<p>At our request, my son's school reviewed updated income data for the 2012-13 year and "corrected" our FAFSA to show lower income and much lower EFC than originally reported by us on the FAFSA. The FA counselor told us to go home and "web accept" the new loans and all would be fine. It wasn't. The school dropped my son's fall registration based on non-payment. In previous semesters, he also had loans from the Feds, and when he web accepted them, it signaled to the school that he would have adequate financial aid to cover his registration and everything was okay. Why did this happen now? Do I have to change the FAFSA I filed to match the school's corrected one? I went to his school's FA people and they couldn't figure out why his registration had been dropped. They pushed it off on my son telling him that it's his fault because he's taking courses that aren't required for his major. (He's about to change from an AA to an AS). That makes no sense. The Feds will give Stafford loans if you have no major at all. The FA people are simply clueless. Is there something about Banner that's messing this up? My son is trying to graduate after the fall and then transfer to a 4 year school to finish his degree. Could someone please help? Thanks.</p>
<p>This could be true. If your son is changing from AA to AS, how many credits has he already accumulated? If he has reached the 150% mark, he will not receive any more aid.</p>
<p>Check out this FAQ:
[Monroe</a> Community College - FACE - Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://www.monroecc.edu/go/face/faqs.htm]Monroe”>http://www.monroecc.edu/go/face/faqs.htm)</p>
<p>I think what happen to your son are:
- Since your son has not change his AA to AS, his program still is AA.
- His Fall classes likely are not require by his AA program.
- FA office views your student as less-than-half-time student.
- No Federal Financial Aid avavilable to a less-than-half-time student.
- Without any FA or other payments, the school dropped your son from the classes.</p>
<p>No, it’s not 150%. He has 80 credits total; an AS or AA runs between 66 and 68 credits. Before requesting the review, he was already offered the usual unsubsidized loan for the year. If I had just left everything alone and accepted that loan, I don’t think there would have been a problem. I should add that the revised loan is 2/3 subsidized and 1/3 unsubsidized. (I was hoping for more but what can you do) Do I have to update the FAFSA I filed to match the corrected one?</p>
<p>Considering that we’re talking about NCC, also in SUNY, it’s possible. (Man, I hope not) Are those rules new? Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>You said that your son’s FAFSA has been corrected by the school. What else to update?</p>
<p>The revised SAR correctly reflects the changes requested. But when I click on view your FAFSA, it shows the old figures. Also, the revised SAR only lists NCC and not the other schools he may transfer to in the spring.</p>
<p>The revised SAR is what should be loaded into the school’s system. Don’t do anything to it!! </p>
<p>Did school already begin? I am having a hard time understanding how anything that happened to the FAFSA resulted in his classes being dropped … and I know Banner well. If classes haven’t started, aid hasn’t been disbursed to his account yet. Therefore, nothing financial aid related is an issue yet … because for all they know, you will pay cash when the bill is due. The bill is not due yet, is it?</p>
<p>I would guess the issue is registrar-related. Have your son talk to the registrar’s office to find out why his classes were dropped.</p>
<p>I should revise my answer … if he is over 150% in his program, he would violate the SAP rules & would lose aid. Again, though … is the bill already overdue for FALL???</p>
<p>If not, is it possible he owed for a prior term, promised to pay, and did not? The school where I used to work did that … students could promise to pay by a certain date, register for fall, and their classes would be dropped if they didn’t pay by that date. They couldn’t use fall aid to pay for it, since the balance was for the previous academic year.</p>
<p>Well, here’s an update. Today, the Registrar changed his major/program from AA to AS. The revised FAFSA is completely processed (so states the FAFSA website) so we’re going to wait a day or so to see if the AS change straightens out the FA. If not, we’ll go down and talk to FA. About Banner, I was just asking a question. That’s all. Just trying to figure this out. About when the bill is due, it is due officially (because it’s after 8/1) the next business day after registration but there’s a one week grace period where the registration stays in place. So, payment is really due a week after you register for classes. He still isn’t over 150%. Do you think there’s anything else we should do right now? Also, he has no balance due for any other semester than the one coming.</p>
<p>It’s still really strange that his classes were dropped. You might try calling the aid office & asking to speak with a manager, since you were not helped previously. Things do get messed up, and it would be good to find out what happened & why. You are absolutely within your rights to want to know what happened and why it happened … as well as what needs to be done to fix it.</p>
<p>Wish I could speak to a manager! FA doesn’t answer their phones if you want to speak to a human (just a busy signal) and they hold up in temporary quarters from around now through mid-September.We’re anticipating having to go to the school on Thursday. NCC really stresses me out. I’ve been there twice in the past week: once to get them to review the income adjustment request (they sat on it for a month and I was told “someone dropped the ball”) and the second time to find out why his courses had been dropped. They blamed the AA (that’s now fixed) but other than that, they were clueless; just guessing. I know they have a huge enrollment (over 10,000) but they really ought to know why their system does what it does. We’ll see what the next couple of days bring. Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>“The Feds will give Stafford loans if you have no major at all. The FA people are simply clueless” </p>
<p>Actually, this is incorrect. Only classes that count towards unmet degree requirements (plus allowable repeat classes, remedial classes, and ESL classes) count towards the enrollment status used to determine financial aid eligibility. If your son is taking classes outside of his major, he may be considered a less than half time student and would thus be ineligible for a Stafford Loan. </p>
<p>Additionally, it is possible that that your son is no longer meeting SAP requirements as a result of changing your major, as suggested by other posters. However, to clarify the “150% rule”, a student becomes ineligible for federal aid not when the student exceeds 150% of the program requirements, but when the institution determines that it is mathematically impossible to complete degree requirements within the 150% timeframe. If your son is like the majority of students, it could be that he has taken remedial/developmental courses, or has changed his major along the way. If this is true, depending on your institutions’ policy, these course could be excluded from the maximum time frame calculation. Just wanted to clarify this in case it is relevant as you discuss the sitution with FinAid.</p>
<p>Thank you. Yes, I’ve been enlightened regarding the awarding of Stafford loans and majors. In my son’s case, the 15 credits he is attempting to register for fulfill 12 credits towards his specific major and AS, and, the other 3 credits fulfill a school core requirement. After successful completion of these courses this fall, he will graduate with his AS and transfer to a 4 year school to complete his BS. So, I don’t see any issue with the 150% rule or his ability to finish the program/degree and move on. The only thing that’s concerning me right now is that he’s registered for 11 credits (12 credits is full time of course). He is waitlisted for the other course he needs. Should he attempt to get an override to get into that course? His FA status is still showing a balance due. The school did process his parking pass today (they had refused to do so in prior days because they said he had a balance due) so perhaps things are okay now. I still think we’ll make a trip to FA to ensure this.</p>
<p>Does he have aid other than loans? If so, the grants will pro-rate based on enrollment. Of course, as classes are added, the balance also goes up.</p>
<p>What is the amount due for tuition and fees? What is his financial aid award? You say that his FA status shows a balance due … sometimes looking at a balance in the FA portal is misleading. Is there a screen that shows the current balance due that is associated with the bursar/business office? That should detail all charges. Unless the school shows expected aid disbursements pending, you would need to figure out how much aid will pay out.</p>
<p>No, he has no aid other than the loans. The amount shown as a balance is $2,024 which is 11 credits plus all associated fees, etc. We have “web accepted” loans totaling $6,500 for the year (max allowed for sophomores) so there’s adequate loan funds to cover the semester. This is what we were offered. There’s no separate bursar/business office tab. (Would have been nice). Just a zillion of them under the general heading of FA. So, we’re keeping tabs on all of this and anticipate having to visit FA just to make sure everything is okay.</p>
<p>I’m not positive about this…but I don’t think your kiddo is entitled to the FULL stafford loan amount if he is NOT a full time student. At 11 credits, he would be considered part time. My guess is this is the crux of your problem. You have accepted a loan for a full time student who is NOT full time.</p>
<p>He’s wait listed for that other course he needs. He’s probably going to have to beg the chair of the department for an override. We’re not surprised by this at all. We do have a question. From what I read, it seems that the Feds define full-time (for loan eligibility) as taking over 6 credits but we know the school defines full-time as 12 credits. Am I misreading?</p>
<p>Someone else will have to answer but where did you read that six credits was full time. I thought it was twelve credits for full time status.</p>
<p>The definition of a full time student for financial aid purposes (including federal loans) is a student who is carrying 12 or more credits/equated credits (hours).</p>
<p>from 9 to 11 credits, you are attending 3/4 time</p>
<p>from 6 to 8 credits is half time (and financial aid will be prorated accordingly)</p>
<p>1 to 5 credits are not eligible for aid</p>
<p>[Federal</a> Stafford Student Loan | Office of Student Financial Aid](<a href=“http://financialaid.gmu.edu/loans/federal-stafford-student-loan/#fullVsPart]Federal”>Financial Aid)</p>
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<p>[SUNY</a> College of Old Westbury || Academics | Registrar](<a href=“http://www.oldwestbury.edu/academics/verification.cfm]SUNY”>http://www.oldwestbury.edu/academics/verification.cfm)</p>
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<p>From Nassau Community college
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