Financial Aid

The Office of Financial Planning and Scholarships at Northwest Florida State College strives to remove financial barriers; to promote the success of a diverse student body; and to increase opportunities for access in higher education. We seek to contribute to a premier experience for students, faculty, and staff by providing timely communication and by delivering courteous and efficient financial services while complying with all federal, state, and college policies.

Financial assistance administered by NWFSC does not discriminate on the basis of color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, pregnancy, or marital status. Specific criteria and academic standing information may be required for particular assistance and/or scholarships.

Financial Aid Administered by Northwest Florida State College

Federal Aid: Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Work Study Program (FWS), Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG), and Student Loans

State Aid: Bright Futures, Florida Student Assistance Grant (FSAG), First Generation Match Grant, and Scholarships for Children and Spouses of Deceased or Disabled Veterans

Institutional Scholarships: Awarded by NWFSC, a list can be found on the college website at https://www.nwfsc.edu/students/financialaid/scholarships/

Deadlines

A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be completed for each academic year and one FAFSA serves throughout that entire academic year (Fall through Summer). The FAFSA becomes available each October for the following academic year (Fall term), and you should apply as early as possible because many financial aid programs have limited funding that will go only to early applicants.

Financial Aid Priority Deadline

To have your financial aid processed in time for your registration fees to be paid by financial aid, you must complete all steps in the application process by the Financial Aid Priority Deadline:

• July 1 for Fall Term
• November 1 for Spring Term
• April 1 for Summer Term

Late Applicants

If you miss the Financial Aid Priority Deadline for the term in which you wish to enroll, you still are strongly encouraged to apply for financial aid. Your application will be accepted and processed; however, it may not be processed in time for you to use your financial aid to pay for your fees and books. If this is the case, you will need to pay your tuition and purchase your books; then, if you qualify for financial aid, a refund will be issued to you later in the term. You can seek help with paying your tuition through the NelNet Tuition Payment Plan. Further information about this plan can be found on RaiderNet under the “Pay Fees” tab or by contacting the Business Office at (850) 729-5385.

Applications for federal financial aid should be made well in advance of registration by submitting the FAFSA.

Application Instructions

You must apply for financial aid each academic year.

1. Be a degree-seeking student at NWFSC or be a certificate-seeking student in an eligible program and take courses that are required for that degree or certificate. (Some certificates, due to required program length, are not eligible for Federal Financial Aid. Please see a Student Success Navigator if you have questions regarding your program)
2. Provide the Admissions/Records Office with an official final copy of your high school transcript or GED score report, or, if you are a college transfer student, provide an official copy of your transcript from each institution you have attended. Transfer course work must be evaluated before an award can be made.
3. Complete the FAFSA. NWFSC’s school code number is “001510.”
   • https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa (Allow at least two weeks for processing.)
4. Research. Check the Scholarship link on our website at https://www.nwfsc.edu/students/financialaid/scholarships/

General Eligibility

Federal Programs

For a student to be eligible for federal financial aid at NWFSC, a student must:

• Be accepted for enrollment in an approved program of study, have a high school diploma, a high school equivalency diploma, or be able to demonstrate ability to benefit (ATB) by receiving qualifying scores on an ATB test (see table below), and pass a minimum of 6 credit hours or 225 clock hours of applicable course work.
• Be a U.S. citizen, or an eligible non-citizen
• Not owe a refund or repayment on a federal grant at any institution
• Not be in default on a federally-funded or insured student loan
• Enrollment must be in courses required for your degree or certificate
• Not have been convicted for sale or possession of illegal drugs while receiving Title IV funds
• If a college transfer student, have an official transcript from each previously attended institution submitted to, and evaluated by, NWFSC
• Must maintain satisfactory academic progress standards

State of Florida Programs

For a student to be eligible for State of Florida financial aid (i.e. FSAG, FSAG-CE) at the college, a student must:

• Have demonstrated a financial need (complete the FAFSA application)
• Have met the advertised deadline
• Have been a resident of Florida for one year or be classified as a Florida resident by the Registrar’s Office
• Be degree-seeking in an approved program of study
• Have a 2.0 or higher grade point average (GPA) on all previous college work
• Have earned credit hours equivalent to his/her enrollment status during each term of the prior academic year in which state aid was received (12 credit hours or 360 clock hours for each term of full-time enrollment, 9 credit hours or 270 clock hours for each term of three-quarter-time enrollment and 6 credit hours or 180 clock hours for each term of half-time enrollment)
• A student who is not enrolled full-time will be offered a part-time award. Part-time awards will be prorated according to enrollment status. Funds will be provided until the limited funds are exhausted.

Verification

The federal government requires that some applications be reviewed for accuracy through a process called “verification.” If you are selected for this process, you will be required to provide additional documentation to our office for review. You will be notified through your student e-mail account, or by checking your RaiderNet account, which documents you will need to provide to complete your financial aid file. All documentation must be submitted to the Financial Aid Office within 30 days of notification. If you do not submit the requested information you may lose funds otherwise available to you.

Federal Eligibility Matches

The federal processor matches your name and social security number with a variety of federal agencies. Agency matches are performed against the files of the Social Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Selective Service and the National Student Loan Data System. If any discrepancies or questions about your information occur, you will be asked to provide additional documents or take additional action to confirm your eligibility for federal assistance.

Transfer Students

If you previously applied for federal financial aid at another institution and now want to apply for financial aid at NWFSC, you must update your current year FAFSA to include our federal school code (001510).

If you are a college transfer student seeking a degree or technical certificate, you must submit a complete official transcript from each college and university you have attended. Your financial aid eligibility cannot be determined until NWFSC has received and evaluated all of the transcripts for transfer credit.

Transient Students

If you are enrolled as a transient student, you are not eligible for financial aid through NWFSC.

Enrollment Status

The amount of federal financial aid a student is eligible to receive is dependent on the student’s enrollment status each term based on the following table. Credit hours are computed using all developmental and college credits in which the student is enrolled.

*To determine enrollment status other than full-time, as established by federal regulation, the number of clock hours the student is enrolled in is divided by the program length.

• Enrollment status (Full-time, Half-time, etc.) is based upon number of credit hours enrolled at the end of Drop/Add for Session 1 courses (census date). New student admission and FAFSA’s received after the enrollment status date will be updated at the time of completion.
• The amount of the award will not increase if students add a class after the advertised census date.
• To retain enrollment status, students must attend all of their classes. Attendance for distance learning courses is defined as attending an orientation; participating in the course, as defined by the instructor; submitting course assignments, as required, to the instructor; or initiating contact with the instructor.
• Failure to attend any enrolled course may lower the enrollment status and award amount once hours are reduced to account for non-attendance.

Courses Paid for by Financial Aid

Repeated Courses

Federal regulations limit the number of times a student may repeat a course and receive financial aid for that course.

• A student may receive aid when repeating a course that was previously failed (received a failing or unsatisfactory grade); regardless of the number of times the course was attempted and failed.
• A student may receive aid to repeat a previously passed course (grade of ‘D’ or higher) one additional time.
• Once a student has completed any course twice with a passing grade (grade of ‘D’ or higher), he/she is no longer eligible to receive aid for that course.
• This rule applies whether or not the student received aid for earlier enrollments in the course.
• Students will receive notification if they are aid applicants and attempt to repeat coursework beyond the limits.

Developmental Courses

NWFSC approves developmental courses for the use of financial aid and includes developmental courses where necessary when determining a student’s enrollment status. Admission placement testing requirements will determine if developmental courses are needed in a student’s degree program. Financial aid will pay for no more than 30 credit hours of developmental coursework.

Clock Hour Programs

Clock hour programs (Welding, Law Enforcement, and Fire Science/EMT) are not paid in semester hours like other programs offered at NWFSC.  Financial aid pays for the entire program, by payment periods and based upon the length of the program and completion of program hours. Program instructors are responsible for documenting the number of hours of participation, excused and unexcused hours of absence, and the student’s satisfactory academic progress during their weeks of attendance. Aid disbursements are based on this reported information. Prior to the second and all subsequent payments, the student’s hours completed and satisfactory academic progress will be verified.

Standards of Academic Progress (SAP)

Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements

To be eligible for financial aid, all students, including students transferring to NWFSC from another institution, must meet NWFSC’s standards of satisfactory academic progress for financial aid. Student academic progress is reviewed at the end of each term. A transferring student’s satisfactory progress will initially be determined from the student’s academic history at all previously attended institutions. Students who attended NWFSC in the past will be reviewed based on all previously attempted courses, regardless of how long ago they attended NWFSC, in accordance with federal guidelines.

Failure to meet one or more of the established standards of satisfactory progress will make a student ineligible for financial aid. Students who become ineligible for financial aid due to the failure to meet the SAP for financial aid will remain ineligible for financial aid until they meet the standards or are placed on an Academic Plan as a condition of their approved appeal. Satisfactory progress includes all previous academic history, even if the student did not receive financial aid.

Below are the standards of satisfactory progress for financial aid. These standards apply to all students.

SAP for Financial Aid Eligibility Federal regulations (34 CFR 668.34) require a student to move toward the completion of a degree or certificate within an eligible program when receiving financial aid. Specific requirements for academic progress for financial aid recipients may be applied differently than college Academic Standards, Warning, Probation, and Suspension. Federal regulations state that SAP must include a review of all periods of enrollment, regardless of whether or not aid was received. The student must meet all the minimum standards in order to receive financial aid.

There are three parts to the SAP rules:

1. You must maintain a 2.0 cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA). This is includes all course work you have taken at NWFSC or any college or university (this includes college level classes taken during high school), regardless of whether or not you received financial aid for those classes.

2. You must successfully complete at least 67% of all of the classes in which you have enrolled. This includes all the course work you have taken at NWFSC or any college or university (this includes dual enrollment classes), regardless of whether or not you received financial aid for those classes.

3. You must not attempt more than 150% of credits needed for the level of degree in which you are seeking. All coursework attempted is included in these totals.

Financial Aid Warning Status

The first semester a student fails to meet the satisfactory progress standards for financial aid, he/she will be placed on Warning Status. While the student will continue to receive financial aid during this period, it is the student’s responsibility to restore his/her academic standing for financial aid by the end of the warning status term.

Students who exceed the 150% Rule are not eligible for a Financial Aid Warning Status.

Failure to restore academic standing by the end of the Warning Status term will result in the student being ineligible for financial aid. Students can appeal their failure to meet standards of Academic Progress.

Appealing Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements

Before submitting an appeal for financial aid, students must meet with a Student Success Navigator and obtain an approved program of study. The program of study may be the basis for the student’s academic plan. Students should file a financial aid appeal as soon as they receive notification of their failure to meet the standards of academic progress, or no later than 30 days after the semester ends. Appeal forms and procedures are available on the Financial Aid web page at https://www.nwfsc.edu/students/financialaid/forms/

Transfer students must meet the established satisfactory progress requirements or submit a financial aid appeal. Students can appeal their failure to meet the standards of academic progress for financial aid if unusual circumstances exist. Unusual and mitigating circumstances include, but are not limited to, a death in the student’s family, medical condition, hospitalization, documented emotional distress, or other situations beyond the student’s control.

All situations must be fully documented.

Program Objective Enrollment Compliance (POEC)

A Program Objective Enrollment Compliance (POEC) review is required for every student seeking federal student aid. In accordance with federal law, federal student aid funds can only be applied to classes that are recognized as being truly necessary for completion of a student’s declared degree. To that end, we must verify (on a term-by-term basis) whether all classes for which a student is enrolled are required or not. Those classes that are confirmed to be required, i.e. POEC compliant, will be counted in enrollment status for federal student aid (as long as all other relevant eligibility criteria has been met). Classes that are identified as not required for degree completion will be flagged as such, and these non-compliant courses will be excluded from enrollment status. 

To be clear, any coursework that is not required will not be included when calculating enrollment status for Title IV funds (Pell Grant, Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, etc.). Students who qualify for aid that exceeds the actual cost of their compliant coursework may be able to apply that difference to non-compliant classes. If excess aid does not exist, the student who wishes to keep such classes on their schedule will need to pay for those classes out of pocket.

Repayment of Unearned Federal Financial Aid (Return of Title IV)

If you receive Title IV federal financial aid (Pell, Federal Loans, SEOG) and completely withdraw from all of your classes within the first 60% of the term, stop attending all classes without notification or have a break in attendance during the semester, a pro-rated portion of your financial aid may need to be repaid. In this case, you will be billed for aid that must be repaid, and holds will be placed on your record until the bill is settled.

This policy is derived from provisions of federal law. Students receiving Title IV aid should consult with the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from any or all classes.

Rights and Responsibilities

As a student financial aid consumer,

You have the right to:

• Be informed about financial aid application procedures, cost of attendance, aid available and renewal requirements.
• Have confidential protection of your financial aid records. The contents of your financial aid file are maintained in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
• Request a review of decisions made by the NWFSC financial aid staff. A letter explaining your situation in detail should be submitted to the Executive Director of Financial Planning and Scholarships.

You have the responsibility to:

• Complete applications correctly and on time.
• Read and understand all materials sent to you from Financial Aid and other financial aid agencies by e-mail and/or letter; keep copies of all forms and materials submitted.
• Know and comply with the rules governing your aid program(s).
• Comply with the provisions of any promissory note and all other agreements you sign.
• Register for the appropriate number of credits and maintain satisfactory academic progress.
• Request personal assistance if you have questions or do not understand the information provided to you.
• Register for courses that count toward your degree or certificate.