Many veterans attending UW-Madison need some form of financial aid besides what the VA provides. The following information is designed to assist student veterans in filling out financial aid forms. The forms (FAFSA, UW specific forms, etc.) take about an hour to complete. The financial aid paperwork must be processed by the last day of school at the end of the semester. The earlier you submit your application the more likely you are to receive aid in a timely manner. The first step is to determine whether you are a dependent or an independent applicant. To be considered independent you must meet at least one of the following criteria:

1. Birth date before January 1, 1983.
2. Be a veteran of the U. S. Armed Forces (must have served on active duty for other than training purposes or have been called up) AND have been released under a condition other than dishonorable. Answer yes to this question if you are not a veteran now but will be one by June 30, 2007.
3. Be a graduate or a professional student (Medical, Law or Veterinary Medicine student).
4. Be married.
5. Be a ward of the court.
6. Have legal dependents, other than a spouse.
I. The STUDENT 2005 FEDERAL TAX RETURN form for 2006-2007:
This form must be completed by all students applying for financial aid and returned to Student Financial Services. You
can download it at: http://www.finaid.wisc.edu/forms.html

There are a few things that veterans should pay specific attention to:
- Veterans receiving some other scholarship, grant, ROTC, etc., not administered by Student Financial Services must document it here. This is where you would document the Wisconsin Veterans 100% Tuition and Fees Reimbursement Grant, GI Bill, Vocational Rehab or other education benefits from the VA or the DoD. Here you must enter the amount of the payment.
- The Special Circumstances section could be very important. Student Financial Services has the option of using either last year’s or this year’s income when determining your financial award. If you expect a significant decrease in your income this year compared to last, document this in the Special Circumstances section. Submit this form along with a signed copy of your 2005
Federal Tax Return to Student Financial Services.
II. The FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA) form:
This form must be completed by all students applying for financial aid and mailed in the envelope that is attached to the form. You may also fill out the FASFA on the web (which is a much faster processing time) at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ .
Some tips for filling out the FAFSA are:
DO NOT FILL OUT THE PURPLE SECTIONS IF YOU ARE INDEPENDENT.
- In step two on questions 46-47, DO NOT include veterans education benefits but you do include veterans non-education benefits like Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and other death pension benefits.
- In Step Six, question #86, the information that you should use is:
Title IV Code for UW -Madison is #003895
Address:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
432 N. Murray St.
Madison, WI 53706
- In Step 6 on Line #100, DON’T FORGET to sign and date the form.