Circumstances that will not be evaluated:

Personal debts, such as credit cards, car or home loans, and other consumer debt are not eligible for consideration, as they are debts of choice rather than extraordinary circumstances.
Prior or concurrent education loans for the student, siblings, or parents will not be considered, nor will the prior or concurrent cost of private primary or secondary schooling for the student or siblings.
The Catholic University of America generally will not consider “fluctuations” of income caused by self-employment, sales commissions, bonuses, gambling, or seasonal employment.
Insurance premiums will not be considered. Medical expenses may only be considered in very limited circumstances as outlined above.
Business losses and net operating loss carryovers are already built into the aid formulas based on your tax information and will not be considered.
Bankruptcy or tax liens will not be considered an extraordinary circumstance.

All federal financial aid is based on the information provided by students and parent(s) when they submit the FAFSA. Institutional need-based aid is determined by the information provided in the FAFSA, which is thus required for maximum aid consideration. For The Catholic University of America to consider an appeal, the family must demonstrate an extraordinary change to the data provided on these applications. We cannot consider increases in institutional merit-based aid which is awarded at the time of application for admission to the University and is determined by the Office of Admission.