Financial Aid Next Steps

As you prepare to start at Missouri S&T, there are a number of important steps for your financial aid and campus account. 

Each individual tab covers a different topic along with informational handouts towards the bottom of the page. We hope this provides a clear picture of your financial aid and next steps coming to Misouri S&T. We look forward to welcoming you to the Miner family soon.

All students are encouraged to complete a general scholarship application on our scholarships.mst.edu database. This database centralizes scholarships from across the university.  After completing the general application, you will also see a "Recommended Tab" in the "Opportunities" portion of the database for scholarships that require additional information. All students should check the scholarship database periodically as new scholarships are added, deadlines change and additional opportunities become available for students. 

You can also apply for outside scholarships through the "External" tab in "Opportunities" in the scholarship database. These scholarships are from outside the university and come from different companies, organizations and agencies. All scholarships have been vetted to ensure they are not a scam or require any kind of payment. If you receive any of outside scholarships, you can self-report them in Joe'SS (Joe Self Service). Instructions to self-report are available on our website.

All students are encouraged to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to qualify for federal, state and other financial aid. The FAFSA is required for students to quality for a variety of grants, work-study and loan options. The FAFSA opens October 1 each year for the following academic year. You can submit the FAFSA at fafsa.gov. Missouri has a February 1 FAFSA priority deadline.

Each year, some students and families may be selected for a process called verification. This requires additional information be submitted to our office. If you have been selected, you will receive regular emails to your S&T email regarding the necessary information needed to complete the process. Your Joe'SS account will also show To-Do items assigned to complete this process. Please submit all documents to our office as soon as possible as we cannot disburse federal or state aid without completing this process. Documents should be submitted through the Secure File Upload on the your Joe'SS. Information on how to submit documents through the Secure File Upload is on the SFA website. You may also be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to submit some of the required information. Please refer to the DRT-IRS Instructions Handout below.

The 2021-2022 FAFSA uses the 2019 tax return to determine a student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC) number for financial aid eligibility. If your financial situation has changed from the information on the FAFSA, you could request a special circumstance review. We recommend families contact Student Financial Assistance to discuss if a special circumstance review would provide additional financial aid options. You can find the forms for a special circumstance review on the Student Financial Assistance forms website.

Student Financial Assistance Forms

Students can view all of their financial aid to accept or decline on their Joe'SS account. Students can log into Joe'SS using their username and password. Once in Joe'SS, students will navigate to their "Accept/Decline Awards" page through the following path:

Main Menu/ Student Center > Financial Aid > Accept/Decline Awards

Once on this screen, students will be able to pick any available aid year to review the financial aid offered for that year. 2022 is the aid year for the fall 2021, spring 2022 and summer 2022 semesters. 2023 is the aid year for the fall 2022, spring 2023 and summer 2023 semesters.

In the financial aid award screen, students can review financial aid offers, information about the different types of offers and accept or decline loans or work study. All scholarships and grants are automatically accepted on the student's behalf. Students can accept or decline any loans by making their selection and hitting "Submit" at the bottom of the page. We encourage students to only accept what they need and can reduce the offer amount listed before accepting the offer. Be sure to hit submit as aid will not start processing unless all selections are submitted.  

Please note, parent PLUS loans cannot be accepted and can only be declined in Joe'SS; Joe'SS is the student system and student are not able to accept a loan on a parent's behalf.  

After accepting a subsidized and/or unsubsidized loan(s) through Joe'SS,  students will need to complete both entrance counseling and the master promissory note on studentaid.gov. Students will have To-Do items assigned in Joe'SS for any steps still needed for the loans to disburse. 

Parents who wish to borrow the Parent PLUS loan can complete the application and credit check at studentaid.gov. After completing the application, parents are also required to complete the master promissory note. Once the application and master promissory note are complete, The Missouri S&T Student Financial Assistance office will receive the information and accept the loan for the amount borrowed on the student's account. This loan will then show as anticipated aid on the student's next bill.

For instructions on how to complete the entrance counseling and master promissory notes for both student and parent Direct Loans, please refer to the Direct Loan Handout below.

University loans will have a promissory note to complete and the Missouri S&T Student Financial Assistance Office will provide students these via their S&T email in July.

Private loans (through an outside lender) will have a separate application process. Students and families interested in using private loans can get more information on our Private Alternative Loans webpage. (See Alternative Loans Handout below).

All student records are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). In order to any outside individual or agency to discuss the student's account, the student can grant access and permission through Joe'SS. Once logged into Joe'SS, the student can select Personal Information to access their Information Privacy screen to grant access. On this screen, you can grant access in a couple areas:

Additional Authorized Access: This allows you to designate and add someone for guest access to your Joe'SS account. Anyone added to this permission will be given guest access to log into your Joe'SS account to view the approved information directly. 

FERPA Release: This allows you to designate someone to be able to access your records and discuss your accounts at S&T. Only those individuals you have granted access can call, email or visit to discuss specific details about your account.

If you want to grant both permissions, you would need to complete both tabs in Joe'SS. Completing the AAA permission does not grant FERPA permission.

You are able to select which parts of your records you grant access. Below are the four areas you can select: 

Student Account Information: Grants access to view current and past charges. Additional access needed thought TouchNet

Academic Information: Grants access to view Class Schedule, Grades, and Transfer Credit information.

Directory Information: Grants access to view address, e-mail, and phone information.

Financial Aid: Grants access to view financial aid information. This includes information about awards, loans, scholarships, fellowships and work study jobs that you have received or have been offered. If you have applied for financial aid, it includes information about the status of your application.

Additional instructions on granting these permissions can be found on the Registrar's website.

In addition to the AAA and FERPA permissions,  you can setup someone up for TouchNet Permission. This allows you to designate someone to be able to view billing statements, make payments and view 1098-T forms through TouchNet, the campus payment portal. This is an additional permission that is setup separate from the permissions in Joe'SS. Instructions to grant this additional permission are available through the Cashier's website.