Page 72 - Southwestern Community College Handbook 2019-2020

F I N F A I N N A C NI A C L I A A L I D A I D
EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION (EFC)
The EFC is a number derived by using the federal formula, taking into account all of the information you have supplied on your FAFSA. It reflects the contribution your family
is expected to make towards your college education. Your family may be your parent(s) or spouse and you, or just you, depending on whose information was required on your FAFSA. Both the federal Pell Grant and NC State grants are awarded based on the student’s EFC and payment schedules provided to SCC.
COMPLETING YOUR SCC FINANCIAL AID FILE
After SCC has received and processed your FAFSA data, you will receive an email to your SCC student email and your FAFSA email from the SCC Financial Aid Office, letting you know what steps you need to take in order to complete your financial aid file with us. Confidential FAFSA information is only shared with students through their SCC email and the Self-Service Financial Aid screens available on the mySCC portal. Your Self-Service screens will show you if any documents are due to the SCC Financial Aid Office, or if you have an issues on your FAFSA that need to be resolved. If you have questions for us and wish to email, always use your SCC student email.
The federal government selects certain financial aid applicants to go through a process called verification. This means that we may be asking you to submit specific documentation to confirm that the information on your FAFSA is correct. If you are selected for verification, it can take a few weeks for this process to be completed. If you are selected, you must complete the verification process before you can be awarded financial aid. We may ask you to log back into your FAFSA account and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import official tax return data into your FAFSA.
FINANCIAL AID AWARD NOTICES
Your award notice will be sent to your SCC student email and will direct you to the Self- Service screens on your mySCC account. From there you must read your Award Letter and view your award amounts under My Awards. Awarding for the fall semester usually begins in early spring. After awarding season begins, students continue to be awarded throughout the year as soon as their file is completed.
HOW TO USE YOUR FINANCIAL AID TO PAY FOR SCHOOL
You will receive a bill or billing notice, even if you have been awarded financial aid.
This is so that you know the amount of your tuition charges before aid is applied. Your financial aid will then automatically be applied to your account balance, unless you make payment from another source or notify the Financial Aid Office not to disburse your funds. If you have an award showing on your account in Self-Service that exceeds your tuition charges, you may charge books and school supplies in the SCC Bookstore at the beginning of each semester, and those costs will be deducted from your financial aid before any financial aid refunds are issued. This service is provided as a convenience to students, and students are not required to purchase books this way. Financial aid students wishing to purchase books from another vendor will need to pay for those purchases on their own, and then those costs will not be deducted from their financial aid. You will receive a refund check if the amount of financial aid paid to you for the semester exceeds your tuition and book charges. If your financial aid does not fully cover your charges, you will be responsible for paying the remaining balance by the payment deadline. Your attendance in all of your classes must be verified before your financial aid refund check will be issued. Checks will be mailed by the SCC Business Office approximately six weeks after the start of full session classes, and three weeks after the start of second session classes. You will want to make sure that your correct mailing information is verified in Self-Service User Profile at the beginning of the semester.
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