Financial Aid Quick Guide - Award Year 2014-2015

Your success is important to us! 

Significant changes are made to Federal Financial Aid regulations yearly that impact student eligibility. This guide is offered to assist you in developing strategies to successfully apply for, receive and maintain your eligibility for financial aid. Let us know if you would like additional information or clarification of any of these points.

FINANCIAL AID DEADLINES

1. The Higher Education Act and current regulations require that a student maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to be eligible to receive financial aid. Schools are required to periodically evaluate whether students are successfully meeting SAP so that their academic standing is consistent with graduation requirements. Students are not automatically granted a probation period prior to ineligibility but move from good standing directly to ineligibility if their GPA falls below 2.0 or they complete less than 67% of ALL classes in which they enroll or upon exceeding 99 hours of attempted course work.  
    
2. Students who submit all required documentation by the dates noted above, and meet all eligibility requirements, are guaranteed to have their financial aid application processed by start of classes for the designated enrollment period. Student loans may require additional processing time, and loans for first time borrowers are not processed until 30 days after the semester has begun, per federal regulations.
    
3. Students submitting documentation after Processing Guarantee Dates must be prepared to either: 
   > pay their tuition bill in full or
   > enter into the Alamo Colleges’ payment plan with the Bursar’s Office.
   
   The Alamo Colleges will continue to process applications submitted after Processing Guarantee Dates and will make every effort to award students by the start of classes. However, there is no guarantee that all applications can be reviewed, completed, awarded, and paid prior to the Payment Deadline.  Students who qualify will receive their financial aid eligibility refund amount when funds become available. All eligibility requirements remain in effect.
    
4. Students are encouraged to send their FAFSA to all of the Alamo Colleges in order to facilitate concurrent enrollment and ease of transfer among the colleges. However, students can only be awarded aid at their Primary or “Home” college. 
   
   Students attending Northeast Lakeview College (NLC) who are requesting financial aid must: 
   > have their FAFSA on file at San Antonio College (SAC)
   > have San Antonio College (SAC) as their primary/home college
   > register for classes through San Antonio College (SAC) offered at Northeast Lakeview College (NLC)  
    
5. Three easy and convenient options are available for getting copies of federal tax return (tax return transcript) information: by phone at 1-800-908-9946; online; or by mail by submitting the Mail Form.
    
6. Students whose application data is “Selected For Verification” (SFV) by the U. S. Department of Education Central Processing System must be reviewed. The verification review may add an additional two (2) weeks to the previous anticipated 10 weeks to complete a financial aid package. Students should allow at least 12 weeks for SFV processing.
    
7. The student’s legal name, Social Security Number, ApplyTexas, FAFSA and primary/home college must match.  Students new to the Alamo Colleges and those transferring home colleges within the district should confirm their ApplyTexas status and FAFSA applications with the appropriate Student Services department at their primary/home college.
    
8. Students must have access to the Alamo Colleges Education Services( ACES) student portal to view the online financial aid file and to receive email notifications from the Student Financial Services (SFA) Department. Students should check their status and email notifications regularly on ACES. A Financial Aid ACES tutorial is available online and a Financial Aid tab provides quick access to the student’s status.
    
9. In order to access the ACES portal to check financial aid status and email, students must have an active ApplyTexas application on file that designates their primary/home college (i.e. Northwest Vista, Palo Alto, St. Philip’s or San Antonio College), must have completed all MyMAP modules, and must be admitted. Current students already have an active ApplyTexas application.
    
10. All registration and payment deadlines as listed in the Registration/Payment Calendar will be adhered to.
     
11. The Federal PELL Grant program eligibility amount is based on a Pell Payment Schedule issued by the U.S. Department of Education. The Federal Pell amount awarded is based on Full time enrollment; the EFC (Expected Family Contribution); and number of hours enrolled, e.g. fulltime (12+); three-quarter (9-11); halftime (6-8) and less-than-halftime (1-5) credit hours. State Aid programs are also awarded based on Full-time enrollment and funds credit based on actual enrollment.
     
12. The Federal Pell Grant and some State Grant programs recalculate paid amount up or down whenever students add/drop classes up to and including the Census Day. IMPORTANT: Purges are based on outstanding balances; students with aid credited to their account are at risk of being dropped from classes for an outstanding balance when:
    > classes are added and the SFA Office is not informed or able to adjust the Pell grant up.
    > classes are dropped and the SFA Office has recalculated the Pell Grant downward.
     
13. Federal Pell and State Aid does not increase when students enroll in Flex II classes after the census date of the semester.
     
14. Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) - Federal Student Aid (FSA) funds are awarded to students under the assumption they will attend school for the entire semester. If a student withdraws from all classes before attendance in a minimum of 60% of an enrollment period, the award amount must be calculated to determine the amount of funds the student did not earn. The unearned proportion of aid paid plus the tuition owed to the college will be repaid by the student.
     
15. Financial aid funds for the subsequent semester or term will be withdrawn for students who are placed on academic dismissal or financial aid suspension at the end of the semester.
     
16. Financial aid funds and tuition refunds to students will be through the AlamoCash card, accessible through a debit card system. Students will also be required to have an Alamo Colleges student ID card.