FACTS (Financial Aid Certification Tracking System) is designed to aid you in determining if your meeting program requirements and which courses are considered eligible for NY State Financial Aid programs. In all cases, students should always double check the relevant year college bulletin to ensure the courses they are taking are applicable to the program of study as outlined in the bulletin.
Eligibility in FACTS is an estimate of what your certification may be it does not necessarily reflect that a student will be certified eligible for TAP. Additionally, being certified as eligible based on coursework does not mean they will have a NY State aid grant on their aid package. HESC must also calculate program awards based on the TAP application data.
Therefore, to be eligible for state aid, a student must meet the program eligibility as defined at the application level and at the academic level. FACTS deals with the program eligibility of the academic level for NY State Aid programs.
NOTE: FACTS can be used to aid in determining Excelsior eligibility in terms of course applicability and general aid requirements. FACTS however does not have a section outlining the other excelsior requirements and therefore should not be used to confirm excelsior scholarship eligibility.
Step 1 – Login
Navigate to facts.cuny.edu and login with your CUNYfirst username and password
Step 2 – Click on the FACTS link
Click the FACTS link on the right side of the screen.
Step 3 -Enter Your EMPLID
Enter your 8-digit EMPLID in the “Student ID” field and then click the “submit” button underneath the student ID field.
After your search you will be shown the FACTS home screen. From the “Current Eligibility” menu (second from left) select the “Details” option to to get started.
Step 4 – Review your General State Aid Eligibility/Ineligibility by Term and Program
Review your State Financial Aid (APTS, TAP and HESC Scholarships (including Excelsior)
eligibility for the term in question.
In this section, you can confirm your information such as name, degree, major(s)/minor(s), First TAP payment year, Transfer Credit information (if applicable), Total Credits Attempted and Earned at Brooklyn College, award eligibility etc.
4.1 – Confirm Record Information
4.2 General Program Eligibility review
This section of the page allows you to see which NY State aid programs you may be eligible for.
Click on the link “Not Eligible” or “Eligible” to learn why you did or did not qualify for a specific program. Also check the “general guidelines” section to make sure you meet general eligibility requirements first, before checking the coursework and academic progress applicability.
In the example below the student is not eligible for any state aid programs.
In the example below the student is not eligible for TAP but is eligible for Part-Time TAP (PTAP) and Aid for Part-Time Study (APTS).
General Eligibility Requirements View.
Step 5 – Review Specific Reasons for State Aid Eligibility/Ineligibility by Term and Program
5.1 TAP Review Eligibility/Non-Eligibility Reason(s)
Column 1: Requirements to be State Financial Aid Eligible.
Column 2:
Description of the
Requirement(s)
Column 3: Your Eligibility Status for Each Requirement(s)
For each full-time TAP eligibility requirement you can review the specific reason(s) you are eligible/not eligible. In the example below the student is ineligible for TAP for four different reasons.
5.2 Part-Time TAP (PTAP) Review Eligibility/Non-Eligibility Reason(s)
For each part-time TAP eligibility requirement you can review the specific reason(s) you are not eligible. In the example below the student is eligible/ineligible for Part-time TAP for three different reasons.
Column 1: Requirements to be State Financial Aid Eligible.
Column 2:
Description of the
Requirement(s)
Column 3: Your Eligibility Status for Each Requirement(s)
Example of Eligibility statuses for PTAP. All statuses show with a check mark and are green. Student is determined program eligible.
5.3 Aid for Part-Time Study (APTS) Review Eligibility/Non-Eligibility Reason(s)
For each APTS eligibility requirement you can review the specific reason(s) you are eligible/not eligible. In the example below the student is ineligible for Part-time TAP for three different reasons.
Column 1: Requirements to be State Financial Aid Eligible.
Column 2:
Description of the
Requirement(s)
Column 3: Your Eligibility Status for Each Requirement(s)
Example of Eligibility statuses for APTS. All statuses show with a check mark and are green. Student is determined program eligible at the academic level.
5.4 Select NY State Scholarship – Review Eligibility/Non-Eligibility Reason(s)
For each scholarship program listed you can review the eligibility requirements and see whether or not you were determined eligible/not-eligible. In the example below the student is ineligible for the various scholarship programs.
5.5 Veteran’s Tuition Award (VTA)- Review Eligibility/Non-Eligibility Reason(s)
For VTA you can review the eligibility requirements and see whether or not you were determined eligible/not-eligible. In the example below the student is ultimately determined ineligible for VTA.
Step 6 – Summary Course Applicability by Term
In the example below you can see which programs the student is eligible for on the upper right side of the page. Under the ‘current enrollment” section you can see the course applicability by looking at the “eligible for NY State aid” column. A green Y means it is applicable a Red N means it is not.
FACTS provides an estimate of eligibility. In all cases students must always double check their courses in the applicable bulletin to determine if it is part of the program of study.
