that ONLY the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is required for federal financial aid consideration.
Please contact us at 781-736-3700 or sfs@brandeis.edu if you have any questions or concerns about filing the PROFILE form. Students who do not submit a financial aid application before they have been admitted will be placed on a waiting list for grant and scholarship funds.
1. Complete the College Board's CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE for need-based financial aid consideration. (Please note that ONLY the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is required for federal financial aid consideration.)
The PROFILE is a two-part application. Begin the process by registering with the College Scholarship Service online.
Once you have registered, you will be able to access your online application immediately. The application will be customized based on your registration information and your college choices. For Brandeis University, some additional questions in Section Q of the PROFILE and some additional supplements may be required, so it is important to include Brandeis University (CSS Code 3092) as one of the recipients of your application when you register.
Your PROFILE application should be submitted to the College Board by November 1 for Early Decision I applicants and January 3 for Early Decision II and Regular Decision applicants. Upon submission of your application, you will receive an online PROFILE Acknowledgement. If you wish to make any changes to your PROFILE application after you have submitted it online, you will need to contact Brandeis directly with your corrections.
Need help setting up a CSS Parent Account? Review the CSS Parents Registration Guide.
2. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
This form must be completed online at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. We highly recommend that you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool within the FAFSA to transfer your and/or your parents' 2021 income figures onto your application to prevent the need for additional income documentation in the future. (Watch an instructional video on how to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.) Remember to include Brandeis as the school to which your FAFSA should be sent. Our Federal School Code is 002133. We will receive an electronic record of your information after you submit it to the processor. You will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) after your FAFSA has been received and processed. Review the information carefully, and follow the instructions on the SAR if any corrections need to made.
Your FAFSA should be submitted to Brandeis by November 1 for Early Decision I applicants and January 3 for Early Decision II and Regular Decision applicants.
After filing the FAFSA, a series of edits and matches are performed on your application. These include a check with the Social Security Administration to verify that your name corresponds to your Social Security number, a check with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify your citizenship status, verification that you have registered with Selective Service (if applicable), and a check to confirm that you are not in default on any previously borrowed Federal student loans. We are required to resolve any discrepancies that arise from these matches, so requests for additional information may follow upon receipt of your FAFSA.
Additional information may be required on a case-by-case basis. We will notify you when we need any additional documentation. Please help us by responding as quickly as possible to our requests.
Feel free to contact us directly if you need assistance understanding what we need from you.
3. Submit any supplemental forms.
If you indicated that your parents own a business or a farm, you will be asked to submit complete copies of your parent(s)' 2021 business tax returns (i.e., Schedule C, Partnership, S-Corporation and U.S. Corporation). These forms may be photocopied, and should be uploaded via DEISConnect.
If you stated that your natural parents are divorced or separated, you will need to have your noncustodial parent (the parent with whom you do not live) complete the Noncustodial PROFILE. Upon completion of the PROFILE registration process, you will receive a link to the web site where the noncustodial parent can access and complete this application. CSS will send the data from this application to Brandeis electronically.
ED I and ED II applicants only are required to submit 2021 Federal Income Tax Return(s), with all pages, schedules, signatures and W-2(S) for an initial review. Tax returns must be submitted for both you and your parents (both custodial and noncustodial) and should be submitted to us via the College Board IDOC service (all deposited students will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to send the tax returns via IDOC).
4. Verification
If a student's FAFSA application is selected for standard verification, he or she will be required to submit a Verification Worksheet and use either the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on the FAFSA or submit copies of IRS Tax Transcripts to verify the income reported on the FAFSA (non-filers must submit a non-filer statement along with income documentation). He or she may also required to sign a statement of educational purpose, submit a final high school transcript, and/or provide proof of identification to satisfy the requirements of federal verification.
All verification documents must be submitted prior to the application filing deadlines indicated on the SFS website and/or the awarding and disbursement of institutional, federal and state financial aid. Failure to do so by ten days prior to the start of the academic year term will result in cancellation of his or her financial aid, which may result in late fees and/or withdrawal from the University for non-payment of the balance due. If a student is selected for verification after his or her financial aid has been disbursed, he or she will have 30 days to complete the verification process and failure to do so will result in cancellation of both state and federal financial aid. Any required changes to a student’s FAFSA data resulting from the verification process will be made to his or her application directly by Brandeis, unless otherwise instructed. Any changes to his or her financial aid award due to the verification process will be communicated via a financial aid award letter.
5. Additional information
Additional information may be required on a case-by-case basis. We will notify you if we need any additional documentation. Please help us by responding as quickly as possible to our requests. Feel free to contact us directly if you need assistance understanding what we need from you.
After Depositing
If you are a regular decision student, once you have been admitted to Brandeis, and decide to attend, Brandeis, we will need to verify your tentative award with some additional information. This includes:
1. Your and your parent(s)' 2021 Federal Income Tax Returns, with all pages, schedules, W-2 forms and signatures.
To provide all of our students with accurate financial aid awards, we will verify your initial tentative award using your and your parent(s)' actual prior-prior year income (for example, if you are applying for the 2023-2024 academic year, we will need your 2021 tax returns). Tax returns must be submitted for both you and your parents (both custodial and noncustodial) and should be submitted to us via the College Board IDOC service (all deposited students will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to send the tax returns via IDOC).