General Information

Disbursement of Federal and State funds If Federal Pell Grant, Federal ACG, Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal SEOG, TSAA, and scholarship awards exceed the amount owed for registration fees, students will receive a refund check after it has been verified that students have been attending class (approximately four weeks into the semester). Effective Fall 2009, students may sign up for direct deposit with the business office. Otherwise refund checks are mailed to the student’s local address.

Payment of Books and Supplies Books and supplies are considered an out of pocket expense at Nashville State community college and students must be prepared to pay for them before classes start. Any remaining grant or scholarship funds are not available until four weeks after classes begin. Loan funds are not available until the student has completed all the steps associated and might not be available until a moth after classes start for some freshman borrowers.

Overpayments

Overpayments occur for several reasons. In some cases, students receive financial aid assistance in an amount that exceeds their “need” for financial aid. In other cases, students are inadvertently overpaid Federal Pell Grant funds.

No matter what the reason, overpayments must be resolved. In some cases, the college is able to resolve overpayments by reducing awards for subsequent semesters during the same award year. The Financial Aid Office will notify the student of an amount that must be repaid to a specific program.

If the overpayment cannot be resolved by reducing subsequent awards during the same award year, students will be required to make immediate repayment. If the overpayment is due to student error, and if the student fails to repay the overpayment, the student will be ineligible for future financial aid assistance at all post-secondary schools. If the error is a result of fraud, it will be reported to the Office of the Inspector General.

If the overpayment is a result of institutional error and if the student fails to make repayment by a specified date, the college will be responsible for making the repayment. In such cases, the college will then bill the student and will place a “hold” on future registration.

It should be noted that if a student unofficially withdraws from class (quits attending) and it is later discovered that Title IV funds were paid to the student for credit hours the student was not attending at the point Title IV funds were authorized to the student’s account, an overpayment may exist. In such cases, the student will be billed for the overpayment.

Return of Title IV Funds Title IV recipients who partially withdraw from classes through the official withdrawal process on or after the first day of class may be eligible for a maintenance fee/tuition refund based on NSCC’s refund policy. Title IV recipients are allowed to receive such refunds except in cases when they totally withdraw (officially or unofficially) from classes.

Effective with the Fall Semester of 2000, NSCC implemented new policy and procedures related to Return of Title IV Funds as required by the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 (34 CFR Part 668.22). This new policy replaced our prior Refund/Repayment Policy. A copy of our new policy and procedure is available in the Financial Aid Office. It should be noted that this new policy is only applicable to Title IV recipients. The NSCC refund policy as stated in the college catalog is applicable to non-Title IV recipients.

In brief, if a Title IV recipient totally withdraws (officially or unofficially) from classes on or before the sixty percent point of the semester based on the calendar days within the semester, a calculation will be performed via our Return of Title IV Funds Policy and Procedure. The calculation will include a determination of the student’s last date of attendance, required registration fees, the total amount of Title IV assistance received, the percentage of Title IV assistance earned, the amount of Title IV assistance earned, the percentage of Title IV assistance that was unearned, and the amount of Title IV assistance that was unearned.

The following example is reflective of a student who totally withdrew at the 40% point of the semester. Institutional Charges: $700 Title IV aid for the Period: $3,000 *Amount of Title IV applied to account: $700 Amount of Title IV refunded to student: $2,300 Percentage Earned: 40% Amount Earned: $1,200 Percentage Unearned: 60% Amount Unearned: $1,800 *It is assumed that Title IV assistance paid the student’s account even when institutional charges were paid by cash or another non-Title IV source of assistance.

Using this scenario, the college would be required to refund $420 (60% of $700) back to Title IV programs, first to loans and then to grants (as applicable). The student would be required to repay $1,380 (60% of $2,300) back to Title IV programs. The following qualifiers to the amount the student must repay should be noted. If the amount owed by the student could be applied to the remainder owed to loans disbursed during the period, the student would not be required to make immediate repayment but would follow the normal repayment process related to the loans. If the amount owed by the student is greater than the remainder owed to loans disbursed during the period, the student would be required to make repayment to federal grant programs. However, as related to federal grants, the student is only required to make payment of 50% owed to the federal grant programs. If, in this example, the entire $3,000 of Title IV aid for the Period was through the Federal Pell Grant, the student would only be required to repay 50% of $1,380 ($690) to the Federal Pell Grant. Within 45 days of notice, the student must make full payment of the amount owed to federal grants. Otherwise, the college will report the overpayment to the Department of Education (ED) and the student will be required to make payment arrangements with ED before being eligible to receive future Title IV assistance at any school.

Understanding the NSCC Financial Aid Notification

We begin sending Financial Aid Award Notifications in approximately mid-May prior to each award year.

The following example illustrates the process of “need analysis” for a dependent student living with parent(s) or relative(s) during the 2008-09 award year. It should be noted that the cost of registration fees during the 2008-09 award year (total for two semesters) for a full-time, in-state student was $2,731 inclusive of the technology access fee.

The average allowance for books and supplies for this period was $1,000. Cost of Attendance* $8,249 (less)Expected Family Contribution $200 Need for Financial Aid $8,049 * The cost of attendance includes an allowance for registration fees, books and supplies, transportation, room and board, and other personal and miscellaneous expenses.

Based on the example, the student might have received the following type of financial assistance: Federal Pell Grant $4,581 Federal Supplemental Education Grant $600 Tennessee Student Assistance Award $1,434 Total Award $6,615

It should be noted that in this example, the student received an amount of financial assistance that exceeded the amount needed for the direct educational cost of registration fees and books and supplies. The balance could be used for other education related expenses. Based on the student’s unmet need of $1,434 ($8,049 “need” less $6,615 total award), the student could receive additional assistance via student loans, scholarships, Federal Work-Study, etc. A letter of explanation will be sent with the Financial Aid Notification, which contains further details regarding awards.