Policies & Other Information

Once all of the above steps have been completed, the Department of Education (DOE) will send CCCC notification of a loan to certify for that student. The Financial Aid Office will process the loan. The Department of Education will send the first disbursement of the Direct Stafford loan to the college via EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) according to the disbursement dates requested by the school. The DOE will notify the student of the loan details by mailing them a Disclosure Statement. Funds will be credited to the students’ accounts and will pay unpaid charges in the following order: tuition, fees, books, dorm and any other remaining charges. Any excess loan funds due to the student after the account is paid in full will be disbursed to the student's Cowley College Discover Prepaid Debit Card. (Student's should maintain a current mailing address through Campus Connect.)

All student loans are processed in two disbursements. If the student is borrowing for only one semester, the loan will be disbursed in two checks within that one semester, with the second disbursement being at midterm. If the student is borrowing for the academic year (two semesters) the loan will be disbursed in one check each semester. Each disbursement will have an origination fee and a guarantee fee deducted by the DOE.

A disbursement schedule will be provided in your Award Letter packet. The dates listed on the disbursement schedule are the dates the refunds will be placed on the Cowley Discover Prepaid Debit Cards. (The disbursement dates listed on the disclosure statement are the dates funds are made available to the school for processing) No refund will be released prior to the disbursement schedule dates. Loans processed after the initial disbursement schedule date will be disbursed every Friday thereafter.

All student loan borrowers are subject to the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy established by Cowley. A copy is included with your Award Letter. Student’s who drop below 6 credit hours before a loan is disbursed, will not receive that disbursement. The loan will be returned to the lender and cancelled.

Cowley policy on loan limits per academic year (two semesters): Freshman (1-30 completed hours) $3500 year. Sophomore (31-or more completed hours) $4500 year. If a student applies for a loan for a single semester, the maximum allowed will be ½ of the yearly limit.

If a student wishes to borrow less on a Stafford Loan than the amount offered on the Award Letter, simply write in the amount desired.

Additional Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loan funds are available to “Dependent” and “Independent” students. To request Additional Unsubsidized Direct Stafford funds, complete the request form (step #5)and submit it to the Financial Aid Office. This can be done at the same time you return your original Award Letter. Maximum limit on Additional Unsubsidized Funds is $2000 per academic year for dependent students and $6000 per academic year for independent students. Eligibility for additional unsubsidized Stafford funds is determined on the students cost of attendance minus all other aid. Some students may not qualify for the full amount requested.

To initiate a Consortium Agreement, the student must provide a copy of their enrollment at the “host” institution to the Financial Aid Office at the “home” institution. The “home” institution is the college that will be disbursing aid to the student. The “home” institution will send the Consortium Agreement to the Financial Aid Office of the “host” for verification of enrollment and costs. The tuition and fee portion of the student budget will be adjusted to reflect the respective tuition rate for courses taken at each institution. The student's aid eligibility will be determined based on the total number of hours enrolled and costs of the two colleges.

The student will be responsible for payment at the “host” institution according to their payment policy and deadlines. Cowley will not send payments to the other college. All aid will be disbursed to the student according to Cowley’s disbursement schedules.

Satisfactory Progress will be monitored and administered according to the progress policy of Cowley College for the semester indicated in the agreement.

The student will be responsible for providing a completed grade transcript from the “host” college to Cowley upon completion of the semester included in the agreement. Failure to provide transcripts of completed courses will result in the student's records being placed on hold at Cowley. No further aid will be processed at Cowley until all transcripts of grades are received.

Students receiving Stafford Loans only must be enrolled in at least six hours at Cowley to initiate a Consortium Agreement.

Consortium Agreements must be renewed each semester. It is the student's responsibility to initiate the process by informing the Financial Aid Office of their enrollment.

If a student receiving federal Title IV aid, which includes grants and loans, withdraws or ceases attending all courses within the first 60% of the semester for which the aid was awarded and disbursed, the college must determine how much of the aid awarded for the semester was actually earned based on the number of days in the semester the student actually attended or the date the student officially withdrew. The college will return to the appropriate program, all funds that were unearned for the semester based on the calculation. The student will be responsible for all unpaid charges on their student account due to proration and the return of federal funds. The student will be notified in writing of the unpaid charges and will have 45 days from the notification date to repay the college.

In determining the amount of funds to be returned, Cowley County Community College uses software provided by the Department of Education to calculate the amount of unearned aid to be returned by the college and/or by the student. This is a Pro Rata Calculation. In the event the funds have not been disbursed at the time the student withdraws, the college will calculate the amount that the student should have received at the time of withdrawal and disburse aid accordingly to the student.

In documenting an official withdrawal, the college will use the date posted in the registration system. For unofficial withdrawals, the college will use the date reported by the instructor of each individual course, as the last date of attendance.

Federal funds to be returned will be returned to the appropriate programs from which the student received aid in the order mandated by the Department of Education: 1.Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans 2.Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans 3.Federal PLUS Loans 4.Federal Pell Grants 5.Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants.

The Financial Aid Office monitors attendance throughout each semester. Satisfactory progress is checked with final grades at the end of each semester. Students determined to have officially or unofficially withdrawn within the first 60% of the semester will be required to repay federal aid that has been awarded. The amount to be repaid will be calculated within 30 days of the determination that a student has withdrawn. Students should access the policy on how to request an “Official Withdrawal (255.00)”.