CHOICE TECHNICAL CENTER

Transcription

1 FINANCIAL AID CHOICE TECHNICAL CENTER 1976 Lewis Turner Boulevard Fort Walton Beach, FL / fax

2 Financial Aid General Information General Information Financial aid is funding from various sources made available to assist eligible students in paying for their education. Most common types of aid available at Choice Technical Center are the Federal Pell Grant, Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, Florida Student Assistance Grant, Florida Prepaid College Plan, School Board Scholarship, Military Tuition Assistance, Veterans Education Benefits, miscellaneous private scholarships and other third-party agencies. Federal Financial Aid Federal Financial Aid is awarded based on financial need and provided as a grant by the federal government. When a student applies for financial aid, the information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is used to determine the student s eligibility for federal student aid, as well as other types of financial aid. Eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant is determined by the EFC, as long as the student meets all eligibility requirements. Students may apply online at When applying use Choice Technical Center s school code The amount of federal financial aid the student receives depends on the student s EFC, cost of attendance, enrollment status, enrollment date, and whether the student attends school for a full academic year. At Choice Technical Center an academic year is defined as 900 clock hours and 36 weeks of instructional time for fulltime enrollment. Students must maintain satisfactory attendance and academic progress for federal financial aid. It is the student s responsibility to know and understand the attendance and academic progress policies for federal student aid and that these policies may differ from classroom policies established by an instructor. Important Numbers and Websites Free Application for Federal Student Aid Choice Technical Center School Code FED-AID TTY Florida Student Scholarship & Grant Program VA Educational Benefits Additional Financial Aid Information Page 2 Page 15

3 Financial Aid VA students using the Post 9/11 Chapter 33 benefits will not have to pay tuition if they are receiving 100% benefits. The VA will pay tuition directly to the school. Students should receive a book stipend from the VA along with their monthly BHA. Books and additional fees will be paid to the school by the student. VA students using Chapter 30, 35, or any other form of education benefits will have to pay their tuition. VA does not pay the school for these students tuition. This tuition is due on or before the first day of classes. Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) All students who do not have a college degree are required to take and pass the TABE before receiving their program certificate. Students will pay $15 (or you may request your financial aid pay) for the first administration of the TABE. Students must pass the Reading, Language, and Math portions with a certain grade equivalency set by the state legislature for their program. If a student does not pass any section of the test, s/he must attend remediation over the course of the program hours and reach mastery of all three skill areas before s/ he may receive his/her certificate. Completion of hours and work assigned in a class are not sufficient to receive a certificate if the TABE is not mastered. All students on financial aid agree to attend remediation if necessary as a condition of receiving financial aid. Textbooks Textbooks are available for purchase in the front office. Students will not need textbooks before the first day of class. As teachers complete program and safety orientation, they will send students to the office to purchase books. If students have financial aid they would like to apply to the cost of books, they must inform the book store clerk the type of aid they are receiving. They will sign a book voucher approving use of their aid. All transactions must be completed at least 2 weeks before disbursement of financial aid. Page 14 Pell Grant Pell Grants funds are available to students demonstrating financial need. A FAFSA form must be completed and processed before eligibility may be determined and an award may be offered. Verification Process If a student s Federal application is chosen by the Central Processing System for verification, the student must supply documentation for specific information. Below are a few examples of required information if it applies to him/her: For all applicants: Household Size Number in College Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) Child Support Paid For non-tax filers: Income Earned from Work For tax filers : Tax Transcript (Student, spouse, parents) Education Credits Untaxed IRA Distributions Untaxed Pensions IRA Deductions Verification documentation should be submitted to the financial aid administrator upon request. Delays in receiving all required documentation will cause delays in your financial aid award and disbursement of funds. If a student fails to bring in required documents prior to fees being due he/she will be required to pay tuition out-of-pocket until eligibility can be determined. No student will receive a Pell disbursement until all required documentation has been received and reviewed by Financial Aid personnel. Page 3

4 If the documentation indicates that the FAFSA data needs to be corrected, the financial aid personnel will do so based on the documentation supplied by the student. If, after review of all documentation by the Financial Aid personnel, it is determined that a student s EFC and/or Pell Grant eligibility has changed, the student will be notified when the corrected ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) is received. If students and parents who are tax-filers use the IRS Data Retrieval process to import data from their tax return and do not change it, the school will receive a code indicating that the information was imported and avoid having to supply Tax Transcripts. All documentation offered to CTC Financial Aid Department by students is expected to be accurate and truthful. If it is found that a student or other individual has misreported information or altered documentation to fraudulently obtain federal funds, Financial Aid personnel will report their suspicions and provide evidence to the Office of Inspector General per Federal guidelines. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) SAP is determined by Federal regulations. The SAP policy contains three components: a qualitative (grade-based) standard, a quantitative (time-related) standard, and a quantitative (pace-completion ratio) standard. Students must meet all three components to maintain Financial Aid eligibility. Students must successfully complete the coursework associated with the clock hours in a payment period with a passing grade of C (numeric grade of 70) or better to maintain SAP. Payment periods are normally a minimum of 450 clock hours; however, payment periods may vary according to a student s program of study. Adult students earn grades and occupational completion points (OCP) at various increments depending on the program of study. Financial Aid Military/Veterans Benefits Military Tuition Assistance Active duty military students desiring to use Military Tuition Assistance should contact the Education Office at Eglin AFB or Hurlburt Field. Veterans Benefits Most programs are approved for veterans benefits for full or part-time enrollment. Potential VA students should contact the nearest Veterans Administration Office for complete details. Students can apply for VA Education Benefits online at Go to Education Benefits (drop down menu) and click on How to Apply for Benefits. Go to apply for Benefits Online and click HERE. Look through any of the categories under the red buttons on the Veterans Online Application (VONAPP) website as needed. We recommend that all new students read the information under the Instruction for Filling Out Applications button. Click on Start VONAPP button. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requires the student maintain a grade of 70 or better, acceptable performance in a program and to complete their studies within an approved amount of time in order to continue benefits. VA students who accumulate 22.5 hours (5% of the total semester) in absences for full time will receive an Attendance Warning. VA students who accumulate 45 hours (10% of the total semester) in absences for full time will receive a VA Attendance Termination of Educational Benefits. Upon termination, the VA student must exhibit perfect attendance for 30 school days and request reinstatement of benefits through the school VA Certifying Official. A VA student is expected to maintain an average and acceptable performance so that they will complete the program within the number of hours of training that has been approved by the State Approving Agency. Page 4 Page 13

5 Financial Aid Florida Financial Aid and will not be offered again until one full semester is completed in academic and attendance good standing. Florida Student Assistance Grant Career Education (FSAG-CE) The Florida Student Assistance Grant Career Education (FSAG-CE) may be awarded to eligible students pending state budget approval. Students must complete the FAFSA before being considered for the FSAG-CE. Eligibility for the FSAG-CE is dependent on a student s EFC resulting from the information entered on the FAFSA. Students can qualify for funds from the FSAG-CE either alone or in conjunction with other forms of financial aid including the Pell grant. Priority Deadline for eligibility is FAFSA Application Completion date 1 May of each year. Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Students who have been awarded the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship (BF) may use their award at Choice Technical Center. After being notified that there is a space available in their chosen program, students should inform financial aid personnel of their Bright Futures eligibility. Bright Futures pays only a portion of the tuition. Students may be considered for other aid in addition to their BF. Students must add Choice to their list of schools on the BF Website. Florida Prepaid Tuition Plan Students with a Florida Prepaid Tuition Plan should bring a copy of their card or letter of verification to financial aid personnel after being notified there is space available in their chosen program. The card or letter will indicate whether or not a student s plan includes fees. Students may qualify for other aid in addition to Florida Prepaid. Vocational Rehabilitation (Voc Rehab) Vocational Rehabilitation (Voc Rehab) provides assistance to those applicants demonstrating physical and possible financial need for vocational retraining. Once eligibility is established, a variety of services are available that may include funding for training, vocational counseling and placement assistance. Page 12 SAP will be reviewed by financial aid personnel at the end of each payment period to ensure the student is making sufficient progress both quantitatively and qualitatively. The review will occur at the point when the student has successfully completed the required clock hours for that payment period. If a student does not maintain satisfactory progress as defined above during a review period, s/he will be placed on Financial Aid Academic Warning for a review period equal to one payment period. During this time the student will still be Pell eligible for one additional payment period. If a student receives an unsatisfactory progress report at the end of the warning period or does not complete the coursework associated with the clock hours in the review period and/or payment period associated with the warning period with a passing grade as defined above, his/her financial aid eligibility will be revoked. The student will be responsible for any unpaid fees incurred to the school. If the student is unable to pay all outstanding fees owed to the school, s/he will be withdrawn. Students are required to complete a program within the program hours in effect at the time of enrollment and as defined in Choice Technical Center s Student Handbook/Catalog. The maximum time limit enrolled in any program shall not exceed 150% of the program length based on calendar time. Students must complete program competencies within each payment period in order to progress at a rate that would allow the student to complete the program within the maximum time frame. Federal regulations state that Pell can never pay for more hours than those that make up a program. For example, if the program is 1200 hours in length, Pell will not pay for more than 1200 hours. Maximum time limit cannot be appealed. Page 5

6 Financial Aid School Board Scholarship Reinstatement Reinstatement, if Financial Aid is terminated, can only be achieved by attending a subsequent warning period, not to exceed one payment period, and maintain SAP. Fees must be current for reinstatement. However, if a student receives an unsatisfactory progress report during or at the end of the warning period, the student is no longer eligible for Financial Aid. Students who withdraw while on Financial Aid Academic Warning If a student withdraws while on SAP Warning and decides to re-enroll, s/he must continue the SAP Warning period. If s/he transfers into a different program, the remaining SAP Warning time will be applied to the new program. SAP Financial Aid Termination Appeal Process If mitigating circumstances prevent a student from making and maintaining SAP, the student may begin the appeal process by making an appointment with the Financial Aid Administrator. During this appointment the Administrator will have the student fill out the appeal form and supply any documentation to support the mitigating circumstances which might include, among other things, the student or a family member being ill, death in the immediate family, family emergency, disaster, etc. A student will be required to submit third party documentation to support the appeal and state his/her current plan for achieving SAP at the end of the next review period. Changing Times and Programs Students may change times (i.e. half time to full time or full time to three-quarter time, etc.) and/or change programs only during the drop/add period, which is the student s first ten days of class. The only other time to change times and programs is between semesters. There are no exceptions. does not agree with the absences turned in, s/he must discuss this with the instructor, not financial aid personnel. The instructor is the only person who can correct attendance numbers. Make-up Time Students who have excused absences from class may make up that time at the discretion of their instructors. Students should make up time within five days of the absence if at all possible. Make-up hours can be made up only during the semester during which the hours were missed. Students may attend class for only the number of hours for which the student and/or financial aid has paid. Therefore, students may not bank hours by coming early or staying late and accumulating more hours than have been paid for. Students who end the semester with an overage of hours will be required to pay for those hours. Financial aid will not pay for overage. School Board Scholarship The School Board Scholarship (SBS) is an institution-based scholarship offered to students either alone or in conjunction with one or more other forms of financial aid. Students must complete the FAFSA before being considered for the SBS. Students are usually offered the SBS at 50% of their tuition costs for their first semester in a program. If students maintain at least a C average in the class and do not reach enough absences to be placed on attendance probation/termination, they will be offered 75% of their tuition costs for their second semester. Maintaining minimum grades and attendance standards the second semester will result in students being offered the SBS at 100% of tuition costs in subsequent semesters. If at any time in their program, students receive below a C average or are placed on attendance termination, their SBS will be terminated Page 6 Page 11

7 Students should apply for a LOA in advance unless unforeseen circumstances prevent the student from doing so. CTC may grant an LOA to a student who did not provide the request prior to the LOA due to unforeseen circumstances if the school documents the reason for its decision and collects the request from the student at a later date. A student wishing to apply for a LOA should fill out the Leave of Absence Request Form and submit it to financial aid personnel. Pell students will not be assessed any additional institutional charges, their need may not increase, and they are not eligible for any additional Federal Student Aid. Upon the student s return from leave, s/ he continues to earn the Federal Student Aid previously awarded for the period. A student may return early from LOA. A student who is granted an approved LOA remains in an in-school status for federal financial aid repayment purposes. However, if a student on an approved LOA fails to return, CTC must report the student s change in enrollment status to loan holders as of the original first date of the LOA. A possible consequence of not returning from a LOA is that the grace period for a federal financial aid loan program might be exhausted in whole or in part. Therefore, before CTC will grant a LOA for a student who is receiving federal financial aid, the student must acknowledge possible consequences for failure to return at the end of an LOA, including the possible exhaustion of all or part of the student s grace period. Sign-In and Sign-Out Students are responsible for maintaining proper sign-in and sign-out procedures in the classroom and for keeping up with their hours of absence. If students are unsure of how many hours of absence they have, they should check with their instructors. Financial aid personnel receive attendance weekly from the instructors and have only those hours that are turned in by those instructors. If a student does Attendance Attendance directly affects the timing of disbursements for Pell grant students. A student must meet minimum attendance hours before Financial Aid is disbursed. The Pell Grant disbursement is contingent upon satisfactory academic progress and attendance. A student must complete the clock hours and weeks of instructional time in a payment period to progress to the next payment period. A payment period at CTC is 450 clock hours. A student will receive a Financial Aid Attendance Warning Letter when he or she reaches 22.5 hours of absences (5 % of the payment period). If a student has 45 hours of absences (10% of the payment period) at the end of the payment period, the student will receive a Financial Aid Termination Letter. When financial aid is terminated a student must pay on their own one semester and meet academic standards to have financial aid reinstated. Both warning and termination letters will be mailed to the student s home address. It is the student s responsibility to contact financial aid personnel of any address changes throughout the school year. Voluntary Student Withdrawals It is the responsibility of the student to complete a withdrawal form with front office personnel when intending to withdraw from school. Any student receiving any form of financial aid must indicate this on the withdrawal form. Withdrawal may cause a balance due to the school by the student after financial aid has been adjusted. Page 10 Page 7

8 Withdrawals and the Return of Pell Grant Funds Pell grant funds are awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, s/he may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Pell grant funds that s/he was originally scheduled to receive. When you withdraw during your payment period, the amount of Pell grant funds that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you are determined to of been over-awarded as of your withdrawal date, the excess funds must be returned by CTC and/ or you. If you completed enough hours you may be able to receive the funds you were awarded.. The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your payment period, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed 61% of the payment period, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period. If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a Post-Withdrawal disbursement. CTC will automatically use all or a portion of your Post-Withdrawal disbursement of Pell funds for tuition, fees, books, and test charges (per signed voucher). The school needs your permission to use the Post-Withdrawal Pell disbursement for all other school charges. If you receive (or CTC on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, CTC must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of 1. Your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or 2. The entire amount of excess funds. CTC must return this amount even if it did not keep this amount of your Pell grant funds. If CTC is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount. Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with CTC or the DOE to return the unearned grant funds. Overpayments that are not repay affect your eligibility for future Pell Grant Awards at CTC or other institutions. The requirements for Pell grant program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that your school may have. Therefore, you may still owe funds to CTC to cover unpaid institutional charges. CTC may also charge you for any Pell grant funds that the school was required to return. Please refer to the Choice Technical Center Student Catalog/Handbook for the school s refund policy. Approved Leave of Absence A leave of absence (LOA) is a temporary interruption in a student s program of study, whether necessitated by a planned or unanticipated event or circumstance. LOA refers to the specific time period during a program when a student is not in attendance. For an LOA to qualify as an approved LOA all leaves of absence must be submitted in writing and include the reason for the student s request, dates, and signature. there must be reasonable expectation that the student will return from the LOA; the LOA, together with any additional leaves of absence, must not exceed a total of 180 days in any 12-month period. Page 8 Page 9