College Application Fee Waiver Information

With college application fees averaging $35 to $50 or more, applying to several colleges can be expensive for any student. It may actually be prohibitive for some families, especially those on the lower end of the economic scale. However, students of families experiencing financial hardship may be eligible for waivers of their college application fees.

Both the College Board and National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) provide waiver request forms that can be completed by eligible students and are accepted by many colleges.

The State University of New York (SUNY) and the City University of New York (CUNY) require use of their own waiver request forms.

Let your students and their parents know that they may be eligible for application fee waivers through these opportunities:

College Board

Students who previously received a fee waiver from the College Board for the SAT will receive four application waivers directly from the College Board through their College Board accounts. Students are assigned a unique fee waiver code they can submit with four college applications.

The colleges and universities that accept SAT waivers are listed in the SAT Fee-Waiver Directory of Colleges.

NACAC

Students who did not take the SAT, as well as those who did but are applying to more than four schools, can use the NACAC Request for Application Fee Waiver.

This form is completed by students with the help of their high school counselor. Suggested annual family income guidelines for this waiver depend on family size. However, income is not the only determining factor in application fee waivers; many are based on the counselor's personal knowledge of family circumstances.

You can provide this form to your students.  Before your College Application Week event, print copies based on the number of students likely to be eligible at your school.  Work with the students to complete them ahead of time or at your event.

SUNY

Students applying to SUNY who face significant financial hardship may also request their application fees be waived by having their school counselor complete and submit a SUNY Fee Waiver Request Form.

The State University waives the $50 application fee for up to four college choices. Students who are eligible for a fee waiver should select "Fee Waiver" as their payment method. If a fee waiver request is submitted and the student is later found ineligible, the student will be required to submit payment before the application will be processed.

Learn more about SUNY application fee waivers on SUNY’s Application FAQs webpage.

CUNY

The City University of New York (CUNY) fee waivers may be available to students who are current CUNY students, current NYS High School students, students facing hardship or veterans and spouses of veterans.

Learn more about CUNY Application Fee Waivers here.

 

 

/* Smartling Language Switcher code */