You may be eligible to receive 100% of the cost of tuition and mandatory fees to attend LCU! We call it the LCU Guarantee—our guarantee to you.
LCU’s West Texas Promise is our promise to first-time beginning freshmen that they will receive a minimum of $28,000 over four years and potentially up to $40,000 over four years—see what you qualify for today!
And we're committed to doing everything we can to make it possible for you to choose LCU—that's why
100% of first-time freshmen receive scholarships or grants.
Scholarships
There are a variety of ways to fund your education at LCU—see if you qualify for a scholarship or grant!
Apply for Aid
Financial assistance awards are extremely important in determining your financial preparedness for your college education.
Financial Aid Forms
Find the forms needed to apply for, accept, and navigate your financial assistance options.
Net Price Calculator
This tool helps estimate your potential costs, including grants, scholarships, and loans.
- Allows the U.S. Department of Education to automatically obtain federal tax information from the IRS for students, parents, and other contributors (such as a spouse or stepparent).
- Reduces the number of questions students will have to answer on the form.
- Expands the Federal Pell Grant to more students and links eligibility to family size and the federal poverty level (starting with the 2024-25 award year).
- Updates language associated with Cost of Attendance (COA).
- Provides additional flexibility for assisting students with unusual circumstances.
To read more about the FAFSA Simplification Act and the changes this brings, please visit the Federal Student Aid website.
- Once the soft launch period has completed, the FAFSA application process will be streamlined and easier for students to complete.
- New terminology has been added to the FAFSA.
- The FAFSA has fewer questions and requirements.
- The FAFSA process will retrieve tax information using a direct data exchange from the IRS to the U.S. Department of Education instead of the previous IRS Data Retrieval Tool.
- The need analysis formula to determine financial aid, formally known as the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), will now be referred to as the Student Aid Index (SAI). The new formula removes the number of family members in college from the calculation, better reflects the FAFSA results, and implements separate eligibility determination criteria for Federal Pell Grants.
- The FAFSA has introduced the new term “contributor”, which refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student’s FAFSA form, including the student, the student’s spouse, a biological or adopted parent, or the parent’s spouse. Being a contributor does not imply responsibility for the student's college costs.
Prior to completing the FAFSA, you can prepare by doing the following:
- Create an FSA ID on the Federal Student Aid website and assist contributors, such as your parent(s) or spouse, in creating an FSA ID. Please note: If you or your contributor already has an FSA ID, you will use your existing FSA ID.
- An FSA ID is an account and password that gives you access to the Federal Student Aid’s online system and serves as your electronic signature.
- With the FSA ID, you can fill out the FAFSA when it is available, sign your Master Promissory Note (MPN), apply for repayment plans, complete loan counseling, and use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Help Tool.
These federal aid requirements, rights, and responsibilities have not changed or had minor updates:
- The FAFSA remains required annually for federal aid consideration and is available to U.S. Citizens or Eligible Non-Citizens.
- Dependency status questions to determine if your parents must provide their information remain the same.
- FAFSA will still request prior-prior year tax information (e.g., for the 2024-2025 FAFSA you will use 2022 tax information). Families that had a significant reduction in income due to extenuating circumstances can still request special circumstances review.
- Federal Education Loan requirements remain the same.
If your family has experienced financial hardship that was not accurately reflected on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the LCU Financial Assistance Office can review the financial information for consideration of special circumstance. The Department of Education allows financial assistance offices to review special circumstance situations on a case-by-case basis and allows for adjustments to the data elements on the FAFSA.
The following examples may be considered as Special Circumstance situations:
Loss of Income for the Student and/or Parent may include:
- Loss of employment or reduced work hours.
- A divorce or separation of a spouse or parent.
- The death of a spouse or parent.
Additional Expenses for Parent or Student may include:
- Unusual Medical and/or Dental Expenses
If a loss of income has occurred or unusual expenses have been incurred, it may affect the results of the FAFSA since the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) is based upon the previous year’s income information. The loss of income or unusual expenses may affect your ability to contribute towards your or your child’s education. A loss of income or additional expenses could reduce the EFC, which may result in additional need based eligibility. Special circumstance requests will begin to be reviewed during May for the next award year. Documentation of the loss of income or additional expenses must be submitted along with the special circumstance application. Due to the volume of special circumstance requests, it may take several weeks to complete the review process.
Please contact the Financial Assistance Office at FinancialAssist@LCU.edu for assistance with the special circumstance process.