Applying for Financial Aid
To apply for financial aid, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). These forms may be obtained from high school guidance offices, the Financial Aid Office at BHSU or online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Black Hills State University's federal school code is 003459.
Applications mailed later than March 1 may not be considered for some programs because of limited funding.
Types of Financial Aid
Financial aid awards may include scholarships, grants, loans and work-study. See expanded topics under Financial Aid (to the left) on loans, grants, student employment and scholarships for a further description of each of the types of financial aid available. You may also go to Student Aid.
Correspondence Courses
There are certain requirements for financial aid if you are taking correspondence courses, please review the data by linking here, correspondence courses.
Graduate Aid
Students in graduate studies must be attending at least 1/2-time to qualify for aid, which is mostly loans, and must be accepted into the graduate degree program at Black Hills State University. The federal TEACH grant does allow less-than-1/2-time students to receive this grant. Half-time is considered 4.5 credit hours or more each term/semester. For further information on eligibility of Stafford Loans, please refer to section in the Award Handbook.
Fee Payment - 2009SP
Financial Aid Paid/Financial Aid Remaining
Financial aid is based on full-time status; some aid is prorated if you are less than full-time. All paperwork needs to be completed in time for processing of loans and class registration needs to be in place. Complete financial aid will be applied to your bill by Janaury 7, 2009. After this date you can review Web Advisor's Statement History for "Financial Aid Payments" (aid applied to your bill). If you have "Financial Aid Remaining" there are some issues you need to resolve, please contact Student Financial Services for assistance. We will be able to give you a deferment of payment if we know there is other aid that will be applied to your bill.
Refund of Excess Financial Aid - No lines, checks will be direct deposited or mailed
A refund is created after your "Financial Aid Payments" are greater than your bill. The refund check will be direct deposited (preferred method) or mailed to you at the local address (please confirm during the registration confirmation process). Estimated processing date for direct deposit or mailing of checks is January 9th. All students need to complete the registration confirmation process.
Mid-year transfers
Mid-year transfer students may need to provide official college transcripts prior to the processing of Stafford or alternative loans.
Financial Aid not yet available
If you have applied for financial aid and have not yet received your award letter, please allow four to six weeks of processing time. Please be prepared to pay your bill through the monthly payment plan or SDePay.
Other aid
Certain types of financial aid may not appear on your bill (e.g. some out-of-state loans, PLUS loans and alternative loans that are not transmitted via electronic funds transfer, WIA funds, state Voc-Rehab, Higher Ed grants). Funds from these sources will be available at the cashier's window on or after January 5th. A Reminder: Stafford Loans and PLUS loans may have up to 4.0% origination and default prevention fee assessed by the lender/guarantor and deducted from loan proceeds prior to application on your account. Outside scholarships must be applied to your account for federal reporting purposes and are divided equally between semesters unless otherwise designated in writing by the donor.
Student Financial Services - Financial Aid
1200 University Street Unit 9670
Spearfish, SD 57799-9670
bhsufinancial@bhsu.edu
phone: (605) 642-6145 or 1-800-255-BHSU
fax: (605) 642-6913