The VASA Application - or Virginia Alternative State Aid Application - is an alternative option to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The VASA Application is for Virginians who are nonimmigrants, undocumented, have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status or are otherwise ineligible to file the FAFSA and want to be considered for state financial aid.
Note: Students must meet domicile or Tuition Equity Provision requirements.
By filing a VASA Application:
- You will be considered for state need-based financial aid, including the Commonwealth Award and Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program (VGAP).
Frequently Asked Questions
This application is for Virginia students who do not qualify to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) based on their citizenship status. In order to file the FAFSA you need to be a US citizen or an eligible non-citizen.
This application will allow students who are classified as in-state residents and not eligible to complete the FAFSA to have an opportunity to be considered for Virginia state grant funds.
You can access the application by going to http://www.vasaapp.org/.
Since 2022-23 will be the first year of this new program and the VASA application, JMU will not have a priority filing date for students to submit the application and be considered for funds. Instead, we will accept applications and review them for awards as long as funds remain. Once the funds are depleted, no additional awards can be made for the year.
For the 2023-24 academic year, the priority filing date for the VASA application will be March 1st, 2023.
Yes, with the exception of the 2022-23 award year, every year the application will need to be completed by March 1st preceding the academic year you will be enrolling.
JMU will review the information on the application and ask for additional documents if needed. We will use the data to determine if the student qualifies for Virginia state grants at JMU.
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) has a website dedicated to in-state tuition here https://www.schev.edu/index/tuition-aid/in-state-residency. To find out more about your in-state residency while attending JMU, you can go here https://www.jmu.edu/ubo/residency.shtml.
We will begin the process of sending preliminary aid offers to students admitted for Fall 2022 through Early Action in the middle of February. We will start sending preliminary aid offers to students admitted through Regular Decision for Fall 2022 the end of March. The process to begin sending aid offers to current JMU students will begin in June. These offers will be an estimate of your financial aid for the following fall semester. JMU will respond to you if we need additional documents based on the information you submitted in your application. If we determine you are eligible for state grants, you will receive an official award offer email. If you do not qualify for state grants, you will receive an email letting you know.
SCHEV has a website dedicated to the VASA application here https://schev.edu/index/tuition-aid/vasa/.
Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Summer Hours of Operation:
Mon - Thur 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Fri 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.
