Eli Whitney students are eligible to apply for Yale's need-based financial aid. Required documents and forms are listed below; see more information by clicking on the form or document name. After matriculation, students can check on outstanding forms and documents via Yale Hub with a Yale NetID and password.
Overview of Eli Whitney financial aid program
Types of aid available to Eli Whitney students
Estimated Cost of Attendance for Eli Whitney students
Application Instructions
U.S. citizens and permanent residents
International citizens (including Canadians)
U.S. citizens living abroad and international citizens living in the U.S. without permanent-resident status should contact the Undergraduate Financial Aid Office.
Deadline
For the 2024–2025 academic year, fall-term charges must be paid by August 1, and spring-term charges by December 1. You must complete your application by the priority deadline in order to ensure that your financial aid is shown on your Student Account prior to the payment deadlines and to avoid late fee charges. The priority deadline for 2024–2025 is April 1.
If you miss the application deadline, your award may be processed after the payment for term charges is due. Late fees will be charged for payment after the due date. However, you are still eligible to apply for financial aid, and your award will not be reduced because of late submission. Please submit all documents as soon as possible; the more quickly you complete your file, the sooner you will receive your financial aid award.
U.S. citizens and permanent residents
Please note the deadline listed above. Related documents may be required based on your family's circumstances; you will be notified if such documents are needed.
When submitting forms or documents to IDOC, please include the student’s name and date of birth or SID on each page.
Yale's FAFSA code is 001426
Date available: January (possibly sooner)
We do not require the FAFSA for a provisional financial aid decision.
What it is:
A free online application used to determine U.S. citizens' and permanent residents' eligibility for federal and state grants and for the low-interest Federal Direct Loan program.
How to submit it:
Fill out the application on the FAFSA Web site using Yale's FAFSA code: 001426.
The Federal Student Aid office provides helpful short videos on the following topics:
You can also visit the FAFSA Help page for FAQs and contact information.
Tax information entered in the FAFSA may also need to be verified with IRS Data Retrieval or an IRS Tax Return Transcript.
Yale's CSS College Code is 3987
Date available: October 1
What it is:
The CSS Profile collects information used by some colleges and scholarship programs to award institutional aid funds. Institutional aid is a substantial part of the financial aid package for most Yale College students, and the Profile, along with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, is used to determine eligibility for Yale scholarships. The CSS Profile provides more detailed information than the FAFSA and is required for all students applying for a Yale scholarship.
The CSS Profile has a submission fee, but fee waivers are available for eligible first-year students to keep this cost from being a barrier to financial aid. More information about our CSS Profile fee waiver process will be coming late September.
For more information about the Profile, see the College Board's CSS Profile website.
How to submit it:
• Apply on line on the College Board's website using Yale's CSS College Code: 3987.
• You should gather as much personal financial information as possible before beginning.
• If applicable, families should complete all required CSS supplements as well.
Please note:
• Yale receives your profile data electronically from CSS, so do not send copies or printouts of your application to Yale.
• The CSS Profile provides a fee waiver for first-year U.S. applicants from low-income families with few assets. If you qualify for the waiver, it is processed automatically based on the financial information you enter in the Profile, and no fee will be charged.
What it is:
As part of the 2025–2026 financial aid application, Yale requires copies of 2023 tax returns or, if no tax return was filed, equivalent documentation of 2023 income.
How to submit it:
- Use the College Board's IDOC Service to submit signed copies of 2023 federal tax returns, including all schedules and W-2s. For more information about the IDOC service, see IDOC under Financial Aid Terminology or visit the College Board website.
- Students who submitted an amended 2023 federal tax return must also submit a signed copy of the amended return.
- Students who did not file a tax return must submit a Tax Nonfiling Statement instead. Please visit our Forms page for the appropriate nonfiling statement.
Please note that students will need to submit updated tax documents in future years.
For aid year | Tax return required |
---|---|
2024–2025 | 2022 tax year |
2025–2026 | 2023 tax year |
2026–2027 | 2024 tax year |
2027-2028 |
2025 tax year |
What it is:
IRS verification of parents' tax information or tax-nonfiling status and of students' tax information is required by the U.S. government for all U.S. citizens and permanent residents to check a student's eligibility for federal aid. There are three different ways to complete the verification requirement:
- Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, available in the FAFSA for eligible tax filers.
If you can, we strongly encourage you to use this tool that allows parents and students to provide consent to the IRS to upload data from their federal tax returns at the time they complete the FAFSA. You can find instructions in FAFSA Help.
You will not be able to use IRS Data Retrieval and must complete the verification requirement using method 2 or 3 below if any of the following applies:- You are married but filed separate returns for the 2022 tax year
- Your marital status changed after the end of the tax year on December 31, 2023
- You did not file a 2023 tax return
- Submit an IRS Tax Return Transcript. If you filed a 2023 tax return but are unable to use IRS Data Retrieval, you must request a copy of your Tax Return Transcript from the IRS and submit the transcript as part of your financial aid application materials. For more information on IRS transcripts, see the IRS Transcript Types Web page.
If you filed an amended 2023 tax return, please submit signed copies of both the original and amended returns. For more information on IRS transcripts, see the IRS Transcript Types Web page.
- If you are the parent of a dependent student or are an independent student, submit an IRS Verification of Nonfiling Letter. The federal government now requires independent students and the parents of dependent students who filed a FAFSA to have the IRS verify if no tax return was filed. If you fit one of those categories and did not file a 2023 tax return, you must request a Verification of Nonfiling Letter from the IRS and submit the nonfiling letter as part of your financial aid application materials. For more information on nonfiling letters, see the IRS Transcript Types Web page.
Dependent students who did not file a 2023 tax return do NOT have to submit an IRS Verification of Nonfiling Letter.
How to submit it:
- If you filed a 2023 tax return and are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, please complete Data Retrieval in the FAFSA. You can find instructions in FAFSA Help.
Note: You must submit IRS Data Retrieval in addition to submitting copies of your 2023 tax returns to IDOC.
- If you filed a 2023 tax return but are ineligible to use IRS Data Retrieval, request a 2023 Tax Return Transcript on the IRS Web site or by submitting Form 4506-T to the IRS. 2
Note: You must submit a 2023 Tax Return Transcript in addition to submitting copies of your 2023 tax returns to IDOC.
- If you are the parent of a dependent student, or are an independent student, who did not file a 2023 tax return, request to have a Verification of Nonfiling Letter mailed directly to you. The letter provides confirmation that the IRS has no record of your filing a tax return for the year requested. You can order a Verification of Nonfiling Letter on the IRS Web site or by submitting Form 4506-T to the IRS.
Note: You must submit a 2023 Verification of Nonfiling Letter in addition to submitting a Tax Nonfiling Statement if you are the parent of a dependent student or are an independent student.
Also note: Undergraduate Financial Aid does not have control over problems that arise with IRS transcript requests. Please contact the IRS if you are experiencing difficulties.
If you receive an outside scholarship after submitting your Eli Whitney Financial Aid Application, please submit an Outside Scholarship/Resource Information form.
International citizens (including Canadians)
Please note the deadline listed above. Related documents may be required based on your family's circumstances; you will be notified if such documents are needed.
When submitting forms or documents to IDOC, please include the student’s name and date of birth or SID on each page.
Yale's CSS College Code is 3987
Date available: October 1
What it is:
The CSS Profile collects information used by some colleges and scholarship programs to award institutional aid funds. Institutional aid is a substantial part of the financial aid package for most Yale College students, and the Profile, along with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, is used to determine eligibility for Yale scholarships. The CSS Profile provides more detailed information than the FAFSA and is required for all students applying for a Yale scholarship.
The CSS Profile has a submission fee, but fee waivers are available for eligible first-year students to keep this cost from being a barrier to financial aid. More information about our CSS Profile fee waiver process will be coming late September.
For more information about the Profile, see the College Board's CSS Profile website.
How to submit it:
At Yale we ask our international financial aid applicants to use the online College Board CSS Profile if they are able to do so. This option provides Yale with more accurate and complete financial information, a consistent calculation of ability to pay, and quicker access to financial information without the delay of mailing, sorting, and imaging required for our systems. For those students who are not able to use the online CSS Profile (because of lack of internet access, lack of credit card access, or other financial difficulties), please contact our office.
• Apply on line on the College Board's website using Yale's CSS College Code: 3987.
• You should gather as much personal financial information as possible before beginning.
• If applicable, families should complete all required CSS supplements as well.
Please note:
Yale receives your profile data electronically from CSS, so do not send copies or printouts of your application to Yale.
What it is:
As part of the 2025–2026 financial aid application, Yale requires copies of 2023 tax returns or, if no tax return was filed, equivalent documentation of 2023 income.
How to submit it:
- Use the College Board's IDOC Service to submit signed copies of 2023 tax returns and/or income documents. For more information about this service, see IDOC under Financial Aid Terminology or visit the College Board website.
- If the tax returns are in a language other than English, please also provide an English translation of the text. The translation does NOT have to be an official document, and numbers do NOT need to be converted to U.S. currency.
- Students who do not file a tax return should submit documentation of their income, such as a letter from their employer.
If you receive an outside scholarship after submitting your Eli Whitney Financial Aid Application, please submit an Outside Scholarship/Resource Information form.