Casper College’s Office of Enrollment Services administers/coordinates a variety of institutional, state, federal, and private financial assistance programs for qualified students. Financial assistance programs include scholarships, grants, loans, and student employment. Casper College offers a variety of financial assistance programs for students based on merit and income. Awards recognize scholastic achievement, assist low income students, and provide funding so students can reach their goal of graduation. Detailed information on all financial aid programs is available on request from the Enrollment Services Office and on the web stie at www.caspercollege.edu/financial_aid. Financial aid policies and procedures may change without notice.
Dual Enrolled Students
A student seeking a degree from Casper College (Home Institution) but wishing to enroll for credit at a Host Institution(s) will receive financial aid only from Casper College (the Home Institution). All federal financial aid awards will be made by the Home Institution based on policies of the Home Institution. Students who are dual enrolled need to fill out a consortium agreement from their Home institution.
Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs
Eligibility for most federal student aid programs is limited to fully admitted, degree-seeking students with documented financial need who meet academic and satisfactory progress requirements. A student who is in default on a federal student loan or owes a repayment to any institution of any funds received under Title IV federal programs is not eligible to receive additional Title IV federal funds at any school until those funds are repaid or until satisfactory repayment provisions have been met. A brief description of the federal programs available to Casper College students is provided below. For more specific information, please check our web site at www.caspercollege.edu/financial_aid with links to the Department of Education.
Note: To apply for federal grants, loans, or work-study at Casper College, students must complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Additional steps are required for loans and work study.
The FAFSA form can be completed and submitted at www.caspercollege.edu/financial_aid. If you do not have internet access, you may contact Enrollment Services Office or your high school guidance offices to request internet access. A new FAFSA must be completed annually.
Casper College encourages students to apply for federal aid early each year. Typically, March 1 is our priority due date. Documents received prior to this date will have priority consideration.
Grant Programs
Federal Pell Grant- This is the foundation of the federal aid programs, to which aid from other federal and non-federal sources might be added.
Eligibility is based on the federal calculation of need and is applied for using the FAFSA. The Federal Pell Grant program is for qualified undergraduates. The federal government establishes the dollar limit for the Federal Pell Grant program each year.
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)-FSEOG is a limited fund program awarded to undergraduates with specific financial need requirements.
Federal Work-Study (FWS)
This is a limited fund, need based program. Students may work up to 15 hours per week. Most positions are on-campus. Federal Work-study eligibility is determined by the Enrollment Services Office and placement is completed by Career Center.
Federal Direct Stafford Loan
Loans to students: Repayment of principal is deferred until the borrower either completes the education program or ceases to be enrolled at least half time. There will be a four step process for first time borrowers. The FAFSA serves as the primary application form. A “Master Promissory Note” (MPN) and entrance loan counseling are required and available on the Casper College financial aid web site under the “Loan” link. Students must complete a student loan request each year.
Federal Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
Loans to parents: Parents may be able borrow for a dependent student. Repayment begins within 60 days for a parent borrower. Applications can be initiated from Casper College’s financial aid web site under the “Loan” link.
Standards of Satisfactory Progress for Federal Student Financial Aid
In accordance with Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and all relevant amendments since, students receiving federal assistance, (i.e. Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, Federal Work-Study, etc.) must meet and maintain certain academic and satisfactory progress standards to remain eligible to receive such assistance each term. Although the following information identifies the main factors that must be evaluated, the student should check with the Enrollment Services Office for the most current policy as these standards are subject to revision. Please note the standards provided below are evaluated at the end of each term.
This evaluation includes all terms attempted regardless of whether or not the student received financial assistance.
- Enrollment Status: Students must be enrolled as classified students in a degree or certificate program to be eligible for aid. In addition, loan applicants must be enrolled for six or more credit hours.
- Census Date: Students must finalize their class registration by the end of business on this day. The student’s enrollment status will be measured and aid eligibility cancelled, reduced or increased, as necessary. The Census date is the 10th class day (fifth day of each summers ession) of the term.
- Grade Point Average (GPA): Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least a 2.0.
- Pace: Students must successfully complete on a cumulative basis at least 67 percent of the courses they attempt.
Satisfactory progress ratios are calculated by dividing hours earned by hours attempted. For example, if 12 hours are attempted and 9 hours are earned, the ratio is 9/12 = 75 percent. Grades of A, B, C, D and S qualify as earned and attempted hours. Audits, incompletes, withdrawals, drops, F’s and U’s are attempted hours but are not earned. Repeat courses count as attempted each try, but count as earned only once. Additional restrictions exist on multiple repeats.
- Maximum Hours Attempted (Maximum Time Frame): Federal regulations require students to complete their program of study within a reasonable time frame. The time frame is defined as 1½ times the minimum credit hours required to complete a program. For programs requiring 64 credit hours, the regulations would allow up to 96 credit hours to be attempted. The student should determine the number of credit hours required for their selected program. All hours attempted, whether on aid or not, are counted. Transfer students hours earned at other schools are included in this count. At any point it is determined that the student can no longer complete their program by this maximum hours, the student is no longer eligible for federal assistance.
Eligibility Status
Satisfactory: Satisfactory status is achieved when all criteria explained above are being met or when a student is meeting the requirements established under an individual academic action plan.
Financial Aid Warning: A student on Financial Aid Warning may receive Title IV funds (possibly lose other assistance) for one payment period. During this payment period, the student must meet the required standards to avoid Financial Aid Suspension.
Financial Aid Probation: A status assigned by the institution to a student who fails to make satisfactory academic progress and who has appealed and has had eligibility for aid reinstated under the conditions of an individual academic action plan.
Financial Aid Suspension: Students on Financial Aid Suspension cannot be paid Title IV federal assistance.
Mitigating Circumstances
Federal regulations allow students whose failure to meet the required standards was caused by 1) the death of a relative of the student; 2) an injury or illness of the student; or 3) other significant extenuating circumstances, to submit a written appeal for reconsideration by the college. Circumstances need to be of sufficient magnitude and generally outside of the student’s control in order for the request to be approved. If approved an academic action plan will be established for the student. The student must agree to and meet the requirements of the action plan in order to be funded, until they are once again meeting the over-all standards of progress requirements. The “Request for Reinstatement of Financial Aid” form is available from the Enrollment Services Office.
Withdrawing and Nonattendance: Impact on Federal Financial Assistance
Students who alter their enrollment status (drop or add courses) during the course of a semester are subject to have their eligibility for federal financial assistance recalculated, and could be required to return some, if not all, of their federal assistance. Students should review the following explanations carefully.
- Enrollment Changes prior to the Census Date
A student’s official enrollment status is measured at the end of the 10th class day of each semester (fifth day for the summer session) term. This is the “census date.” Assistance that was previously offered for the term will be reevaluated and either be increased, decreased, canceled or left unchanged based on the student’s status as of the census date. An increase in hours after this date cannot reinstate certain types of assistance lost because of inadequate enrollment on the census date. New awards calculated after the census dates are based on the student’s actual enrollment status as of the date of the calculation.
- Nonattendance
Students must attend classes to be eligible for federal assistance. If a student fails to initiate attendance in some or all courses, their eligibility for federal assistance must be recalculated, excluding those courses, regardless of the student’s enrollment status. The student would be responsible for the return of all “over-awarded” funds as a result of their never attending the course(s). Students who claim federal funds and never attend any class are subject to referral to the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Education, for possible federal fraud investigation. Written examples of return of funds calculations are available in the Enrollment Services Office upon request.
The Enrollment Services Office reserves the right to modify or change the above policy as necessary. Return of funds regulations for students with Title IV federal funds are provided by 34 CFR 668.22.
- Dropping Out, Withdrawing or Being Expelled
Students who unofficially withdraw (drop out, walk away, etc.), officially withdraw, (see Academic Policies section), or are expelled, will have the percentage of aid earned (the amount of federal assistance the student can keep) calculated based on the percentage of the term actually completed. For example, if a student only completes 20 percent of a term, only 20 percent of their aid would be considered earned and 80 percent of their aid would be considered unearned and subject to return. The date used to calculate this percentage is the official withdrawal date, or for those who unofficially withdraw it is either the mid-point of the term (50 percent return) or the last day the student participated in a documented, academicallyrelated activity. Students who withdraw after completing at least 60 percent of the term will be considered to have earned 100 percent of their federal assistance. (Please note students are still subject to the “standards of progress” evaluation.)
Verification Policies and Procedures for Federal Student Aid Applications
An applicant will be required to verify or validate, by documentation, FAFSA application information, if the application is selected for verification in the federal processing and edit systems, if the Enrollment Services Office has reason to believe that any application information critical to the calculation of the student’s expected family contribution (EFC) is inaccurate, or if application information is in conflict with other information. If an application is selected for verification, the Enrollment Services Office will give notice to the applicant. The notice will specify what items of information must be verified and will detail what documents and procedures are required for verification. It will also specify the time period within which the applicant shall provide the required documentation and will advise the applicant of the consequences of the applicant’s failure to comply within the specified period. The time period granted to the applicant for completion of required documentation may vary with the complexity of the requirements and with the time remaining in the school term for which funding is sought. Normally, the student is afforded 30 days from the request date to provide verification documents to the Enrollment Services Office.
Generally, the deadline for submission of verification documents must be at least 30 days prior to the end of the school term for whcih funding is sought to allow for processing and correction, if needed. Should the applicant fail to provide required documentation within the specified time period, the application is considered invalid and the applicant will forfeit eligibility for assistance from the Federal Title IV student aid programs for the program year for which the invalid application was filed.
If the verification documents are provided within the specified time period and confirm the accuracy of all application items requiring verification, the application is finalized, and if all other requirements have been met, a letter is sent to notify the applicant. If the verification documents reveal inaccuracies in the application, the Student Aid Report/Institutional Student Information Report (SAR/ISIR) will be corrected and submitted electronically for reprocessing. If incomplete or inadequate verification documents are submitted, the applicant is notified of deficiencies and instructed on how to correct them. Should review of an application for Title IV student aid indicate that the applicant may have engaged in fraud or other criminal misconduct in connection with his/her application; the Enrollment Services Office must refer the student for investigation on all relevant information to the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Education. Examples of such information include (but are not limited to): false claims of independent student status; false claims of citizenship; use of false identities; forgery of signatures or certificates and false statements of income.
Casper College Scholarships
Casper College administers/coordinates state, institutional, foundation, private agency, service club, and individual scholarships. Students can access most applications January 15 to March 15 of each year. For a current listing of available scholarships refer to the Casper College website: www.caspercollege.edu/financial_aid/scholarships. Scholarship information, including specific criteria, application requirements, and deadline dates are available on the web site. |
