Frequently Asked Questions About Federal Financial Aid

You can view your award information by logging into NetPartner. First-time users will need to create an account.

Students who need to submit documents for their federal financial aid review will receive notification either from Berklee directly or from Berklee's federal verification partner, Inceptia.

Yes. The process is the same for both diploma- and degree-seeking students at Berklee College of Music.

Berklee's federal school code is 002126. This code should be used for Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Berklee Valencia, and Berklee Online.

Students and parents will report calendar year 2020 income tax information on the 2022–2023 FAFSA.

Year 2019 tax information will be used for the 2021–2022 FAFSA.

We strongly recommend that students and parents use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer tax information directly into the FAFSA.

You have the right to cancel your federal loans before they are disbursed or within 30 days of being notified of disbursement. 

Most private loan lenders have a 30- or 60-day deadline for sending either all or part of a loan back. Once you are outside this window, the parent or student may be responsible for loan fees, several payments, and any interest that has accrued. We recommend that you check with your lender before signing your loan agreement to clarify their return-of-funds policy.

To remain eligible for federal student aid, undergraduate students must be enrolled at least half time (six credits) in a semester. Graduate students must be enrolled in three credits to be eligible for federal aid. Students who fall below half time will need to complete exit counseling and may go into loan repayment.

Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee students must be approved for part-time enrollment through the Office of the Registrar by completing a Part-Time Authorization Request Form.

Berklee Online students do not need registrar approval for part-time enrollment, but should speak with their academic advisor regarding their semester course load, and to ensure registered courses count towards the completion of their degree.

Per federal regulations, students who receive Title IV federal financial aid and who fully withdraw from Berklee on or before the 60 percent point in the term (in calendar days) are entitled to keep only the portion of Title IV federal student aid that they have earned to that point. If a student who is receiving federal financial aid withdraws after the 60 percent point of the term, that student is considered to have earned all of the federal student aid for that semester.

If you graduate, withdraw, or drop below six credits as an undergraduate student, you are required to complete exit counseling. This can be done online at https://studentaid.gov/.

For more information about these and other financial aid topics, consult the Policy Handbook for Students.

Please contact the Office of the Registrar for more information on the withdrawal policy:

Berklee College of Music Registrar | Berklee Online Registrar | Boston Conservatory at Berklee Registrar

For the purposes of federal financial aid, students are considered dependent on their parents until they are 24 years of age, regardless of financial support. There are circumstances, however, when a student under the age of 24 may be considered independent.

The student can be considered independent if they:

• are married;
• are providing more than half the support for their child;
• are living with and providing more than half the support for somebody else;
• are in a master’s or doctorate program;
• are an orphan or a ward of the court (at any time since age 13);
• are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces for purposes other than training;
• are a veteran of the U.S. armed forces;
• are an emancipated minor, as determined by the state of their legal residence;
• are or were in legal guardianship, as determined by a court in the student’s state of legal residence;
• have been declared an unaccompanied youth who is homeless by their high school or school district (on or after July 1, 2008); 
• have been declared an unaccompanied youth who is homeless by a director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing (on or after July 1, 2008); or, 
• have been declared an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or was self-supporting and at risk of being homeless by the director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program (on or after July 1, 2008). 

Verification documentation will be requested if a student claims any of these circumstances. Students who don’t fall into the above circumstances can be declared independent only in extreme circumstances.

In order to remain eligible for federal student aid, all Berklee students are required to consistently meet or exceed satisfactory academic progress (SAP) standards each semester. Please click below to view the satisfactory academic progress policy for your division of Berklee:

Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee | Berklee Online Undergraduate | Berklee Online Graduate

You must be a degree-seeking student at Berklee Online to be eligible to use federal financial aid. However, certificate students might be eligible for veterans' benefits and private loans.