Applying for Financial Aid

Need-based financial aid is awarded to students who demonstrate that their family financial resources are not sufficient to meet the full annual cost of attending Kenyon. Aid awards usually consist of "packages," which include institutional grants, scholarships, loans, and campus employment. In some cases, students are also eligible for grants from the federal or state government, and these are included in the total package.

To determine whether a student who is a U.S. citizen has financial need, the College uses the "needs analysis" offered by the College Scholarship Service. This requires an aid applicant's family to submit a PROFILE (Kenyon code 1370) and Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA: Kenyon code 003065) to the processing centers. Deadlines for these documents differ for regular-decision and early-decision applicants. Please consult the financial aid deadlines chart to determine the correct deadline for your PROFILE and FAFSA applications. Applications filed after the correct deadline will be placed on a financial aid wait list to be considered for aid only if funds are available after May 15.

The information provided on the PROFILE and FAFSA is analyzed using standard formulas. The result of this analysis is a calculation of what the family can contribute toward the cost of attending Kenyon from parental and student assets and incomes. The difference between what the student's family can contribute and the cost of attending the College is defined as that student's financial need. This need is then provided for by a financial aid package.

Prior to finalizing financial aid packages, some financial aid applicants will be selected by the federal government to complete a process termed verification. When performing verification, the Office of Financial Aid staff compares information on a family's CSS Profile and FAFSA applications to data reported on the Kenyon College Verification Statement(s) and official IRS income tax transcripts. Being selected for verification is fairly common and does not indicate an applicant has been admitted to the College.

An estimate of your expected family contribution may be obtained here. This is only an estimate and relies primarily on self-reported information from the student and family.

Kenyon College requires the College Board Non Custodial PROFILE (NCP) from all first year students whose parents' marital status is separated/divorced or never married, living separately. (Please note that the NCP will be automatically generated by the College Board after receipt of the custodial PROFILE application.) The NCP must be submitted within 10 days of receipt for the student to be considered for need-based financial aid. Need-based financial aid will not be determined for students with an outstanding NCP. In rare instances (non custodial parent incarceration, abuse situations, abandonment, etc.) with third party documentation, the NCP requirement may be waived by the Financial Aid Appeal Review Committee.

In addition to financial aid based on need, Kenyon offers a variety of scholarship programs without regard to need.