As of February 2015, students are no longer required to complete the financial aid orientation to receive federal financial aid. This page outlines key federal financial aid information and Southeast Community College policies.
Receiving federal financial aid is an important commitment with responsibilities that have immediate and long-term implications. Failure to understand and meet these responsibilities could result in the suspension of financial aid and possibly owing funds back to SCC.
Financial Aid Process:
To learn more about applying for federal financial aid, visit:
www.southeast.edu/FinancialAidProcess/
Financial Aid Communication to Students:
The Financial Aid Office uses The Hub thehub.southeast.edu as the official form of communication via student’s SCC email account. Failure to check a student’s email account could result in a student’s financial aid not being processed, awarded and/or registration delays. Click “My Mail” on the student’s home page to access the SCC email login page and follow the instructions to view emails. Remember, it is a student’s responsibility to check emails and alerts daily.
Types of Aid Available:
There are different types of financial aid that could be available to a student at Southeast Community College.
Federal Pell Grant:
The Federal Pell Grant is need-based money awarded to a student and if earned, a student does not have to pay it back. Earned money is when a student completes satisfactory academic progress.
Federal Pell Grant funds are prorated based on enrollment status:
- 0.5 to 5.5 quarter credit hours is considered less than half-time
- 6 to 8.5 quarter credit hours is considered half-time
- 9 to 11.5 quarter credit hours is considered three-fourths time
- 12 quarter credit hours and more is considered full-time.
Scholarships:
Students may apply for Southeast Community College scholarships each quarter. For information about applying for scholarships and application deadlines, go to www.southeast.edu/scholarships/.
If you are a student who is receiving an outside scholarship, please notify the Financial Aid Office.
Federal Work Study:
Federal Work Study is a federally funded work program enabling students to work while attending school. This is a need-based program, and eligibility is determined by completing the FASFA. Any funds received are considered part of the student’s financial aid award.
Student Loans:
Federal Direct Student loans are federal funds available to the student which must be repaid. To be eligible for student loans, a student must be enrolled in at least six quarter credit hours. To receive a student loan, a student must:
- Accept the loan via The Hub at thehub.southeast.edu
- Complete Loan Entrance counseling at www.studentloans.gov
- Complete a Federal Direct Loan Master Promissory Note at www.studentloans.gov
Loans may be reduced based on the number of terms enrolled and less than full-time status.
If a student drops below six credit hours in a quarter, the student will be required to complete exit counseling.
Federal Direct Subsidized loan does not accumulate interest until a student drops below six credit hours and/or stops attending school.
Federal Direct Unsubsidized loans and/or a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan will begin accumulating interest once the loan is disbursed.
Loan money is for educational expenses. It is important to understand that a student loan is not free money. A student will be required to begin payment, per federal regulations, after being out of school and/or enrollment is below six credit hours for six months. Only accept loan money if needed. A student can accept a reduced loan amount to accommodate students’ needs by contacting the Financial Aid Office.
A Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan is also an option for parents of a dependent student. Contact the Financial Aid Office for further information.
Awarding Aid:
Once all information is received, submitted, and reviewed, a student’s financial aid will be awarded. Preliminary FASFA estimates are based on an academic year at full-time status of 12 quarter credits or more. An email is sent to the student once the awarding process is complete. A student can access their award letter via The Hub.
Aid at Primary Institution:
Students cannot receive financial aid at two different schools for overlapping enrollment dates. Please contact the Financial Aid Office with questions.
Accept or Reject Loan Awards:
A student must login to The Hub and under the student tab, select “Accept/Reject My Student Loan Awards”
A student may elect to take action on all loan types and/or by all quarters at once with the drop down menus near the middle of the page, or accept/reject each loan type by quarter individually.
Over Awarding:
Over awarding occurs when a student’s awards exceeds the cost of attendance. This can occur when a student receives outside assistance and/or when a student is less than full-time.
Financial Aid Disbursements:
Financial aid funding is directly applied to a student’s account. The Student Accounts Office subtracts all institutional charges from financial aid funding. If a student still owes a balance, an alert will be placed on the student’s Hub page.
There are two options to receive any refund balance: by a mailed check or by electronic direct deposit. It is a student’s responsibility to keep the mailing address current with SCC, especially if choosing to receive a refund check via mail.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP):
SAP is calculated at the end of each enrollment period. A student must maintain SAP in order to receive financial aid and continue receiving financial aid quarterly. There are three requirements to meeting SAP:
- Complete 66.7% of classes attempted while at SCC.
- Maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA, which is a ‘C’ average.
- To not exceed 150% of hours attempted for degree
Financial Aid Warning and Suspension:
There are consequences if a student does not meet SAP.
- Financial Aid Warning
- When a student does not meet SAP under completion ratio and/or cumulative GPA, the student will first be placed on financial aid warning. While on warning status, students will continue to be eligible for financial aid. However, satisfactory academic progress requirements must be achieved by the end of the next enrollment/payment period. Failure to do so will result in the loss of eligibility for future terms.
- Financial Aid Suspension
- Students who were previously on “warning” status and continue to not meet one or more Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements will be placed on financial aid suspension. The student is no longer eligible for any financial aid assistance, which includes institutional, federal, and state student aid.
Max Timeframe Suspension:
Max Time Frame financial aid suspension occurs when a student does not meet SAP by attempting 150% of classes required for a degree and has not graduated.
It is imperative that a student only take classes that are required for graduation in the declared program and is aware that dropped and failed classes will affect the financial aid status.
Returning Funds:
Returning of funds and/or owing money back to SCC can happen when a student withdraws and/or fails all classes. A notification is sent to the student’s SCC email account of unearned funds that are owed. Future aid will be cancelled.
Repeating Coursework:
Students can receive aid for repeated coursework. Financial aid will pay for a student to repeat a previously passed course once. Financial aid will pay for a class failed until it is passed with a ‘D’ or better. Always contact the Financial Aid Office if repeating a class to understand the ramifications.
Contact the Financial Aid Office at 402-437-2610 with any questions.