Financial Aid Notification
Written notification will be sent to the student after the official registration process has taken place and once classes are in progress. Students taking out a Direct Student Loan will receive information regarding their loan servicer from the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education applies a loan origination fee to all student loans before the funds are sent to the school.
Disbursement of Funds
At Lorain County JVS Adult Career Center, all federal financial aid funds are disbursed by the Treasurer’s Office. Students that have taken out federal student loan amounts exceeding the tuition cost will be refunded the excess amounts once their account is paid in full for the payment period. These students will be sent a check in the mail to the address on file in the Adult Career Center.
Credit Balance Policy
A credit balance occurs when the amount of funds that is applied to a student’s account exceeds the amount the student owes for tuition and other required institutional charges. When a credit balance exists, a refund is made to the student within 14 days.
Appeal for Loss of Financial Aid
Any student who fails to make Satisfactory Academic Progress at the end of a payment period will be notified that he/she has been placed on “Financial Aid Warning” and may continue to receive aid for one payment period. No appeal is necessary for this status. Satisfactory Academic Progress will be reviewed at the end of the next payment period. If a student on “warning status” has failed to restore SAP standards at this time, he will lose financial aid eligibility. A student in this situation has the right to appeal this decision. To do so, he must write a letter to the Director of Adult Education including the reasons that prevented him from meeting SAP standard, including supporting documentation. The student should also share a plan as to how SAP will once again be restored if the director chooses to reinstate financial aid. If the director approves the reinstatement of financial aid for the student, it will be on a probationary status. The student will only be permitted to continue receiving aid for one additional payment period unless probationary conditions are met and SAP has been restored by that time. A student who fails to adhere to the goals of the plan when checked at the end of subsequent payment period will once again lose financial aid eligibility. No further appeals would be accepted. If the Director denies the appeal, the student will be expected to personally finance the remainder of the course or be withdrawn from the program.
Overpayments and Fraudulent Cases
If a student receives an overpayment of federal funds, the school will attempt to adjust any remaining disbursements to the student. If that is not feasible, the student will be required to repay the overpayment amount. Students who do not repay the overpayment amount will be referred to the U.S. Department of Education and will be ineligible for future federal financial aid. In cases where a student misrepresents or falsifies information in order to alter financial aid eligibility, the student will be reported to the U.S. Department of Education. By submitting purposely false or misleading information on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the individual is subject to a $20,000 fine, prison sentence, or both. If a student receives financial aid based on inaccurate information, he/she will be required to repay the portion of aid that should not have been received.
Unusual Enrollment History Policy
The U.S. Department of Education has established new regulations to prevent fraud and abuse in the Federal Pell Grant Program. They have done this by identifying financial aid students with unusual enrollment histories. If a student has received Pell Grant funding while attending multiple institutions during the last four academic years, the student may be flagged for unusual enrollment history (UEH). While most students have legitimate reasons for unusual enrollment histories, other students enroll in school just long enough to receive cash refunds of federal student aid. These students will often leave school, after receiving their financial aid refund, and repeat the process again by enrolling at another school.
Students with unusual enrollment histories will be flagged by a central processor on their Student Aid Report (SAR) as having either a possible or questionable enrollment pattern problem. Once identified as having a UEH flag, the Student Services Coordinator is required to review the student’s enrollment information and determine if academic credit was earned during the last four award years. Students with UEH flags will be required to provide the Adult Career Center with their official signed academic transcripts from each college from which financial aid was received in the past four award years. As part of the review process, the Student Services Coordinator has the authority to request missing official academic transcripts from the student. The Student Services Coordinator is able to determine if academic records are missing by reviewing data from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).
Students will be ineligible for financial aid until all required transcripts are received. Once all required academic transcripts are received, the Student Services Coordinator will review the student’s enrollment and financial aid records to determine if academic credit was earned. Records may be reviewed from previously attended schools.
- Academic Credit Earned: If the school determines that academic credit was earned, and the student is not enrolling just receive a financial aid refund, no further action is required. The student becomes eligible for financial aid.
- Academic Credit Not Earned: If the school determines that the student did not earn academic credit at a previously attended institution, the student will be required to providing additional documentation before eligibility for financial aid can be determined. If academic credit was not earned, students will be asked to provide documentation explaining why they failed to earn academic credit. Documentation provided by the student must support the following:
- The reason(s) why the student was unable to earn passing grades; and
- That the student did not enroll solely for the purpose of receiving a credit balance of financial aid.
Students may include personal and academic reasons to explain their failure to earn academic credit. Personal reasons include: illness, a family emergency, a death in the family, changes in living status, and military obligations. Academic reasons may include unexpected academic challenges, or a determination that the academic program did not meet the student’s needs.
The documentation provided when academic credit is not earned will be reviewed by a committee consisting of the Director, the Lead Program Coordinator, and the Student Services Coordinator. Students who have lost their eligibility for financial aid will be notified in writing by the Student Services Coordinator.
If a student is denied Title IV aid for Unusual Enrollment History, the student may attend a full time program without receiving Title IV aid and pay out-of-pocket for the first payment period. At the end of the first payment period, if the student is meeting the requirements of Satisfactory Academic Progress, the student could then be considered for Title IV Eligibility for the remaining program hours.