General Financial Aid Information

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for an upcoming school year can be accessed online at www.fafsa.gov in October. It is very important to get the application completed as soon as possible after you have your tax information available. Please read the instructions carefully in order to avoid frustration as well as problems later in being forced to make corrections thereby slowing down the aid process. Students enrolling at Crowder College and applying for the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and /or Federal Work-Study, must have the necessary papers correctly completed and on file in the Financial Aid Office. To avoid being dropped from classes, students must have the following completed by the end of the first week of classes: Complete and submit all required documents with the Financial Aid Office, make a payment in full to the Cashier’s Office, or have a payment plan established. However late paperwork will be accepted and must be completed by the last day of the attended semester. The “priority” dates are as follows: Files which are correctly completed by the above “priority” dates will be processed first, allowing the students to receive financial aid awards earlier in the semester. Students completing their files after the priority dates will be considered late applicants and will be processed on a first-come basis as their files are completed. Late applicants will need to make arrangements with the Cashiers’ Office for payment of their accounts. All accounts must be cleared before a student may enroll for additional course work for a subsequent semester. The following must be complete, correct, and on file in the Financial Aid Office for a file to be considered complete (required signatures included):

• Valid FAFSA.
• Verification worksheet and any additional requested documentation for those chosen for verification as indicated on the Student Aid Report. Additional forms may also be requested by the Financial Aid Office to clear up any conflicting, questionable or assumed information.
• Official academic transcripts from all previously attended institutions.
• Proof of high school graduation, HSE/GED passage, or home school completion.

If at any time in the past you were given aid at Crowder College and you did not complete the hours for which you received aid (or your gpa was unsatisfactory), you will have been placed on a warning or suspension status. Anyone who does not complete warning requirements is placed on financial aid suspension until after requirements are met. Students on aid suspension for the summer semester can not regain aid eligibility until the first day of fall classes. DO NOT assume that if aid papers are accepted from you in the Financial Aid Office as preliminary application that you will automatically qualify for payment. If you know or suspect that you have possible problems, you need to be certain that you make that clearly known to the financial aid staff so they will be able to pursue your situation.

PELL GRANT INFORMATION

The Federal Pell Grant Program allows for a Pell Grant at less-than-half-time attendance if the student has eligibility. For financial aid purposes, the following number of credit hours determine the amount of the Pell Grant award. This also includes the summer semester. Pell Grant awards at Crowder College are not available at the beginning of any semester. In order to allow students some flexibility in scheduling, we wait until the Financial Aid census date before we count enrollment hours for each semester. No Pell awards are credited to student accounts until approximately 6 weeks into each semester (these will be for those people who have completed all required paperwork by the priority date). You will need to make early plans for meeting your expenses for those first few weeks (or months) each semester rather than depending on these funds. The summer semester at Crowder College is treated as a trailer to the academic year. Therefore, loan payments for the summer semester will only be for those students who are enrolled in summer classes and have remaining eligibility from the current academic year. Students receiving summer Pell and/or loan payments may expect payment towards the end of June. Pell Grants, as well as all other aid programs, are intended as only a supplement to help cover college attendance costs. These programs cannot be construed as a way to pay a person’s entire living expenses while attending school.

LOAN INFORMATION

The following priority dates apply to making application for a Federal Direct Loan: All loan data sheets submitted after the priority date will be handled on a case by case basis. Students submitting a loan request for the first time at Crowder College will be required to complete entrance counseling before the loan can be processed. Instructions for completing the entrance counseling are found on the back of the loan request or online via the Crowder College website at www.crowder.edu, under Financial Aid, Student Loans. All borrowing students are also required to complete exit counseling shortly before leaving Crowder College. Complete instructions for both entrance and exit counseling may be obtained from the Financial Aid Office. Students requesting a loan must be enrolled at least half time (6 credit hours). This also includes the summer semester.

NOTICE TO STUDENTS/PARENTS

Any student applying for financial aid (or the parent of a student) who purposely submits misrepresented information and/or altered documentation for the purpose of increasing his/her student aid eligibility or fraudulently obtaining Federal funds will have the suspensions and evidence reported to the Office of Inspector General, Washington, D.C., or to local law enforcement officials.

RELEASE OF TRANSCRIPTS

Official transcripts WILL NOT be issued for a student who has:

• Defaulted on a student loan
• An outstanding debt to Crowder College