Parent Resources

The Humboldt Financial Aid Office would like to ensure that all parents and families of our future and current Humboldt students understand the Financial Aid process at our institution and are well informed about the resources available in order to assist you in making financially responsible decisions for you and your student's educational career. 

The Financial Aid application was designed to provide a picture of the family's financial strength. If a dependent student is applying for student aid to help pay for college, the parent's financial information is required. Providing information does not commit the parent to contributing anything toward the student's education; it is simply required for the assessment of the family's situation.

Parents must include tax, income, and some asset information on the Financial Aid application. They must also obtain an FSA ID (or create an account for the Cal Dream Act) to serve as their electronic signature for the Financial aid application process. Assets not included in the financial aid calculation include personal property, annuities, cash value of life insurance, retirement accounts, and 529 plans owned by people other than the student or parents.

The information reported by students and parents on the Financial Aid application is encrypted (scrambled using a mathematical formula) so it is unreadable by anyone who might intercept it. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education does not sell student or parent information and does not share that information with any entities beyond those specified on the Financial Aid application.

The Financial Aid office is required to protect the financial aid information for all of our students. We understand that there are parents who are interested in assisting their students navigate the financial aid process. In order to serve you and your student, we require that the student complete an Authorization to Release Information on their Student Center. Without this release, Financial Aid Staff will be unable to answer questions when parents call the office. 

FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. When a student turns 18 years old or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, all rights afforded to you as a parent under FERPA transfer to the student. To protect your student's privacy, the law generally requires schools to ask for written consent from the student before disclosing your student's information. If you have further questions about FERPA, please contact the U.S. Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office. 

Student Center guide on completing the Authorization to Release information can be found on the Student Financial Services page: https://studentfinancialservices.humboldt.edu/student-center-guide 

This unsubsidized loan is designated for parents of dependent students (who are considered dependent for Title IV financial aid purposes) and are enrolled at least half time. The parent is responsible for the loan repayment. Parents who do not have an adverse credit history may borrow up to the total cost of attendance, minus any other aid received by the student.

The Direct PLUS Loan requires a credit check and borrowers generally begin repayment of both the principal and interest begin within 60 days of the award year's last PLUS disbursement, or parents may choose to defer payments on the Direct PLUS Loan until six months after the date the student ceases to be enrolled at least half-time; may pay accruing interest monthly or quarterly, or allow interest to be capitalized quarterly.

The PLUS Program enables parents to borrow up to the difference between the student's cost of education and any aid/educational resource received per year for each dependent child, with no aggregate loan limit. Be an informed consumer and a prudent borrower for the sake of your student's financial future. 

Apply for a Parent PLUS Loan  (Application will open on early June prior to the start of the academic year)

Here are a couple of items that a dependent student's parent will need to keep in mind when creating their account:

• When you identify which parent you are requesting a signature from, that is the only parent that will be able to sign the document, unless the student goes back into the task and edits the selected parent.
• Your parent will need to notify you if the information on the document is inaccurate and needs to be changed. You will need to make this change and re-request the signature.
• If the parent does not have a valid SSN, they will not be able to electronically sign and neither will the student. You will instead click "Opt out of E-sign" which will allow your parent to download and print the document so that both you and your parent can provide wet signatures. Once the document has been signed, you will need to upload it.

Step 1: Your student will initiate the process in their Student Forms portal. An email notification will be sent to you (the parent) with the link to complete the registration process.

Step 2: Create a username, password, and the parental information as reported on the student's FAFSA application.

Step 3: View the pending task(s) that require the parent's e-signature and click "Preview".

Step 4: Preview the form, ensure everything is reported correctly, provide your portal password as your "E-Sign Password" then click "E-Sign" button. **Please note, if the form is not correctly completed, or information needs to be changed you (the parent) will need to have your student log into their Student Form portal to make corrections. 

Step 5: Accept the Terms & Conditions of the E-Sign consent and confirm the document has been accepted.

Step 1: After you have completed the task(s), you will be given the opportunity to "Review & Sign" your web form. Scroll to the bottom of the webpage after you review and click "Opt out of E-Sign".

Step 2: You will be shown a pop up notification on the browser to confirm your opt out of E-Sign and the instruction on how to complete the task with a wet signature. Click "Confirm" to proceed with the opt out process.

Step 3: Now a download button will appear after your opt out of E-sign selection. Click the "download" button to retrieve a PDF copy of the form so you can print the form and provide a wet signature.

Step 4: After clicking download, you will be directed back to your task list. you will now see an upload button related to your form so you can upload the signed PDF form to complete the task. You will be able to preview the PDF form and click "use" to confirm that you want this file used to complete this task. After this confirmation, you will click "submit" to complete this task.