Financial Aid

The Office of Financial Aid is dedicated to helping students and parents obtain the financial aid necessary to pay for a college education here at Valdosta State University. Our office should be your first stop if you are looking for information on grants, scholarships, loans, veterans' education benefits and many other ways to fund your education at Valdosta State University.

2024-2025 Highlights

Successfully managed the national FAFSA Simplification rollout and resulting delays without major impact to students or enrollment—ensuring continuous support for progression, retention, and graduation

Reduced wait times for in-person assistance, improving the overall service experience for students and families during key enrollment periods.

Launched the Scholarship Universe Student Portal, streamlining and centralizing the scholarship process to make applying easier and more accessible for all Blazers.

Through Scholarship Universe, 1,006 students received awards totaling $1.5 million—a 300% increase in both students supported and total funds awarded.

Sent 222,009 messages through Signal Vine and Slate—a 8.1% increase over last year—enhancing outreach and keeping students informed about financial aid and enrollment processes.

Reduced average face-to-face wait times to 50 seconds during Spring 2025, surpassing the goal and improving the in-office experience for students seeking assistance.

Cut the percentage of students with outstanding balances to 6.5% in Fall 2024 and maintained strong progress toward financial stability for enrolled students.

Awarded over $237 million in financial aid to 12,444 students, with $96.1 million in funds disbursed—exceeding both annual award and disbursement goals.

Looking ahead: 2025-2026 Goals

The Office of Financial Aid will continue providing timely, accurate financial aid awards and outstanding customer service to help achieve a minimum enrollment of 10,400 students for Fall 2025 and 9,880 students for Spring 2026.

Financial Aid staff will reduce average wait times for assistance by 10%—to 1:24 minutes for phone calls in Fall 2025 and 2:15 minutes in Spring 2026, and to 1:04 minutes in-person for Fall 2025 and 45 seconds for Spring 2026.

The Office of Financial Aid will increase scholarship applications in the Scholarship Universe Student Portal to at least 9,000 for the 2025–2026 academic year.

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Engaging Students

Department Reports

Staff Successes

Explore the Impact Report

Learn more about the impact each office is making on the Student Experience.