Apply for Financial Aid

Federal Student Aid is the financial assistance available through the U.S. Department of Education. Federal student aid includes Pell Grants, Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Work Study. Federal student aid helps cover school-related expenses such as tuition, fees, room & board, books and transportation.

 

 

U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens can qualify for federal student aid if they meet the following guidelines:

• Must be a high school graduate or have completed a GED.
• Enrolled at least half-time with credits required for the qualifying degree or certificate program you are accepted into (to receive Direct Loans).
• Must have a valid Social Security number.
• Males must be registered for Selective Service.
• Continuing students must maintain satisfactory academic progress.
• Must be current in payments from any previous student loans.
• Must NOT have drug-related convictions while enrolled.

 

Students must be enrolled at least half-time (required towards program) to receive Direct Loans.

Enrollment status, Fall, Spring and Summer Terms:

• Full-time: 12 or more credits
• Three-quarter time: 9-11 credits
• Half-time: 6-8 credits

• FSA ID to serve as your signature. Apply for a FSA ID at StudentAid.gov/fsaid.
• Your social security number.
• Your driver’s license number.
• Your federal tax return & W2s.
• Untaxed income such as social security or welfare.
• Your current bank statements.
• Stock and other investment records including real estate (not including home you live in), trust funds, money market funds, certificates of deposit, stocks and bonds and education savings plans such as 529 college savings plans.
• Business and farm data including mortgage information and market value of land, buildings, machinery, equipment and inventory. Do not include the value of a small business that you own and control that have less than 100 full-time employees.
• If you are a Dependent as determined by the federal student aid guidelines, your parents will also need to provide the information listed above and have a FSA ID to sign your FAFSA.

The federal aid a student is eligible for as a result of completing the FAFSA is determined on an annual basis. When a student completes the FAFSA, she/he will be awarded for the fall, the spring or both fall and spring semesters depending on when the FAFSA is completed and other eligibility factors. Summer financial aid is NOT awarded without a specific request to do so by the student because it will affect loan amounts for the fall and spring. A student may handle their charges for summer classes in one of the following ways:

1. Once awarded for fall and spring, a student may request that the subsidized and unsubsidized loan(s) they are eligible for be divided into three disbursements instead of two. This does NOT change the total loan amount a student is eligible for, but instead gives the student less loan(s) funding in the fall and spring in order to set aside a portion of their loan(s) funding for the summer session. To do this a student must be a minimum of half-time enrollment status for the summer session (credits must be required for the program(s) they are accepted into) AND they must complete the appropriate Summer Financial Aid Request Form found on the Financial Aid Forms page.
2. Once awarded for fall and spring, a student may decline a portion of their fall and/or spring loan(s) and then complete the appropriate Summer Financial Aid Request Form found on the Financial Aid Forms page during the spring semester once they have registered for summer classes. To do this, a student must be a minimum of ½ time enrollment status for the summer session (credits must be required for the program(s) they are accepted into).
3. Once awarded for fall and spring, a student may accept all of their federal loan(s) as awarded for the fall and spring semesters. If a refund check is received, it is the student’s responsibility to save as much of the refunded funds as needed for the summer session. By accepting all federal funding a student is eligible for in the fall and spring semesters, there will be no additional federal student aid to accept during the summer session because the summer session at STC is a trailer session at the end of the award year.
4. If a student has good credit history or if a student is able to find a co-signer with good credit history, an alternative loan could be used during the summer session if federal funding has been exhausted. To utilize an alternative loan a student must be a minimum of half-time enrollment status for the summer session (credits must be required for the program(s) they are accepted into) AND they must complete the appropriate Summer Financial Aid Request Form found on the Financial Aid Forms page.
5. Those students who are starting at Southeast for the spring or summer sessions must actually be registered for a minimum of half-time enrollment status for the summer session (credits must be required for the program(s) they are accepted into) before summer eligibility can be awarded. The appropriate Summer Financial Aid Request Form found on the Financial Aid Forms page must be completed to request a summer financial aid award. If eligible for summer aid, the student will be awarded once this form is received.

As a reminder, a student must be enrolled for at least half-time (credits must be required for the program(s) they are accepted into) to be eligible for any loan(s) set aside or scheduled for the summer session. If loan(s) are split to include summer and the student fails to maintain at least half-time enrollment for the summer session, the loan funds set aside for summer will be void. In addition, summer courses which end prior to the initial summer disbursement (typically mid-June) must be completed successfully to count toward a student’s enrollment status for the summer. Failing or withdrawing from a summer course prior to disbursement of summer funds may result in loss of eligibility for summer funds altogether.

Verification is a process that information provided on the FAFSA is confirmed by the institution. As described in part 668.54 of the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, you may be selected for verification by the Department of Education or by your institution. When selected for verification, all documents requested must be completed in full before a student can be awarded financial aid. If there are discrepancies between your FAFSA application and any verification documentation submitted to Southeast Tech, corrections will be sent electronically to the U.S. Department of Education. The Department of Education has expanded the verification process significantly which may result in different types of documentation than you have been asked for in previous years.

Review your “Financial Aid Document Tracking” page on myTech. An ‘incomplete’ status means that we received the document but it was filled out incorrectly, illegible or missing a portion of the needed information. A ‘not reviewed’ status means that the document has been received but is not yet processed. A ‘not received’ status means that the document is still needed.