Helpful Info and Forms

Helpful Information

Consumer Information

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requires colleges and universities that participate in federal student financial aid programs to disclose certain information to current and prospective students, and to university employees. Please be aware of these Consumer Information Disclosures.

Financial Aid Videos

Watch these videos for helpful tips on applying for and using financial aid.

Net Price Calculator

A good place for residential undergraduate students to get their financial aid questions, concerns and challenges answered is the CIU Net Price Calculator. This will give you an estimate of the scholarships, grants and loans that you may qualify for and it only takes 3–5 minutes!

Parent’s Guide

New undergraduates to CIU typically are away from their nurturing family life for the first time. We offer spiritual, emotional and financial resources — based on years of experience and a commitment to love Christ and our students — to help make the transition smoother and your students’ time here a success. You play a critical role in your son or daughter’s college planning and transition, and we offer a parent’s guide to help make the transition to college smoother for you and the student.

Professional Judgement

Professional Judgement is the process of reviewing an individual student’s unique circumstances and exercising the option to change the data elements normally applied through the Department of Education Federal Methodology (FM) formula on the FAFSA application that helps compute a student’s family contribution. Professional judgment changes are made when the financial aid administrator judges the standards used to determine the family contribution are inappropriate for purposes of calculating eligibility for financial aid due to extenuating circumstances. Normally, it comes as a result of a change in the student and/or family’s income or asset information as reported on the FAFSA. For more information please see our Professional Judgement page.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Continuing aid from CIU and its outside sources requires evidence of Satisfactory Academic Progress.

Terms and Conditions

Your award may include scholarships, grants, loans, or work study from federal, state, and institutional programs, as well as funds from sources outside CIU that were known at the time your award was made. The information on the Terms and Conditions page is intended to describe the terms and conditions of your award, outline policies and procedures, and explain the process for delivery of funds. In some cases, individualized comments will appear in your Award Letter.

Financial Aid Forms

The Financial Aid Office will contact you if any of the documents below are required of you before your aid can be disbursed. If you are unable to open any of these documents, please call our office at 803-807-5036 to request a paper copy. Documents are in PDF format and you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer to view them. Please submit any completed forms to finaid@ciu.edu or send them to:

Financial Aid Office
Columbia International University
7435 Monticello Road
Columbia, SC 29203

2023-2024 Financial Aid Forms

Dependent V1

Independent V1

Dependent V4

Independent V4

Dependent V5

Independent V5

Special Circumstances — Loss of Income