Financial aid adminstrators have the authority to use something called Professional Judgment (PJ) to adjust a student's information on the FAFSA to revise a student's Expected Family Contribution or adjust a student's cost of attendance. What can be considered may depend on your school's cost of attendance. In most cases, using Professional Judgment helps the student to receive additional financial aid. I'll discuss the various types of PJ that administrators perform in my next blog, but know that any PJ change must be done on a case-by-case basis.
What is Professional Judgment (PJ)?
- PJ is an action taken by a financial aid adminstrator to help a student who has a special circumstance
- PJ cannot be used to classify a special circumstance for a whole class of students--it must be done on a case-by-case basis only
- If PJ is used, it must be applied to all federal student aid. Example: a financial aid administrator cannot use PJ for Pell Grant and not other federal programs such as SEOG
- Any PJ done at one school does not automatically carry over to another school if you transfer
What doesn't constitute PJ?
- Adminstrators cannot change the Federal Methodology formula used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution as prescribed by law
- Adminstrators cannot change a student' cost of attendance based on the belief that the formula is inappropriate or inaccurate
- General student eligibility requirements, as defined by law, cannot be circumvented. An example of this would be awarding federal student financial aid to a non-degree student
How do I know if I have a special circumstance? Special circumstances are just that--special. Although the Higher Education Reauthorization Act (1998) recognizes certain types of special circumstances (which will be described in my next blog), this doesn't mean there is a definitive list. If you have a situation that you feel warrants special consideration for financial aid, contact your school's financial aid office for assistance. The financial aid professional can ask you questions to determine if PJ is an option.
What all is involved to do PJ? Documentation is required to do a PJ. If the financial aid office determines you have a special circumstance, personnel will provide you with information on what documentation is needed, depending on your situation. Because PJ is school-specific, some schools may be more stringent with the required documentation than others. However, all schools must have enough documentation to make a notation to your student record for federal auditing purposes. I mention this because I have had students who received a PJ adjustment to their aid at one school, but I did not feel the the same documentation supported a PJ at my school.
Who makes the PJ determination? Usually, the financial aid advisor/counselor will review the documentation first. If the financial aid personnel feels the documentation is sufficient, action (whether approved or denied) can be taken. There are some times when a committee convenes to discuss the situation and documentation before a decision is reached.
My next report will cover some common types of special circumstancs.