The marketing opt-out form allows a student to opt-out of the marketing for a specific financial aid award year. Opting out of the marketing campaign means that the student will not receive future financial aid marketing reminders regarding (via e-mail, postal mail, and phone) the deadlines, FAFSA completion, or loan certification information. Opting out does not mean that the student will no longer receive e-mails from financial aid. E-mails will continue to come as a result of processing responses and award changes. Opting out of marketing must be requested each individual year.

Marketing is done by the Financial Aid Office to help students meet deadlines and encourage students completing financial aid in a timely manner. Opting out of the marketing will keep the Financial Aid Office from sending student reminders. By opting out of the marketing a student takes on full responsibility of knowing financial aid deadlines and requirements.

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PDF forms marked with the icon  may be submitted electronically at this time. If a form cannot be submitted electronically, please:

Print the documents and fill them out. Then you can mail, or fax them to Financial Aid. Our address is 1001 Rogers Street, Columbia, Missouri 65216 and our fax number is 573-875-7452. You can also bring them in or scan and email them to FinancialAid@ccis.edu.

Graduation rate is the percentage of a school's first-time, first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, for a four-year degree program, entering students who complete within six years are counted as graduates.

Retention rate is the percentage of a school's first-time, first-year undergraduate students who continue at that school the next year. For example, a student who studies full-time in the fall semester and keeps on studying in the program in the next fall semester is counted in this rate.

Transfer rate is the percentage of a school's first-time, first-year undergraduate students who transfer to another college within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, a student who is in a four-year degree program is counted as a transfer if the student goes to another college within six years.

The Department of Education's Glossary is a helpful resource to learn and understand federal aid terminology.

Effective July 1, 2010 the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) implemented a change that affects military students. Specifically, the HEOA, section 471 HEA Section 472(3) states:

The HEOA specifies that, for students living in housing located on a military base or housing for which they receive a basic allowance under Title 37 of the U.S.C - Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services, the room and board allowance shall include an allowance based on the expenses reasonably incurred for board only.

Because the housing allowance is not required to be reported on the FAFSA, the housing allowance must be excluded as part of the cost of attendance. (The cost of attendance is an estimate of a student's educational expenses for the period of enrollment). All monies awarded (to include loans, grants, scholarships and military tuition assistance) cannot exceed the estimated cost of attendance for a session. Effectively, the removal of your BAH lowers a student's cost of attendance figure.

Students cannot exceed the amounts listed below for an academic year (August through July of the following year). Students who are in a two-year program of study cannot exceed a sophomore level loan even if they have completed more than 52 credit hours.

Students cannot exceed the Stafford loan aggregate loan limits during their undergraduate or graduate careers. Your file is reviewed each year to determine if you have met aggregate limits for federal Stafford loans. This includes Stafford loans at Columbia College and Stafford loans that were processed at other colleges and universities. This limit does not apply to private, credit-based loans.

Stafford Loan undergraduate and graduate student limits are as follows:

• Dependent undergraduates: $31,000 total, of which $23,000 can be subsidized
• Independent undergraduates or dependents with a parent PLUS loan denial: $57,500 total, of which $23,000 can be subsidized
• Graduate students: $138,500 total, of which $65,500 can be subsidized

A student can accept, reduce and accept, decline their eAward letter. The options to accept, reduce and accept, or decline are available beside each award type (i.e. subsidized loan, unsubsidized loan, federal work study, Pell grant etc). A student must then submit their award letter by clicking submit at the bottom of the eAward. A student must accept federal Direct Stafford loans and submit their eAward letter for the loan to be originated. A loan cannot be figured into a payment plan until it has been originated. The eAward letter can be accessed through a student's CougarTrack. Learn more about auto-packaging.

The aid is scheduled to begin being applied to student accounts in the second week of classes, shortly after the add-drop date for the session. The aid will pay any balance that is due to the school and any remaining funds will be available by the third Wednesday of each session. For more information, please see the Important Dates & Information page. If your financial aid is not disbursed in the third week, refunds will be available on a weekly basis thereafter.

Your refund check will either be mailed to your address on file or sent by direct deposit to an account designated by you. You can set up direct deposit by logging in to your ePayment account (create a payment profile under the "Refunds" tab). If you would like your refund to be mailed to you, be sure to confirm that your address is correct on your CougarTrack account and notify us of any future address changes.

The Loan Request Form is available for individual circumstances that cannot be handled through the eAward. Packaging of aid eligibility is done automatically for up to 4 sessions. Examples of when the Loan Request Form may be needed.

• Student plans on attending all five sessions August-July.
• A student increased grade level after aid was packaged.
• A student reduced loans on award letter but now needs to borrow more funds.
• A student's loans for future sessions were denied or reduced due to non-enrollment, non-attendance, or withdrawal and the student wants to request funds for those future sessions.

Loan funds may be sent by electronic fund transfer (eft) or via postal mail to Columbia College on or after the loan disbursement date. Checks sent by the private lender to Columbia College will be made out to Columbia College and the borrower. Checks will have to be endorsed before funds can be credited to the student's account. Once the check is received, the student will be contacted (via phone or mail depending on campus location) to endorse the check. The check will then be sent to the Accounting Office to have funds credited to the student's account. Loan funds sent from the private lender by electronic fund transfer will be refunded on or after the loan disbursement date. Private loan funds that are sent by electronic funds transfer are credited to the student's account within 3 business days of receiving the funds (unless the student has been notified of a problem). Funds received electronically do not have to be endorsed to disburse to a student's account.

Students should submit:

• Completed "Consortium Permission Request: student information" page; this must be submitted 3 weeks prior to the start of the class at the host school.
• Student must be enrolled in degree-seeking program at Columbia College.
• Student must be making satisfactory academic progress based on financial aid standards as well as academic standards at Columbia College.
• Student must have submitted FAFSA and other required documents for aid to be packaged.The host school needs me to make payment to register for classes.

Most denials occur because the student is not meeting general eligibility requirements or the student has not complied with terms of the Consortium Permission Request. A student will be notified of the reason when notified of the denial. Reasons for denial are listed below; the list is not all inclusive.

• Submitted "Consortium Permission Request" is incomplete.
• Consortium Permission Request is submitted after deadline.
• Student isn't enrolled in enough hours to receive financial aid.
• Student is already receiving all possible aid due to enrollment at Columbia College.
• Student has not enrolled at Columbia College within past 6 months. Student must be enrolled at Columbia College during academic year to be eligible for consortium approval.
• Coursework at host school does not apply toward degree at Columbia College.
• Coursework at host school applies only toward an elective at Columbia College.
• Course is a correspondence course.
• Course at host institution does not have a scheduled ending and can be done a student's own pace.
• Course at host institution is longer than 16 weeks in duration.

To be eligible for initial or renewed assistance a student must:

• Have a FAFSA on file by April 1 for the upcoming academic year (i.e. April 1, 2009 for the 09-10 school year), with an EFC of $12,000 or less, and
• Have any FAFSA corrections made by July 31 for the upcoming academic year (i.e. July 31, 2009 for the 09-10 school year); School choices may be added until September 30 of the academic year (i.e. September 30, 2009 for the 09-10 school year),
• Be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident and a Missouri resident,
• Student must complete 12 hours for the fall time-frame (August through December) and 12 hours for the spring time-frame (January through May). Eligibility can be lost with a withdrawal or incomplete grade.
• Maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 and otherwise maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined by the school.
• Student must be working on their first undergraduate degree and not be pursuing a degree in theology or divinity.

For more information, please visit http://dhe.mo.gov/ppc/grants/accessmo.php

Students cannot use this grant to register because they are not guaranteed funds -- the grant is contingent upon the student being full-time. The ACCESS Grant is packaged in an "estimated" status and is only moved to "awarded" status after add/drop has ended. We must wait for add/drop to end so we can confirm student is full-time and eligible for the state funds.

• Day students are reviewed after the add/drop ends for the fall and spring semesters. If it is determined that a student is eligible for the grant we request the funds from the state. Once the funds are received they are applied to the student account. We typically receive the funds during the third or fourth week of classes.
• Eight week students are reviewed after add/drop for the October term for fall and the March term for spring. If it is determined that a student is eligible for the grant, we request the funds from the state and once the funds are received they are applied to the student account. We typically receive the funds during the third or fourth week of the October term and the March term.

Columbia College currently participates in several Florida state-funded programs. Florida residents are encouraged to research eligibility requirements and apply to any scholarship programs in which they are eligible and Columbia College is listed as a participating institution. Detailed information regarding eligibility requirements, listings of eligible schools, applications and terms and conditions of Florida state-funded aid can be found at: http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/ssfad/home/uamain.htm.

The Florida Legislative Session 2009 has adjusted the requirements and eligibility amounts according to Senate Bill 2600 and 1696:

• Senate Bill 2600 - General Appropriations Act (GAA)
  • Specifies Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program award amounts per credit hour in the 2009-10 academic year.
• Senate Bill 1696 - Conforming Bill
  • Removes Bright Futures college-related expense awards for Florida Academic Scholars.
  • Requires institutions to refund the state for any Bright Futures award amount received for courses which were dropped or withdrawn after the drop and add period.
  • Amends Bright Futures Renewal Requirements:
    • Requires students to submit a refund to their institution for any award amount received for course(s) which were dropped or withdrawn after the drop and add period.
    • Allows students who lose their award due to not earning the required hours to restore the award in a subsequent academic year (available to students not meeting the hours requirement in the 2009-10 academic year and thereafter).
    • Revises credit hour requirements for full-time students to earn 24 semester hours (or the equivalent) per academic year (and prorated for part-time enrollment).
    • Prohibits the renewal of Florida Gold Seal Vocational awards to Florida Medallion awards.

Additional information regarding the Florida Legislative Session 2009 Update can be found at here

The Access to Better Learning and Education (ABLE) Grant Program provides tuition assistance to Florida undergraduate students enrolled in a degree program. Please refer to the Florida state website for a complete description, eligibility, and renewal requirements for the grant.

• How do I apply for the Florida ABLE Grant?

  Students must complete the FAFSA each academic year. The FAFSA is used to check residency, citizenship, as well as possible defaults. The ABLE Grant is not need based. To get funds for the fall semester (August and October) you must complete the FAFSA before the end of December of the current academic year.

• When will I Know if I am eligible to receive the ABLE Grant?

  If you are eligible for the ABLE Grant, you should expect to receive an updated eAward by the third week of the session during the October and March sessions. We review all Florida students who are pursuing their first bachelors degree at a Florida Campus or through the Online Campus shortly after the add/drop date for the October and again in the March session. One of the requirements to receive the ABLE Grant is a student must be full-time. That means you must enroll in12 credit hours in the 16-week time-frame between August-December and January-May (6 + 6; 3 + 9 in respective eight-week sessions). Since Columbia College has eight-week sessions, in order to meet the traditional 16-week semester requirements, a student must successfully complete the August or January classes. Successful completion means to finish the course with a grade other than "F" and not drop or withdraw from classes in order to have the class(es) count toward the required 12 credit hours. We will verify enrollment after the add/drop date of the second session of the fall or spring semester (October and March) and notify students of eligibility by eAward.

  Students can lose eligibility by not meeting the renewal requirements set by the State of Florida. These requirements include minimum GPA requirements and/or minimum annual renewal credit hours. Any individual questions regarding eligibility should be emailed to financialaid@ccis.edu.