Indexed Adobe PDF (Spring 2011-Full Version) - SUNY Orange

Financial AidThe student must be enrolled at the time the ISIR isreceived at the Office of Financial Aid in order forpayment to be made to the student. Even though thestudent may file the FAFSA after the semester hasstarted, a payment cannot be made if the studentceases to be enrolled. The FAFSA is available on lineat www.fafsa.ed.gov. There is no fee for processingthis form. For students who are required to takedevelopmental courses, Federal Aid funds will onlypay for the first 30 attempted credits ofdevelopmental study. Students holding a bachelordegree are ineligible for the Federal Pell Grant, butthey must file the FAFSA to receive consideration forother aid.YEAR ROUND PELLELIGIBILITY LIMIT AND DISBURSEMENT• Students who receive their first Pell Grant on orafter July 1, 2008 may receive Pell Grants for asmany as 18 semesters (or the equivalent)• Effective July 1, 2009, students enrolled in acertificate, associate, or baccalaureate programmay to receive up to two Pell Grants in oneaward year to accelerate their program.PELL GRANTS (YEAR ROUND PELL)The first critical concept revolves around thedefinition of an academic year.For purposes of federal financial aid programs atSUNY Orange, an academic year is a period of time(normally a minimum of 30 weeks or fall plus springsemester) during which a full - time undergraduatestudent is expected to complete a minimum of 24credit hours.Annual grant limits are tied to the completion of anacademic year.Award year refers to the specific enrollment period.The "normal" award year at SUNY Orange is the falland spring semesters. Award years run from July 1 toJune 30.Summer enrollment is attached as a "trailer" to thepreceding award year. SUNY Orange offers a numberof summer sessions of differing lengths in an effort tobe responsive to the needs of the student body. Forthe purposes of federal financial aid programs, theseparate sessions are combined into one term.The new regulations allow a student to receivefunds from a second scheduled award within an awardyear if the student is enrolled for credit hoursattributable to a second academic year within thataward year. The student need not have completed afull academic year's worth of coursework prior to thepayment period in which the second scheduled awardfunds are paid. For example, a student earned 9credits in the fall semester and 9 credits in the springsemester. Since SUNY Orange uses 24 credits todefine the academic year and places summer in theconcluding award year, the student would need toenroll for more than 6 credits in the summer term tobe paid funds out of the second scheduled award (6credits to finish the first academic year's worth ofwork, plus some additional number of credits thatcount toward the second academic year). This studentwould be paid any remaining first scheduled awardfunds plus the amount of second scheduled awardfunds needed to make up the payment for the term ascalculated under the appropriate Pell formula.Special Adjustments for children of deceasedservice membersThe Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008grants an automatic zero EFC for the Pell GrantProgram ONLY to Pell Grant eligible students whoseparent or guardian was a member of the ArmedForces and died in Iraq or Afghanistan afterSeptember 11, 2001.Eligibility ExclusionsEffective July 1, 2009, an individual subject toinvoluntary civil confinement or civil commitmentupon completion of a period of incarceration for aforcible or non-forcible sexual crime is ineligible for aPell Grant.PROGRAMS FOR DEPENDENTS OF VETERANSThe Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008grants an automatic zero EFC for the Pell GrantProgram† ONLY to Pell Grant eligible studentswhose parent or guardian was a member of theArmed Forces and died in Iraq or Afghanistan afterSeptember 11, 2001. Eligibility guidelinesA student must have been twenty-four years of ageor less or enrolled at least part-time at an institutionat the time of the parent's death.Legislators do not believe that this should be anadditional question on the FAFSA, rather theSecretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs shouldprovide the Secretary of Education with theinformation necessary to determine which studentsmeet the requirement. Because the question is not onthe FAFSA, students will need to notify the Office ofFinancial Aid concerning their eligibility for thisadditional benefit.The Higher Education Opportunity Act's TechnicalCorrections Bill was signed it into law on July 1,2009.This bill:• Sets the "Expected Family Contribution" (EFC)at zero for children of soldiers killed in Iraq orAfghanistan after 9/11/01, if the student wasunder 24 years old at the time or enrolled in an24 www.sunyorange.edu Spring 2011