Financial Aid Question for Those Lucky Recipients!

[marianne202]

I have submitted all my paperwork and am awaiting a final response about some financial aid for summer / fall classes at EC. I have a few questions that I was wondering if anyone who has used financial aid might be able to answer.

1) Do government grants pay for CLEP / DSST or ECE exams?

2) Do ECE's count towards registered credits? EC only has one class I need offered for Sept, but they have 2 exams I can take. I'm wondering if one would count towards the required 6 credits I must take?

3) I know Jennifer said a while back that financial aid can only be used at one school. Is that during the same semester or per year? When I did my FAFSA I included EC and ECU to be sent my info. ECU is local and has courses that EC has approved for me to take, but they are much cheaper and I would possibly qualify for local / state aid as opposed to just Federal with EC. But can I switch between schools at the semester break? Why does it matter if I attend more than 1 school if I don't exceed the total amount awarded between both schools? The money would go farther at ECU, but some of the classes may not be offered when I need them at ECU.

4) What is the refund check that EC refers to? The online guide makes reference to a refund check if you don't use the allotment. Why would they mail me a check? Shouldn't the money stay at the school for future fees or go back to the govt? If I understand this correctly any excess is mailed to me in a check I guess I could use that at another school for tuition or to pay off a credit card if I charged the tuition at another school. Is this what they mean?

I'm sorry if these seem like stupid questions, but this is my first time dealing with financial aid. I want to make sure I understand this process so I don't mess something up. Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide. If you would rather PM than post here that is fine! Thanks!

[brain122]

I have submitted all my paperwork and am awaiting a final response about some financial aid for summer / fall classes at EC. I have a few questions that I was wondering if anyone who has used financial aid might be able to answer.

1) Do government grants pay for CLEP / DSST or ECE exams?

2) Do ECE's count towards registered credits? EC only has one class I need offered for Sept, but they have 2 exams I can take. I'm wondering if one would count towards the required 6 credits I must take?

3) I know Jennifer said a while back that financial aid can only be used at one school. Is that during the same semester or per year? When I did my FAFSA I included EC and ECU to be sent my info. ECU is local and has courses that EC has approved for me to take, but they are much cheaper and I would possibly qualify for local / state aid as opposed to just Federal with EC. But can I switch between schools at the semester break? Why does it matter if I attend more than 1 school if I don't exceed the total amount awarded between both schools? The money would go farther at ECU, but some of the classes may not be offered when I need them at ECU.

4) What is the refund check that EC refers to? The online guide makes reference to a refund check if you don't use the allotment. Why would they mail me a check? Shouldn't the money stay at the school for future fees or go back to the govt? If I understand this correctly any excess is mailed to me in a check I guess I could use that at another school for tuition or to pay off a credit card if I charged the tuition at another school. Is this what they mean?

I'm sorry if these seem like stupid questions, but this is my first time dealing with financial aid. I want to make sure I understand this process so I don't mess something up. Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide. If you would rather PM than post here that is fine! Thanks!

I am speaking in general and not necessarily for EC. Someone attending EC and ECU may be able to tell you how it works.

Financial aid in general: You can apply for state and federal grants and student loans. This can be used at one school only. What you have left (meaning what you have not used) will be mailed back to you nearly half way through the semester. They have to make sure you are still "full time status" past the drop class cut off date before they will mail the check.

They do not keep it for future use because the "allotment" is per semester. Financial aid is for the year. So, while it does not state you cannot transfer schools at semesters in the middle of the year, you will get caught up in a bunch of paperwork that will take quite a bit of your time. In other words, it's hard to switch in the middle of the year. But, you can always switch for the beginning of the next year and transfer all your credits (or what the school will accept.)

You can take a class at another school that will transfer, but you have to pay for that class out of pocket. If you are lucky enough, the refund you get back will cover this.

It is highly suggested that you only take out loans "IF NEEDED". If you take out a student loan and don't use it, you can send it back in, you do not have to keep the money.

The grants are yours, if there's anythig left over.

Full time status = full grants
Three quarter time status - 3/4 grants
Half time status = half grants (one school to the next may differ)

At the second school, if they are aware you are attending another school, they may ask for a "coop" form, or you can just sign up as a visiting, nondegree seeking student.

Hope that helps!

[joel66]

1) no, the government does not pay for any CLEP/DSST/ECE exams, they only pay for classes.

2) no, you have to take at least 6 units of classes, not any exams.

3) only one school for semester.

4) not sure about that because with EC, you will not get enough to pay for all entire class. The courses are 900 each and if you sigh up for two classes, that is 1800. If you qualify for example to get 1500 for the semester and you sign up for 6 units, you will be considered part time and will get $750 (1,500 x .50) applied toward your tuition.

This is the reason why I decided not to do financial aid with Excelsior. I ended up going to my community college in California. Not only is my tuition waived, but I also received about 900 dollars of pell grant money for the 9 units I took. This could be applied toward books and other fees.