Students must apply for financial aid each academic year. Renewal reminders are sent by the government each December for the following academic year to any student who applied for aid the previous year.

The federal government has designed a formula which determines your expected family contribution (EFC), and can be found on your Student Aid Report (SAR). This formula, which is used by colleges and universities throughout the country, estimates your family's financial strength in order to determine the amount your family should be able to contribute to the cost of education for the academic year.

Family income, assets, size of the family, and number in college are among the many items evaluated by this formula. The expected family contribution (EFC) is subtracted from the cost of attendance (COA) to determine your financial need.

You are permitted to complete a FAFSA before completing your taxes by using estimated income. However, if you report estimated financial information on your FAFSA, you may be selected for verification.

Financial aid is permitted to be applied toward the following:

• Tuition
• General Service Fees
• Course Fees
• Residence Hall Fees
• Meal Plan
• Incidental college charges(parking pass, books and supplies)

If your total charges exceed your financial aid amount, you will be responsible for paying the additional amount.

Once your financial aid has been finalized, the college compares the amount of aid you have been awarded to the amount of your college charges/costs.

If you have enough financial aid to cover all your costs, you will have to pay nothing to register.
If you have enough financial aid to cover all your costs, you will have to pay nothing to register.

If your aid does not meet your costs.
If your aid is not enough to cover all your costs, you either must pay the difference on your own with cash, check or credit card or enroll in the Payment Plan, which will allow you to pay what you still owe later. A non-refundable payment of $30 is charged to enroll in the payment plan however, so balance this charge against what you still owe and decide what is best for you.

If your aid is not yet finalized.
If your aid has not been finalized yet by the time you want to register for classes, you will be required to pay for your charges at the time of registration. Another option is to enroll in the Payment Plan that carries a $30 non-refundable fee.

Then, when and if your aid finally does come through, the aid will be used to cover your costs. You may receive all or some of your payment refunded, depending on how much financial aid is awarded.

Ultimately, charges you incur by registering for classes are your responsibility. If your financial aid is not awarded to you, you will have to pay all these costs on your own. Apply for financial aid as early as possible to determine your aid eligibility and award amount before you register.

You must have financial need to qualify for the subsidized loan. The federal government does not charge interest on a subsidized loan when any of the following criteria are met:

• While the borrower is enrolled in school at least half time (six credit hours) (or)
• During authorized periods of deferments.

However, interest is charged throughout the life of an unsubsidized loan, and interest starts to accrue on the date of disbursement.

Students may receive aid during the summer, just as they do in other terms (autumn and spring). However, if a student does receive aid during a summer term, it can affect the aid available for other terms during the academic year. Depending on the type of aid you receive, your future aid could be possibly reduced. However, the Office of Financial Aid Services needs to know that you will be attending summer term so your financial aid maybe applied.

Yes, most financial aid awards have a part-time allocation. Hocking College defines full-time enrollment as 12 credit hours per quarter. Students enrolling less than 12 hours are considered part-time.

The categories are as follows:

• Three-Quarter Time: 9 - 11 credit hours
• Half-Time: 6 - 8 credit hours
• Less Than Half-Time: 5 or less credit hours

Students who have special circumstances should contact the Hocking College Office of Financial Aid Services office. All requests must be supported thoroughly by full documentation.

You should request a Change of Income Form and return it with all of the necessary documentation as soon as possible, if the change in your financial situation involves any of the following:

• Loss of income earned from work (due to unemployment, plant closing, termination, retirement or other)
• Loss of taxable income (such as alimony and unemployment)
• Loss of untaxed income (such as child support, worker's compensation or other income)
• Loss of income due to a disability, separation or divorce, death of a parent or spouse
• Any other reason

We will review your request for any allowable changes that may help you and your family better afford the cost of education.

For additional information on this topic, visit the "Determining Dependency Status" worksheet on the FAFSA website.

Students with a bachelor's degree may still apply for the Federal College Work Study Program and Federal Direct Stafford loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized). However, students will not be eligible for the Pell or FSEOG grants.

Hocking College uses a "freeze" date each term to determine a student's enrollment status for awarding financial aid. A student's maximum financial aid award is based upon full time enrollment for the term. The courses for which an eligible student is registered on the freeze date will determine the amount of financial aid a student may receive for the term. This means that if a student adds or drops classes before the freeze date, the amount of financial aid the student is eligible for may be affected. If classes are added or dropped after the freeze date, the financial aid will not change if the student has attended the class, however, satisfactory academic progress (SAP) may be affected. Please refer to Hocking College SAP guidelines

Financial aid freeze dates for the academic year 2011-2012

These are complex situations, which can affect your financial aid drastically; do not take such situations lightly. Since aid levels are always based on your current enrollment status (full-time or part-time), it is very important for you to be aware of your enrollment level at all times.

If your status changes due to any of the situations named above, contact the Hocking College Office of Financial Aid Services immediately to discuss the status of your aid. Also, it is best to hold off changing your schedule until you have discussed with a financial aid associate what the effect on your aid might be by making such a change.

Aid will be reduced if you drop below certain enrollment levels. If you withdraw, the aid may be taken away and you may end up owing both the federal government and the college money.

If you receive more financial aid in a term than the charges on your account at the college, you may qualify to receive the overage amount in the form of direct deposit or by check. The process that determines this is called Financial Aid Transmittal and currently the college conducts several transmittals each term processed on Thursdays (subject to change if necessary). Typically, aid is applied to accounts on the first transmittal each term. However, in cases where aid cannot be applied at that time because it has not yet been finalized, it will be applied once finalized at the next scheduled transmittal for that term. Financial aid must be finalized two weeks before overage/refund check date.

If a student receives more financial aid than the amount of their account charges, an overage check will be mailed to the address listed for the student in WebAdvisor unless direct deposit has been established.

Anticipated overage/refund check dates for the 2012-2013 academic year:

Yes. Hocking College allows limited pending financial aid monies (up to $600.00 during the first ten business days of the term) to be used against charging of books and supplies at the Hocking College bookstore; however, cash, check or credit card is always acceptable. If your pending financial aid does not become finalized the student is responsible for charges incurred.

You apply for Federal Work-Study by completing the FAFSAand answering "yes" to the question that asks whether or not you are interested in student employment. The Office of Financial Aid Services does not place students in employment positions; we are only the office that awards work-study funds. Visit the Office of Student Employment for opportunities and available positions.

The earlier you look into positions available, the better chance you have of obtaining a student employment position of your choice.

Yes, while not part of financial aid, the college employs students in positions throughout the college through the Part-Time Employment program. See the Office of Student Employment at Hocking College for employment opportunities and available positions. The earlier you look into positions available, the better chance you have of obtaining a student employment position of your choice.

You must re-apply for financial aid every year you wish to be considered for financial aid. Since your aid amount is based on your specific financial information, which may change every year, the college has no way of knowing your aid eligibility level from year to year until we receive the results of your FAFSA each year.

Hocking College uses a census "freeze" date each term to determine a student's enrollment status for awarding financial aid. A student's maximum financial aid award is based upon full time enrollment for the term. The courses for which an eligible student is registered on the freeze date will determine the amount of financial aid a student may receive for the term. This means that if a student adds or drops classes before the census date, the amount of financial aid the student is eligible for may be affected. If classes are added or dropped after the census date, the financial aid will not change if the student has attended the class, however, satisfactory academic progress (SAP) may be affected. Please refer to Hocking College SAP guidelines.

Financial aid CENSUS dates for academic year 2012-2013
Summer: Jun 22, 2012
Autumn: Sept 6, 2012
Spring: Jan 11, 2013

Federal Regulations require that all college Financial Aid Programs enforce a set of rules and regulations called Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Standards. Students can lose their financial aid by failing to maintain standards of satisfactory academic progress. SAP is a complex system of two satisfactory progress items: grades and credit hours. Please refer to Hocking College SAP guidelines.