Financial Aid

Award Year
At Moraine Valley Community College, academic programs are calculated in credits and measured by semesters. The academic year for full-time students is defined as follows:

Fall and Spring
Graduate – 30 weeks
For financial aid purposes, the definition of an award year is important because it affects how payment periods are calculated. Moraine Valley makes financial aid awards based on the college’s semester. A student’s financial aid is calculated by semester rather than by weeks or classes attended.

Accrual Date
The day from which interest charged on an educational loan begins to accrue.

Award Letter
The official document issued by the Financial Aid Office that lists all of the aid awarded to the student.

Capitalization
The process by which unpaid interest is added to the principal balance of a loan, thereby increasing the total amount to be repaid.

Census Date
The census date, also known as the Pell Recalculation Date (PRD), is the last day for students to add or drop courses before ”locking in” their enrollment status for Pell Grant awarding purposes. Moraine Valley Community College uses the award period census date for all students who attend classes at the start of the semester. For students who begin attending classes after the term has started or have unknowingly been dropped from their classes and are attending anyway (not officially enrolled), the census date will be the date the Pell Grant is first calculated and disbursed.

Citizen/ Eligible Noncitizen
To receive Federal financial aid, you must be:

• a U.S. citizen
• a U.S. national (includes natives of American Samoa or Swain’s Island)
• a U.S. permanent resident with an I-151, I-1551, or I-551C (Alien Registration Receipt Card)

If you are not included in the above categories, you must have an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service showing one of the following designations:

• Refugee
• Asylum Granted
• Indefinite Parole and/or Humanitarian Parole
• Cuban-Haitian Entrant, Status Pending
• Conditional Entrant (valid only if issued before April 1, 1980)
• Other eligible noncitizen with a Temporary Resident Card (I-688)

You also may be eligible through the Family United Status category, with approved I-797s, or if you have a suspension of deportation case pending before Congress. Permanent residents of the Marshall Islands and Micronesia are eligible for Pell Grants, SEOG or Work Study only.

You are NOT eligible for financial aid if you only have a Notice of Approval to Apply for Permanent Residence (I-171 or I-464A) or if you are in the United States on an F1, F2, J1, J2, or G series visa.

Consolidation
The loan created when a borrower combines various educational loans. By extending the repayment period and allowing a single monthly payment, consolidation can make loan repayment easier for some borrowers.

Cost of Attendance (COA)
The Cost of Attendance (COA) is the estimated total cost of attending college for one year. It includes tuition and fees, room, board, books and supplies, personal expenses, and travel expenses.

Default
Failure to repay a student loan according to the terms agreed to when you signed a promissory note. If you default, your school, the organization that holds your loan, the state, and the federal government all can take action to recover the money, including notifying national credit bureaus of your default. Your wages and/or tax returns may be garnished, and you will no longer be eligible to receive federal or state financial aid.

Deferment
An authorized period of time during which a borrower may postpone principal and interest payment. Deferments are available while borrowers are in school at least half time, enrolled in a graduate fellowship program or rehabilitation training program, and during periods of unemployment or economic hardship. Other deferments may be available depending on when and what you borrowed. Contact your lender for additional details.

Entrance/Exit Interviews
Counseling sessions borrowers are required to attend before receiving their first loan disbursement and before leaving school.

Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
An amount, determined by a formula established by Congress, that indicates how much of your financial resources should be available to help pay for school. The EFC is used in determining your eligibility for financial aid. A dependent student’s family includes parents and stepparents. An independent student’s family includes the student and the student’s spouse.

FAFSA
The federal aid application. This must be completed by all students who want to be considered for financial aid at Moraine Valley. This application is free. You should never pay a third party to complete this application on your behalf.

Financial Aid Expeditor
A representative of the Financial Aid Office who reviews a student’s application awards aid and helps the student in all aspects of the financial aid process.

Financial Aid Package
The total financial aid a student receives. The package may include federal and nonfederal aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships. These are combined in a “package” to help meet the student’s need.

Financial Need
The difference between the Cost of Attendance and the Estimated Family Contribution. This amount is your total eligibility for aid from all sources and is used to determine what your aid package will be.

Forbearance
An authorized period of time during which the lender agrees to temporarily postpone a borrower’s principal repayment obligation. Interest continues to accrue and usually must be paid during the forbearance period. Forbearance may be granted at the lender’s discretion when a borrower is willing to repay their loan but is unable to do so.

Grace Period
The period of time between a borrower leaving school or dropping below half-time and when they are obligated to begin repaying their loans—usually six or nine months depending on the type of loan.

Grant
A type of financial aid award based on need or merit that is not repaid by the student.

Guaranty Agency
The organization that administers the Federal Stafford Loan and Federal PLUS Loan programs in your state. The federal government sets loan limits and interest rates, but each state can set its own additional guidelines, within federal regulations.

Guaranty Fee
An insurance premium deducted from the borrower’s loan proceeds prior to disbursement and paid to the guaranty agency that ensures the loan. By law, the fee cannot exceed 1 percent of the loan amount.

Interest
A fee charged for the use of borrowed money. Interest is calculated as a percentage of the principal loan amount. The rate may be constant throughout the life of the loan (fixed rate) or it may change at specified times (variable rate). As of July 1, 2006, all federal education loans made to new borrowers have fixed interest rates.

Lender
A financial institution (bank, savings, and loan or credit union) that provides the funds for students and parents to borrow educational loans.

Needs Analysis
A process of reviewing a student’s aid application to determine the amount of financial aid a student is eligible to receive. Completing a needs analysis form (FAFSA) is the required first step in applying for most types of financial aid.

New Borrower
A borrower who has no outstanding (unpaid) loan balances on the date (s)he signs the promissory note for a specific educational loan. New borrowers may be subject to different regulations than borrowers who have existing loan balances.

Origination Fee
A fee charged by the federal government and deducted from loan proceeds before disbursement to partially offset administrative costs of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).

Pell Grant
A federal grant program for first-time undergraduates with financial need.

Principal
The amount borrowed. Interest is charged on this amount, and guaranty and origination fees will be deducted prior to disbursement.

Promissory Note
The legal document borrowers sign when they get an education loan. It lists conditions under which the money is borrowed and the terms under which borrowers agree to repay the loan with interest. Borrowers should keep the borrower copy of their promissory notes until the loans are fully repaid.

Repayment Schedule
Discloses the borrower’s monthly payment, interest rate, total repayment obligation, due dates, and length of time for repaying the loan.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
The policy of measuring quantitative, qualitative and maximum academic progress for financial aid eligibility. If a student fails to meet the minimum standards required by this policy, the financial aid award to that student is canceled.

SEOG (Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant)
A federal grant program for students in need who are pursuing their first undergraduate degree.

Student Aid Report (SAR)
A form sent to the student after submitting the FAFSA to the federal processor. The SAR shows the information that was processed and allows the student to make corrections to his or her information. Since Moraine Valley also can make electronic corrections, the student should consult with his or her financial aid advisor before mailing any corrections on the Student Aid Report.

Subsidized Loan
A need-based loan on which the interest is paid by the federal government during the in-school, grace and deferment periods.

Unmet Need
The amount of financial aid eligibility that is not met with financial aid awards.

Unsubsidized Loan
A non-need-based loan on which interest is not paid by the federal government. Borrowers are responsible for the interest on all unsubsidized loans from the date the loan is disbursed. Borrowers can elect to pay the interest periodically or ask the lender to add the interest to the principal of the loan for repayment at a later date.

Verification
A process of review to determine the accuracy of the information on a student’s financial aid application. Students are selected by the processing agency after the FAFSA is filed. Approximately 30 percent of applicants are selected. The Financial Aid Office will notify you if additional verification documents are needed.

Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4)
When a student officially or unofficially withdraws from all of his/her classes, the Financial Aid Office must recalculate aid and return any funds not earned to its source.

Grants are a form of aid that does not have to be repaid. They are available to students who demonstrate the greatest need. There are a variety of grants available from the federal government and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.

Student Loans can be useful, but students should be aware of the responsibility of borrowing money to finance their education.

The Federal Work-Study program provides on-campus and nonprofit off-campus employment for students. Students who receive Federal Work Study funds must demonstrate need, be paid federal minimum wage and perform work-study employment from 5-20 hours per week. The number of hours worked is based on the amount of work-study dollars awarded and financial need. If you are interested in the work-study program, contact the Financial Aid Office in Building S, Room S107.

For positions not based on need, visit the Job Resource Center in Building S, Room S202.

Moraine Valley offers scholarships to reward academic success, encourage leadership and to give financial help.

Veterans' Educational benefits eligibility is determined by the date of enlistment. The final decision on eligibility is made by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).

Benefits may only be used for educational objectives defined as the completion of a VA-approved credit degree or certificate program. For more information contact the Veterans Resource Center in Building G, Room G240

• To be eligible for Federal financial aid, a student must be:

  • a citizen of the United States or an eligible non-citizen. (Proof of citizenship may be required.)
  • a resident of Illinois for at least 12 months prior to award year to qualify for Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) programs. Proof of residency may be required.
  • able to demonstrate need by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
  • enrolled at Moraine Valley Community College in an eligible program. Eligible programs are those which lead to a degree or certificate which is at least 15 weeks in length and 16 semester hours. (An example of an ineligible program is Phlebotomy, which is only nine credit hours in length). Students enrolled in only developmental classes are ineligible for financial aid.
  • in compliance with Moraine Valley Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for recipients of financial aid.
  • able to demonstrate the ability to benefit from college-level classes (high school graduation or high school equivalency certificate). High school students are ineligible.

  In addition, students must have a valid social security number.

The Department of Education (ED) will not pay for courses that do not count toward completing your degree or certificate. Those courses also cannot be used to determine your enrollment status unless they are eligible for remedial courses. Therefore, Moraine Valley can only award Title IV aid for the credits needed to fulfill your program of study requirements.

Any courses you register for that are not needed for your program of study will be excluded from your award calculation, and your financial aid will be prorated and/or canceled as required by the ED. Also, if you already have completed an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree, you may not be eligible for financial aid unless you are completing an Associate in Applied Science or eligible Certificate program.

After applying to the college, you can access the Student Planning tool in MVConnect, the student portal, to see which courses are required for your program of study. If you believe the program of study listed in Student Planning is not correct, meet with an academic advisor to review. All students should meet with an academic advisor each semester to ensure they are on track.

Regardless of your method of payment, taking courses that don’t apply to your certificate/degree can cause delayed graduation and a higher educational cost. Your grants and loans have usage limitations that also could be at risk if you are not careful.

To help you understand the importance of selecting courses for your program, review this Q&A document.

Financial aid payments will be disbursed based on the number of credits you are enrolled in on the pell recalculation date. After this date, adjustments will not be made if you add/drop courses. Students should register for all courses for the semester prior to the pell recalculation date. Any course(s) added after the pell recalculation date will not be funded by financial aid.

Your financial aid award will be recalculated for any courses recorded as "Dropped" (D), "Withdrawn" (W) (before the pell recalculation date) or reported as "never attended" by your instructor.
You may be required to repay the financial aid you received if you drop a course, you never attend a course and/or if you discontinue attending a course.

Students are advised to confirm their attendance in each of their courses prior to the financial aid pell recalculation date.

Financial Aid Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4).

ISAC

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) provides free FAFSA assistance on both walk-in or scheduled basis at both our Palos Hills and Education Center at Blue Island campuses. Reserve your spot today.

To learn more about the one-on-one assistance our financial aid office offers contact (708) 974-5726.

If you are filling out the FAFSA, you will need your tax information.

The following documents are needed to complete the application online:

• Social Security Card and Driver’s License/State ID Card.
• Alien Registration Card (if you are not a U.S. Citizen).
• Federal income tax return and/or W2 forms (include parent’s tax information if dependent).
• Parent’s Social Security Number, Date of Birth and Date of Marital Status (if dependent).

i3 Group

The Financial Aid Office has partnered with the i3 Group to help current and former Moraine Valley students manage their student loan repayment options. The free service also allows students to register with intuition, which provides fast and easy online access to view all Federal Direct loans and review repayment scenarios, develop a personal budget and track loan servicers. Create an account at i-3group.com and click “For Students” or call an i3 counselor at (866) 296-7955.