Financial Aid FAQs
Financial Aid – Paying for Courses that Count Toward Completing Your Degree
Financial aid will only be offered for courses that count toward your degree completion. If you are registered in courses outside of your program, your financial aid offers and the way your financial aid pay for your courses may be impacted.
- What is Title IV (Financial Aid)?
- What Charges are covered by Financial Aid?
- What should I do to make sure that my aid pays for all my charges?
- How do I provide authorization for my aid to pay for non-institutional charges?
- Example of a student account without authorization to pay for non-institutional charges.
Applying for Financial Aid
- What is the FAFSA?
- Do I have to apply for financial aid every year?
- What happens after I complete the FAFSA?
- Can I still apply if I missed the deadline?
- Do I need to submit copies of my family's federal tax returns to the financial aid office?
- Do I need to be admitted before I can apply for financial aid?
- What is the IRS Data Retrieval Tool?
Eligibility
Dependency Status (Dependent vs Independent)
- How do I know if I am independent or dependent?
- My parents did not claim me on their tax returns this year, Can I file my FAFSA as an “independent student?
- My parents will no longer help me with school. How can I change my status to “independent”?
- What if my family circumstances change after I apply?
- How will an outside scholarship affect my financial aid award?
- Can I receive financial aid at more than one school at a time?
Maintaining Eligibility
- What will happen to my financial aid award if I drop a course or withdraw from the college?
- What happens if I don't meet Satisfactory Academic Progress?
- Will my eligibility for financial aid change if I update or change my program after the semester begins?
- What if I have a grade change or change in my records for a prior semester?
Disbursements and Refunds
Student Loans
- Why do I have to repay a Federal Stafford Loan?
- What are loan fees?
- Is my loan affected by my grades?
- If I only want to apply for a loan why do I have to complete the FAFSA?
- What is the minimum number of credit hours in which I have to be enrolled to receive Federal Stafford Loans?
- Can I get the loan disbursement before classes start?
- If the first disbursement isn't released until the 30th day after the start of classes am I responsible for paying for classes up front?
- What is the interest rate for my Direct loan?
- What type of repayment incentives are offered by the Department of Education?
- When will my Direct Subsidized Loan begin to accrue interest?
- What are my repayment options?