Things That May Affect Your Aid

After the 3rd day of the term students not able to complete a course(s) must complete a Withdrawal Form online through Registrar’s office. If you withdraw, be aware:

• You are assigned a W for each course you withdraw.
• Full Tuition and fees based on hours enrolled are charged – you are not given a refund for any tuition & fees according to state policy.
• Title IV Financial Aid (Pell Grant, SEOG, etc.) will be prorated based on the amount of aid the student earned for the period the student was enrolled. Unearned Title IV aid will be returned to the Department of Education as required by Return to Title IV regulations.
• The student will be responsible for paying the balance of tuition, fees and book charges not covered by the prorated Title IV and other aid received.

NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNICATION

Students selected for verification must submit documentation to the CGTC Financial Aid office in order for financial aid eligibility to be determined. Students are notified of their selection for the process as follows:

• The Student Aid Report (SAR) from the Department of Education after submission of the FAFSA.
• Central Georgia Technical College will provide written notification to the student identifying the documents required for the verification process. These notifications will be sent to the student periodically until the documents are received. The student can also check their Banner Self-Service account for this information.
• As a courtesy, CGTC’s Financial Aid office may contact students by phone to encourage them to submit documents to complete the verification process.

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED

• • Signed Verification Worksheet via Financial Aid Forms

*Please be advised, the dependent student and parent must both sign the worksheet. If the student signs the worksheet electronically, the parent must sign the worksheet electronically also; or if the student prints out the worksheet and signs with a wet signature, the parent must sign with a wet signature also and the worksheet must be uploaded back into Financial Aid Forms.

• • Federal Tax Return Transcript* uploaded via Financial Aid Forms

*Effective January 2019, institutions may accept as acceptable documentation a signed copy of the 2017 income tax return, as applicable, that the tax filer submitted to the IRS or other tax authorities to verify FAFSA/ISIR income and tax information.

• • – Dependent student; student and parents tax transcript
  • – Independent: student, and spouse if applicable.
• It may be necessary for the student to submit additional documentation in order for the verification process to be completed. The Financial Aid Office will notify the student if this additional documentation is needed.

*If you do not have a copy of your tax return transcript, you can request a tax return transcript by accessing the IRS website (https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript ) and following the instructions shown, or complete  Form 4506-T and fax to the appropriate IRS tax location for the state in which you filed your federal tax return. For Georgia, the fax number is 859-669-3592. This make take several weeks for processing. The documents will be mailed to you, or you may request the documents to be mailed to the College (item #5). If you choose to have them mailed to the College, please enter the College’s mailing address and to the attention of the Financial Aid Office.

For tax filer, make sure you choose “Return Transcript.”

For non-tax filers, you must request a Verification of Nonfiling letter and a W2 transcript, even if you did not work or have any type of income. If you did not work or have any income, you will receive a letter(s) from the IRS stating that the documents were not available. You will need to submit the letter(s) to the Financial Aid office along with your verification worksheet.

If the student, parent, or both used the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer tax information to the FAFSA, the tax return transcript is not required for verification; just the applicable signed verification worksheet.

DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTATION

Verification documents should be submitted by the document deadline as posted in the Important Dates section of the CGTC Financial Aid website. Submitting the required documents by the due date, as posted, facilitates the College’s ability to verify all information in a timely manner, ensure that financial aid packages and reconciliation of funds are accurate, and that financial aid is posted to the student’s account in a timely manner.

Failure to submit the required documentation will eliminate the disbursement of financial aid and failure to submit required documentation by the posted deadline will delay the disbursement of financial aid.

EXTINUATING TAX CIRCUMSTANCES – Click here for more information on these requirements.

Quantitative and Qualitative Requirements

Quantitative – The maximum time frame (pace) for student to complete a program cannot exceed 150% of the published length of the program for which the student is enrolled. In order to meet this standard, a student must complete and pass at least 67% of all credit hours attempted.
Courses earned include grades of A, B, C, D or F. Courses attempted include grades of A, B, C, D, F, W, I, or IP. Attempted remedial courses are not included in this measurement.

Qualitative – The student must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above in order to remain eligible for financial aid. Grades of A, B, C, D, or F are included in the calculation of the cumulative GPA. Grades of I, W, or IP do not affect the GPA. Although not included in the actual GPA calculation, attempted remedial courses are reviewed to ensure students are successfully completing the courses as part of the qualitative assessment.

Maximum Time Frame (150% standard)
Students must complete their program of study within one and one-half (150%) times the normal length of the program of study. This includes all credit hours attempted whether they are completed or passed. For example, if a program of study is 80 credit hours, the maximum timeframe to complete the program and receive financial aid is 120 attempted credit hours. The maximum timeframe will vary depending upon the length of the program of study. Changing majors may result in a student exceeding the maximum timeframe for completion.

SAP Status

A student that does not maintain a 2.0 GPA and/or does not complete at least 67% of all attempted hours at the time SAP is checked, will be placed on Financial Aid Warning Status and will continue to receive financial aid for one term only. Students will be notified of their SAP Status by email.

If at the completion of the Financial Aid Warning term:

• the student has met the quantitative and/or qualitative SAP standards, the student will be placed in Good Standing Status and will continue to receive financial aid.
• the student has not met the quantitative and/or qualitative SAP standard, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Unsatisfactory Status and will not be eligible to receive financial aid for any terms after the completion of the Financial Aid Warning term. (Note: If the student is enrolled while on Financial Aid Unsatisfactory Status, the student will be required to pay tuition, fees, books and other related charges out of pocket.)

Regaining Eligibility

Once a student has been placed on Financial Aid Unsatisfactory Suspension and has lost eligibility to receive financial aid, eligibility may be regained in one of two ways:

• The student must attend classes as a cash paying student (receiving no aid) until the cumulative GPA and the cumulative completion rate has reached or exceeded the minimum requirement. At the next term of enrollment the student may be eligible to begin receiving financial aid if all other financial aid eligibility requirements are met, OR
• The student may file an appeal. The appeal must be approved before financial aid eligibility can be regained. The student must also meet all other financial aid eligibility requirements.

Appeal Process

Any student placed on Financial Aid Unsatisfactory Status may submit an appeal within 10 days from the date the student is notified of the Unsatisfactory Status.

Students that have submitted a FAFSA must complete the appeal form and supporting documentation through the Financial Aid Forms portal. The appeal will automatically be available as a required task in the student’s record in Financial Aid Forms. If the student does not see a SAP appeal task, the student will need to contact the Financial Aid Office.

Students that have not submitted a FAFSA due to knowing they would not qualify for Pell Grant OR if the student just wants to receive HOPE funds (must have completed a GSFAPP on GAFutures) must request a SAP appeal form through finaid@centralgatech.edu. The appeal form will be emailed to the student and the student must submit the appeal form and supporting documentation back through finaid@centralgatech.edu.

Acceptable conditions to file an appeal include:

• Death of a relative, or
• Injury or illness of the student, or
• Other extenuating circumstance.

The student must submit an appeal form along with documentation to support the acceptable conditions for the appeal to be considered. The student must submit an explanation of what has changed in his/her situation that will allow the student to demonstrate satisfactory academic
progress at the next evaluation. Appeals submitted without supporting documentation will not be considered.

Once appeal documentation has been received and reviewed for completeness, the college has 30 days from the date the appeal is submitted to review, render a decision and notify the student of the results. The student will be notified by email of the appeal decision.

• If appeal is granted, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Academic Plan status during the term in which the appeal is granted and will be eligible to receive financial aid. The Academic Plan will be loaded into the Financial Aid Forms portal for the student to print out, review, and sign. The student must upload the signed Academic Plan back into the Financial Aid Forms portal. The student may remain on the Academic Plan and eligible for aid as long as the student meets the minimum GPA and completion rate requirements per term until the student has reached a minimum cumulative GPA and completion rate and can be removed from the Academic Plan. If the student fails to maintain SAP requirements while on the Academic Plan status, the student will be placed again on Financial Aid Unsatisfactory Status and will not be eligible for financial aid. The student has the right to file a new appeal or attend classes and pay out of pocket in an effort to regain financial aid eligibility completing the necessary hours and earning the minimum cumulative GPA and completion rate to meet SAP requirements.
• If appeal is denied, the student will not be eligible for financial aid. The student has the right to file a new appeal with the Director of Financial Aid by sending the request to finaid@centralgatech.edu within 10 days of the Appeal Committee’s decision; otherwise the student may regain financial aid eligibility once the student completes the necessary hours and earns the minimum required GPA and completion rate to meet SAP requirements. The student will be notified by email of the final decision.

Additional Information

• Incomplete courses are included in attempted hours.
• Withdrawals are allowed within reason, but all grades earned in courses in which a student is enrolled beyond the drop/add period are included in hours attempted.
• Repeated coursework – All grades earned for repeated courses are included in the calculation of the GPA and included in hours attempted.
• Transfer credits will be awarded for courses applicable to student’s chosen program of study and count in both hours attempted and earned.
• Study abroad courses are included in the calculation of the GPA and hours attempted.
• Audited courses are not considered credit courses and are not included in the SAP process.
• Consortium agreements – not applicable
• Program changes may impact the length of time required to meet new program requirements. Program changes are allowed only once per semester.

There are debt relief companies that charge up-front or monthly fees for the same services. Some of these companies may tell students that they are working with a postsecondary institution to provide these services, when actually they are not.

Default

A student in default on a Federal Student Loan or Direct Loan is not eligible to receive Title IV aid until the default status is resolved by:

• Repayment in full, or
• Has made at least 6 consecutive, full, voluntary payments on time to the loan holder, or
• Loan rehabilitation

State Aid – for the student to be eligible for state aid, the defaulted loan(s) must be paid in full.

The student should contact the loan holder for more information on resolving loan defaults.

It is the student’s responsibility to submit loan status resolution documents to the Financial Aid Office. Aid will not be disbursed to the student unless this documentation has been received and reviewed in order for Federal and state aid eligibility to be determined.

Click on the link below for more information on assistance with defaulted loan status.

Overpayment/Exceed Loan Limits

Students who have obtained Title IV program loan funds in an amount that exceeds the annual or aggregate loan limits are ineligible for any further Title IV program (Pell, SEOG, Federal Work Study) assistance until the student:

• Repays in full the excess amount; or
• Makes satisfactory repayment arrangements with the loan holder to repay the excess loan amount. The satisfactory repayment arrangements are determined by the loan holder.
• It is the student’s responsibility to submit loan status resolution documents to the Financial Aid Office. Aid will not be disbursed to the student unless this documentation has been received and reviewed in order for Federal and state aid eligibility to be determined.

Bankruptcy

Students with a student loan or grant overpayment that has been discharged in bankruptcy remains eligible for Title IV aid (Pell, SEOG, Federal Work Study).

Active Bankruptcy

• Borrowers who list a non-defaulted student loan or grant in an active bankruptcy claim is eligible for Title IV funds as long as there are no loans in default.
• Borrowers who list a defaulted student loan or grant in an active bankruptcy claim is eligible for further Title IV funds if the borrower provides documentation from the loan holder stating the loan is dischargeable.

The Department will assign a UEH flag of ‘N’, ‘2’, or ‘3’ to the student’s Student Aid Report (SAR).

• UEH flag value of ‘N’ – there is no unusual enrollment history; no action is required by student or institution.
• UEH flag value of ‘2’ – indicates an unusual enrollment history that requires review by the institution of the student’s enrollment records to determine if the institution must collect additional information about the student’s prior enrollment.
• UEH flag value of ‘3’ – indicates that the institution must review academic records for the student and, in some instances, must collect additional documentation from the student.

Beginning with the 2015-2016 year, the Department of Education expanded the selection criteria to applicants that had prior receipt of, in addition to the Pell Grant, Federal Direct Loans and increased prior awards years to four instead of three.

 2018-2019 Unusual Enrollment History (UEH) Verification Form
 2019-2020 Unusual Enrollment History (UEH) Verification Form
2020-2021 Unusual Enrollment History (UEH) Verification Form

If the institution approves the student’s continued eligibility, the Financial Aid administrator may choose to require the student to establish an academic plan similar to the type of plan used to resolve Satisfactory Academic Progress appeals.

If a student did not earn academic credit at one or more of the relevant institutions and does not provide, to the Financial Aid administrator’s satisfaction, an acceptable explanation and documentation for each of those failures, the institution must deny the student any further Title IV assistance. The authority for an institution to deny Title IV, HEA program assistance under UEH circumstances is section 484(a)(4)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, which requires the student to sign a Statement of Educational Purpose. By signing the Statement of Educational Purpose as part of the student’s submission of the FAFSA, the student certified that he or she would use Title IV, HEA program assistance received only to meet educational costs. The student can regain Title IV eligibility by completing one semester of successful academic performance as a cash paying student or by filing an appeal and appeal is approved