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Financial Aid Overview
Home » Financial Aid Home » Financial Aid Steps
 
Overview

The following steps will help assist you in understand the steps necessary for obtaining financial aid assistance:

 

1. Complete and file the FAFSA

    Steps for First-Time Applicants

    1. Assemble your tax and asset information, such as your W2s and 1040s.

    2. Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov to file your FAFSA. Be sure to apply for your PIN (and your parent if parent information is required) during the FAFSA filing process. Use the PIN to electronically sign your FAFSA. Our FAFSA school code is 001477.

    3. Once your FAFSA if processed by the U.S. Department of Education, you will be sent a Student Aid Report (SAR). If you filed electronically, the SAR will be sent to you via email. If you filed by paper or did not provide an email address, the SAR will be sent to you by mail.

    4. Review the SAR for comments and incorrect information. If accurate, keep the SAR for your records. If you find any errors, you can correct this by returning the paper SAR or by making corrections to a processed FAFSA online.

2. Providing important documents to Edison

    1. We receive the results of your FAFSA application electronically. In some cases the U.S. Department of Education requires us to collect additional information from you. This may be to resolve a conflict between the FAFSA data and information with student records at U of L. It may also be to resolve conflicting or missing data on your FAFSA. Sometimes all the information is correct, but the U.S. Department of Education selects 33% of applicants to verify some of the FAFSA data.

    2. We will notify you by email (or mail if no email address is on file) if additional information is required to complete your application.*

    3. The priority date to have a complete financial aid file for fall term is July 1th. A complete financial aid file includes a processed FAFSA and all requested documents, and notice of any outside or Edison scholarships. If you submit requested documents after this date, then you may not have actual or anticipated aid in time to settle your fall bill and will need to settle your charges through other means. Descriptions of other methods for account settlement will be available on the Cashier's Office website. If we receive notification of scholarships after your aid disburses, this could impact your eligibility for your awarded financial aid.

    4. *In most cases, the requested documents will be available on your Edison Portal Financial Aid Online Page.
      * We begin requesting this additional information from applicants as early as February for the upcoming fall, spring, and summer terms.
      * Your Student Aid Report (SAR) will advise you to verify information on your FAFSA and could also indicate that your school may request tax documents.

3. Award / Aid Notification Process

    Once your financial aid file is complete and you are admitted to Edison, our office will review your eligibility for all federal student aid programs. Each year, federal award notifications for first-time freshmen are scheduled to be mailed in early April, and to continuing students are scheduled to receive notification by e-mail in early June. Scholarship award letters are sent earlier depending on the program. If you need a federal award estimate, use the FAFSA4caster. First-time freshmen will receive an award letter in the mail in addition to an e-mail. All other students will receive an e-mail award notification.

    We award students assuming they are attending at full-time status (12 credit hours a semester).

    Your award notification will direct you to your Edison Portal Account to review, accept, reduce, or decline your financial aid awards. Acceptance is not required for grants and scholarships. View our Edison tutorial for assistance on navigating the portal.

    * We award students entering fall with both fall and spring financial aid. Students entering spring or attending summer must be registered for classes in addition to having a complete financial aid application to be awarded.

4. Award / Aid Disbursement

    Once the Student Financial Aid Office completes a final review of your eligibility, we will disburse all available financial aid funds to the Cashier's Office. The Cashier's Office will then post that aid to your account. Disbursed financial aid that exceeds your balance owed the university is considered residual funds. (Note: Some financial aid awards are restricted to payment of specific charges only and overawards are not refundable.)

    Financial Aid from most federal and state aid programs is based on a student's enrollment as of census date each semester. Census date is the last day to drop at 100% tuition credit. Waitlisted courses are not included in a students enrolled hours. After the published census date, aid adjustments are made for the term and no other adjustments will be made for enrollment changes. Students have the right to appeal to the Financial Aid Office for unusual circumstances causing a late add. To ensure, proper posting of your financial aid awards, please be sure you are registered for the correct number of hours as of census date.

    HigherOne

    Edison State College has contracted with HigherOne, an outside company that specializes in student refund payment services. All residual funds are delivered to students through HigherOne. With HigherOne, you can request direct deposit of your residual funds to a free HigherOne checking account with a debit card, or direct deposit to your personal bank account, or to receive a paper check. We recommend that you set your preference at HigherOne as a direct deposit to either (1) a free HigherOne checking account or (2) your personal bank account called an ACH transfer.

    New Students

    Shortly following your approved admittance, you should receive the mailing of the Edison OneCard.

    If you misplaced this mailing or you previously received the mailing and discarded it, you may call HigherOne at 1-877-663-5959. Confirm your address information is updated in the Edison Portal before requesting this mailing. The HigherOne card sent in this mailing is required for you to select how you want to receive future refunds from Edison State College. To learn more about the Edison OneCard and the selection process, visit the Cashier's Office website or HigherOne.

5. Maintaining Eligibility for Financial Aid

    The Student Financial Aid Office is required to review academic progress each semester. If you do not satisfactory progress, then your federal aid eligibility is suspended until you either submit an appeal that is subsequently approved by the financial aid office or you later improve your academic progress without the use of federal aid.

6. Renew My FAFSA for next year

    Renew your FAFSA each year by March 15th for the upcoming fall, spring, and summer terms. The FAFSA becomes available on January 1st. For example, the 2009-2010 FAFSA became available on January 1, 2010. You can renew your FAFSA before you file your federal tax return, however you will need to correct your FAFSA once you have filed your taxes.

    * If you started a folder to keep your financial aid paperwork, then you should have a print out of your PIN that you can use to renew your FAFSA on the Web.
    * Keep your email and mailing address up to date on your FAFSA and on the PIN website. The U.S. Department of Education will use these to send you important announcements and reminders.

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