Financial Aid Process
Below are listed the typical steps students take to secure financial aid. This page is annually updated with current financial aid deadlines.
Access Illinois Tech
Your Access Illinois Tech account serves as your gateway to university applications and resources such as your Financial Aid Dashboard. Log into Access Illinois Tech at access.iit.edu. When you log in for the first time, you will be prompted to set a new password, set up account recovery options, and configure multifactor authentication (MFA) for security. Please set up a minimum of two MFA methods that will allow you to access your email and applications.
If you need assistance logging on to Access Illinois Tech, contact the Chicago-Kent Information Technology Services (ITS) Help Desk online or by calling 312.906.5300.
FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA)
The FAFSA application is available as of October 1st each year. The priority completion date is April 1st of each calendar year. In order to qualify for financial aid, you must complete the corresponding year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for each academic year.
In order to apply, you will need to use your FSA ID or create one on the FAFSA website. Please remember to include our school code, E00773, and the school name will be listed as Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Instructional videos on how to apply for aid, create a FSA ID, and how the process progresses from there are available from the United States Department of Education.
Awarding for the new academic year begins mid- to late-March of each year. You will receive an award notification email when your financial aid award is ready to be viewed and accepted on the Financial Aid Dashboard on the Access Illinois Tech portal, which you may find by logging onto access.iit.edu. It can take up to 1–2 weeks for your FAFSA to be processed by our office.
Additionally, if you have any questions, please feel free to call the Department of Education at 1.800.433.3243 (800-4-FED-AID). These representatives have full access to your FAFSA and are trained to specifically answer FAFSA questions.
STUDENT AID REPORT (SAR) - After completing the FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) via email or mail. Review your SAR and any comments noted by the Department of Education. Make any necessary corrections with the Department of Education and make sure that the Chicago-Kent College of Law FAFSA school code of E00773 is on your SAR. If it is not, the Office of Financial Aid will not receive your FAFSA information.
FINANCIAL AID AWARD NOTIFICATION - Admitted students will start receiving their financial aid award notification by email in March. **Please note: In order to be considered for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled at least half-time (six credit hours for the fall and spring semesters and three credit hours for the summer term) in courses that are applicable to your degree.
AWARD REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE - Log in to your access.iit.edu and select the myIIT portal icon. Click on your Financial Aid Dashboard to accept the full or partial amount of the awards offered to you. If you are borrowing federal student loans, it is to your advantage to accept the Federal Unsubsidized Loan prior to accepting the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS- Complete a Loan Agreement (Master Promissory Note) online for each Federal Direct Loan type you accept, and a required Loan Entrance Counseling session must also have been completed on the Department of Education’s website at studentloans.gov. Please be sure to choose the Illinois Institute of Technology - Downtown Center so we receive your information in a timely manner.
Please regularly check the Financial Aid Dashboard of your Access Illinois Tech Portal for other required documentation that will be listed under "Unsatisfied Requirements".
Financial Aid Disbursement - Financial Aid (scholarships and federal student loans) is disbursed in equal installments directly to your student account before the start of each semester only if all requirements are complete.
Please note that tuition is charged at the beginning of each semester. Your total tuition costs are based on your tuition rate per credit hour multiplied by the number of credit hours in which you are enrolled. Please plan accordingly, especially if you are enrolling in additional credits for a give semester (i.e., 16 credit hours for Fall and 15 credit hours for Spring). Please also be aware of mandatory fees that are also billed to your student account.
Disbursements are different from Refunds. The refund process is separate and managed by the Student Accounting Office.
Refunds - If you have a credit balance after all financial aid is applied to your student account and your billable expenses (tuition and fees) are paid, the Student Accounting Office will process a refund.* Please allow at least 10 business days for a refund to be processed. For specific questions related to your refund, to discuss charges on your student account, or for information on setting up direct deposit or payment plans, please contact the Student Accounting Office at sa@iit.edu or at 312.567.3794.*
* To obtain an estimate of what your semester refund may be, please complete an Estimated Refund Calculation Sheet for each semester.
*Please visit our Tuition and Fees webpage for your tuition rate per credit hour and mandatory college fees. Please see our Estimated Cost of Attendance webpage for a breakdown of tuition, fees and cost of living expenses.
2023-2024 Federal Direct Loan Interest Rates:
For Direct Loans First Disbursed on or After July 1, 2023, and Before July 1, 2024
| Loan Type | Borrower Type | Fixed Interest Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Unsubsidized Loans | Graduate/Professional | 7.05% |
| Direct PLUS Loans | Graduate/Professional | 8.05% |
2023-2024 Federal Direct Loan Origination Fees:
For Direct Loans First Disbursed on or After October 1, 2022, and Before October 1, 2024
| Loan Type | Borrower Type | Origination Fee % |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Unsubsidized Loans | Graduate/Professional | 1.057% |
| Direct PLUS Loans | Graduate/Professional | 4.228% |
**An origination fee is a percentage of your loan amount charged by the lender for the processing of your loan. Federal student loans have an origination fee; therefore, the amount you may receive as a disbursement may be slightly lower than the amount you accept.
Securing Your Sensitive Documents
Encrypting or password protecting your files is a method of securing your information to ensure that only individuals with authorization are able to view and/or edit files.
These instructions outline how to secure word documents in Microsoft Word and PDF files in Adobe Acrobat. Please note: This guide uses the most current version of each program; using different program versions might affect instructions.
When sending documents to the Office of Financial Aid at Chicago-Kent College of Law, please remember:
- Choose a strong password by using a mixture of characters, numbers, upper-case, and special characters.
- Remember your password! Forgetting or losing your password will affect your ability to access your file.
- When sharing your document, please include the password in a separate email.
Password Protect a Microsoft Word Document
- Open your document. Locate and select “File” on the upper left hand corner. Click “Protect Document” then select “Encrypt with Password”.
- A dialogue box will appear when you select “Encrypt with Password”. Create a password and click “OK”. Re-enter your password on the next screen to confirm encryption.
- To confirm that your password was recorded, save the document, exit the document, then re-open the document. When you try to open the protected document, a dialogue box will appear and ask you to enter your password.
- When submitting documents to the Office of Financial Aid at Chicago-Kent College of Law, send your password protected document in one email, and your password in a separate email.
Password Protect a PDF Document
- Open your PDF document and locate the “Secure” icon and select “Encrypt with Password”.
- A dialogue box will appear asking you if you are sure you would like to change the security on this document.
- Click “Yes”.
- A “Password Security” dialogue box will appear. Check the “Require a password to open the document” box and type a password. Click “OK.”
- Once you have created a password, a new dialogue box will prompt you to retype your password. Re-type your password and click “OK.”
- Document encryption will not occur until you re-save your document. Please click on the “Save” icon in the upper left of your document to complete encryption.
- To confirm that your password was recorded, exit the document, then re-open the document. When you try to open the protected document, a dialogue box will appear and ask you to enter your password.
- When submitting documents to the Office of Financial Aid at Chicago-Kent College of Law, send your password protected document in one email, and your password in a separate email.
Financial Literacy
MAX by AccessLex is a personal finance program designed exclusively for law students. Having a MAX financial education account will give you access to lessons that will help you gain knowledge, build strategies, and meet your financial goals. Each month, MAX will alert you to complete your new lesson. In addition to your lessons, MAX also provides access to workshops, webinars, podcasts, and other financial education resources. You will also have opportunities to enter scholarship drawings! Sign in to your MAX account now.
If you do not have MAX financial education account, you may find step-by-step instructions to register HERE.
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