Athlete Early Estimate Application

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Our athletic coach has forwarded your contact information. We are asking you to complete the Early Estimate application in order to estimate your need-based financial aid eligibility.

After we receive your completed application, the Office of Financial Aid & Educational Financing will do its utmost to provide you with a timely and accurate estimate of your financial aid eligibility.

Class of 2029 Financial Aid Early Estimate: for students planning to enroll at Columbia University in the Fall semester of 2025

Class of 2030 Financial Aid Early Estimate: for students planning to enroll at Columbia University in the Fall semester of 2026

Documentation:

DOMESTIC STUDENTS: In addition to the above forms, we ask that you submit the most recently completed federal income tax returns for both the student and parent(s): including all pages, all schedules, all attachments (remember to include all W2s).
BUSINESS OWNERS: If your family owns all or part of a business, submit tax documentation for Corporations, S-Corporations and/or Partnerships, including the complete Federal 1120, 1120-S and/or 1065 tax return(s): all K-1s, all schedules and all attachments. If the family ownership totals less than 5%, only the K-1s for that business are required.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: If your country does not have an annual income tax form, then please provide a letter from each of your parents' employer(s) detailing salary earned in local currency for 2023. Please provide a copy of any original documents AND a completely translated copy in English. The translation does not need to be official.

Preliminary Match Request:

Ivy League policies allow us to take into consideration another Ivy League college’s financial aid policies prior to the formal written offer of need-based eligibility if the student-athlete can provide proof of recruitment.
Please return the following form to athlete-estimate@columbia.edu along with the requested documentation: Preliminary Match Request Form

Please save a copy of the completed form for your records as it will assist you when completing the official paperwork later on. Please be sure that the Fillable PDF saves with your answers included; print out a hard copy as a back-up. In order to receive an actual financial aid package, you will need to meet all financial aid application requirements and deadlines as outlined in the Columbia University Application for Admission and our Columbia Office of Financial Aid website.

It is very important that you provide us with accurate information, since all Early Estimates will later be updated and adjusted to reflect actual income and household information.

How to Submit

The Early Estimate form should open as a fillable PDF file; if your internet browser is not displaying a fillable version of the form, open the link in an alternate browser (ie. Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc.)

You should return your carefully completed application via either of the following methods:

Secure Document Upload: Please rename all files so that the filename includes the recruit's name and the type of document. For example: John_Doe_parent_1040.pdf. Files can be uploaded to: https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/athlete-estimate-application-upload

EMAIL: You may save the FILLABLE Early Estimate application with your data and submit via email to athlete-estimate@columbia.edu. Please be sure that the Fillable PDF saves with your answers included; print out a hard copy as a back-up. Tax documents sent via email should be saved with a Document-Open-Password for your security.

Please be sure to send the password in a SEPARATE EMAIL to athlete-estimate@columbia.edu with your student’s name in the subject line. Please do NOT send the password in the email that includes the attachment; this is to protect your privacy.