Calling the FA office is the best suggestion, so they can take into account all your personal financial and situational considerations, and they handle it every day and can provide possible options with more accuracy. (Also, please confirm anything you hear on this board. Many of us use FA, so we have our personal experiences to offer, but the laws and requirements change frequently, and unless we have experienced the most recent changes, may miss something that would help or need consideration.)
Could I just sign up for this one class and get FA?
No, you would be considered part-time, not full-time, which is required for FA distribution. Due to TESC's 12-week semesters, FT is defined as a minimum of 6 credits per semester from TESC courses (online or guided study only). As mentioned in your other thread, Living in the Information Age is a great course if you're just looking for that one to earn a GPA, but if you're wanting to use it for FA requirement as well, you would need at least one other course.
Would a 6 cr class per quarter be consider PT or FT?
That would be FT. They do not care if you reach that 6CR minimum through 1-6CR course or 2-3CR courses, so long as you reach that 6CR line somehow through online or GS courses at TESC.
Do you know if it would qualify us to receive not just loans but also scholarships and Pell?
Once you reach the 6CR line, you are eligible for any type of federal Fin Aid processed out of their office, including Pell.
Other notes:
Fin Aid award packages are distributed over four semesters. Because of that, you are allowed to carry a financial balance on your account (without Fin Aid, you must pay in full for all courses, no payment plans are offered) but it becomes extremely difficult / impossible to get enough Fin Aid payout in that one term to get that balance paid in full. Here is why:
Out of State 1st Yr Annual Enrollment - $2858.00
Technology Fee - $113.00
Course Registration - $52.00
6CR @ Out of State Rate -- $1272.00
Total needed for enrollment fee and 6 credits -----$4295.00
Additional semesters after the first (6CR+registration) -- $1324.00
Say you took out the maximum in FA allowed (that amount will differ depending on your personal situation - here is a chart from .gov about halfway down the page that explains Student Aid on the Web). You then divide that maximum by four to get the amount that would actually pay out each term. This is why individual on FA must often take at least three semesters of courses to reach zero balance.
You can take less than the four terms dictated in your FA award letter, such as the 1st and 2nd terms and skip 3rd and 4th, to reduce the total amount borrowed, but the amount distributed each term is a quarter of your total eligible award, so you must run the numbers and decide how many terms you have to go to get your balance to zero if you need to avoid any out of pocket payments.
If you do not have at least six courses remaining on your degree plan to fill in those three semesters, your options are to 1) add another major on, which would give you additional course options to fill in the blanks, or 2) find a way to pay it yourself without loans. For some of us, option 1 is the only way to make it work, and for others, option 2 is ideal to avoid the sizable loans and resulting payments. You'll need to evaluate your financial situation to see if you can stomach taking out loans large enough to cover all the costs, credits, and fees you're talking about. Either way, you would not be able to get away with just one semester of FA and cover annual enrollment, course tuition, and other fees you listed, not without paying a good bit out of pocket as well.
It feels like it's TESC being big jerks to milk money out of us, but those requirements are dictated by the Federal gov't.
Could I just sign up for this one class and get FA?
No, you would be considered part-time, not full-time, which is required for FA distribution. Due to TESC's 12-week semesters, FT is defined as a minimum of 6 credits per semester from TESC courses (online or guided study only). As mentioned in your other thread, Living in the Information Age is a great course if you're just looking for that one to earn a GPA, but if you're wanting to use it for FA requirement as well, you would need at least one other course.
Would a 6 cr class per quarter be consider PT or FT?
That would be FT. They do not care if you reach that 6CR minimum through 1-6CR course or 2-3CR courses, so long as you reach that 6CR line somehow through online or GS courses at TESC.
Do you know if it would qualify us to receive not just loans but also scholarships and Pell?
Once you reach the 6CR line, you are eligible for any type of federal Fin Aid processed out of their office, including Pell.
Other notes:
Fin Aid award packages are distributed over four semesters. Because of that, you are allowed to carry a financial balance on your account (without Fin Aid, you must pay in full for all courses, no payment plans are offered) but it becomes extremely difficult / impossible to get enough Fin Aid payout in that one term to get that balance paid in full. Here is why:
Out of State 1st Yr Annual Enrollment - $2858.00
Technology Fee - $113.00
Course Registration - $52.00
6CR @ Out of State Rate -- $1272.00
Total needed for enrollment fee and 6 credits -----$4295.00
Additional semesters after the first (6CR+registration) -- $1324.00
Say you took out the maximum in FA allowed (that amount will differ depending on your personal situation - here is a chart from .gov about halfway down the page that explains Student Aid on the Web). You then divide that maximum by four to get the amount that would actually pay out each term. This is why individual on FA must often take at least three semesters of courses to reach zero balance.
You can take less than the four terms dictated in your FA award letter, such as the 1st and 2nd terms and skip 3rd and 4th, to reduce the total amount borrowed, but the amount distributed each term is a quarter of your total eligible award, so you must run the numbers and decide how many terms you have to go to get your balance to zero if you need to avoid any out of pocket payments.
If you do not have at least six courses remaining on your degree plan to fill in those three semesters, your options are to 1) add another major on, which would give you additional course options to fill in the blanks, or 2) find a way to pay it yourself without loans. For some of us, option 1 is the only way to make it work, and for others, option 2 is ideal to avoid the sizable loans and resulting payments. You'll need to evaluate your financial situation to see if you can stomach taking out loans large enough to cover all the costs, credits, and fees you're talking about. Either way, you would not be able to get away with just one semester of FA and cover annual enrollment, course tuition, and other fees you listed, not without paying a good bit out of pocket as well.
It feels like it's TESC being big jerks to milk money out of us, but those requirements are dictated by the Federal gov't.
BSBA, HR / Organizational Mgmt - Thomas Edison State College, December 2012
- TESC Chapter of Sigma Beta Delta International Honor Society for Business, Management and Administration
- Arnold Fletcher Award
AAS, Environmental, Safety, & Security Technologies - Thomas Edison State College, December 2012
AS, Business Administration - Thomas Edison State College, March 2012
- TESC Chapter of Sigma Beta Delta International Honor Society for Business, Management and Administration
- Arnold Fletcher Award
AAS, Environmental, Safety, & Security Technologies - Thomas Edison State College, December 2012
AS, Business Administration - Thomas Edison State College, March 2012
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