Financial Aid FAQ

It is usually in your best interest to complete the FAFSA even if you think you may not qualify for aid. The FAFSA is required for all federal aid (including loans), Students at the School of Divinity are required to complete the FAFSA. The FAFSA is not required if you plan to pay out-of-pocket or use a private loan; however, having your FAFSA on file allows us to have your information in the event additional aid becomes available.

Financial aid is awarded on an annual basis. You’ll need to complete a new FAFSA and scholarship applications each year to determine your eligibility.

Submit the Free Application for

. The information from the FAFSA will help us determine the type of federal financial aid you are eligible to receive.

Do you have financial aid questions regarding the documents you will need? We have the answers. You will need the following:

– The FAFSA on the Web Worksheet
– Your most recent Federal Tax Return and all W-2 forms (for the 2016-17 year, you must use your 2015 tax returns)
– Your spouse’s most recent Federal Tax Returns and all W-2 forms (if applicable)
– Your parents’ most recent Federal Tax Returns and all W-2 forms (if you are a dependent)
– Bank statements for checking, savings and investment accounts

NOTE: You can complete the FAFSA using “estimated data.” If you choose this option, you will need to send us a copy of all tax forms when they are completed and submitted to the Internal Revenue Service.

There is no deadline for submitting the FAFSA. You just want to make sure your FAFSA and all additional required documents are submitted prior to the payment deadline in order to avoid late-payment fees and interruption of your courses. Please refer to your school of enrollment to determine the deadlines for school-based scholarships and awards.

Your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is the number that’s used to determine your eligibility for federal student aid. While the EFC is considered the amount of money a family is expected to contribute toward a student’s college costs, the EFC is not the amount of money that your family must provide. Rather, you should think of the EFC as an index that colleges use to determine how much financial aid you would receive if you were to attend their school. The Central Financial Aid Office uses your EFC to determine the need for aid for the following types of federal student financial aid: Federal Pell Grant, TEACH Grant and Stafford Subsidized Loans.

All data used to calculate your EFC comes from the information you provide on the FAFSA. A variety of factors affect your EFC from the FAFSA: household size, number of people in college in your household, household income levels, state of residence, etc. Once you have completed your FAFSA, it is processed by the Department of Education’s Central Processing System. Once processed, you will receive an output document containing a summary of your FAFSA as well as your results (Student Aid Report).

The Department of Education has provided a document that provides additional information about the

.

The Financial Aid Office attempts to process your financial aid documents in a timely manner to allow you opportunity to review your aid and accept your awards prior to the beginning of each academic year. However, some factors may prevent a quick processing time:

Admission application on file (undergraduate students must be accepted for admission and all final transcripts from previous colleges/universities must be reviewed)

– Evaluated for school-based merit awards
– Has submitted a processed FAFSA to our office
– Completed all additional financial aid requirements

Typically, our office begins processing financial aid award packages for the upcoming academic year in mid-March.

The Central Processing System (CPS) randomly selects applications to undergo the verification process each year. Approximately 30 percent of all applications are picked for verification. This means that your aid award cannot be finalized until your counselor reviews your submitted verification documents. If your application is chosen for verification, you and your parents/spouse (if applicable) will need to submit complete, signed copies of your most recent Federal 1040 Tax Returns, including any Schedule Cs and all W-2 forms. You will also need to submit a completed Federal Verification Worksheet (independent | dependent ).

VERIFICATION PROCESS
A student’s application for federal financial aid may be selected for review by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in a process called “Verification.” Financial aid regulations say that schools have the right to ask for financial information and other information, as it applies to your application, before awarding federal aid.

The verification process requires that a student’s application be reviewed based on specific pre-determined criteria set by the Department of Education. The federal verification process is a random selection process. It is usually a more in-depth review of the student’s application data, as set according to the Department of Education’s Student Aid Handbook.

APPLICATION REVIEW
The verification process requires that information from the student’s application be compared with copies of the student’s, spouse’s (if married) and parents’ (if dependent) federal tax forms or financial documents. Other documentation may be required as it applies to the information on the application. Notification to students is sent via email stating that there are outstanding requirements.

VERIFICATION SELECTION
Each year about 30 percent of students’ financial aid applications nationwide are chosen for verification. The main reasons for being selected for verification include that you were chosen randomly, the FAFSA you submitted was incomplete, your FAFSA contains estimated information or the data you provided on the FAFSA is inconsistent. Verification is a federal regulation. Students who are selected for verification are not being punished; rather verification prevents ineligible students from receiving aid by reporting false information and ensures that eligible students receive all of the aid for which they are qualified.

VERIFICATION ITEMS
If you are selected for verification, the Central Financial Aid Office is required to verify the accuracy of some or all of the following items found on the FAFSA:

Household size
Number enrolled in college
Adjusted gross income (AGI)
S. income tax paid
Certain untaxed income and benefits
Child Support
Educational Purpose
Household Resources

VERIFICATION DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS
To assist in the verification of the items above, the following documents are required. You should only provide tax documents if we request them.

Current year Verification Worksheet
Federal Income Tax Return Transcript for prior tax year, if filed
Student W2s for prior tax year
Spouse’s Federal Income Tax Return Transcript for prior tax (if married)
Spouse W2s for prior tax year (if married)
Parent federal Income Tax Return Transcripts for prior tax year (if dependent student), if filed
Parent W2s for prior tax year (if dependent student)
Schedule C/CEZ for prior tax year (if self-employed)

Private loans are credit-based loans offered to students to assist in covering their educational expenses. These loans are not administered by the U.S. Department of Education. As a result, each lender can set the interest rates, loan fees and terms of his/her programs based on his/her own parameters. Undergraduate students who are not eligible for the Parent PLUS Loan can apply for a private loan. Most lenders have an online application to expedite the process. Once the student is approved, your lender will require the university to certify the student’s eligibility for the private loan. The amount a student is eligible for is based on the student’s Cost of Attendance (COA) minus other aid received for the period.

Your total amount owed includes your tuition and any related fees. Your tuition and fees rate is based on your school of enrollment. If you are not using financial aid to cover your tuition and fees expenses, you can view your account balance in Student Portal on the “Account Summary” page. You can also view your remaining account balance in the Student Portal if your financial aid does not cover your total tuition and fees.

If you have questions that require personal attention or situations that you wish to discuss with someone in depth, please contact Financial Aid, at 434-528-5276 Option: 2

In general, your school-based scholarships and grants are awarded for the entire year; fall/spring/summer. However, for programs not designed as year-round, aid is initially entered for only the fall/spring semesters. For students in these programs, school-based scholarships and grants are entered onto the system in late January.

You have a six-month grace period on your federal loans. If you have prior loans for which you had already begun repayment, there is no additional grace period. Contact your lender(s) to determine if you qualify for a