Financial Aid FAQs

No, you do not have to be accepted before you apply for or be awarded financial aid, BUT you must be accepted and enrolled before your student account can be credited with financial aid.

The priority deadline, meaning the last day to submit all documents in order to be guaranteed award before the start of the semester, is as follows:

Fall: June 1
Spring: October 1
Summer: March 1

You must apply for financial aid every year. FAFSAs for the next academic year are available on October 1 and should be completed as soon as possible. Schools can begin awarding aid as soon as January before the Fall term begins

PELL Grants are based on financial need as determined by your FAFSA. If your EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) is between 0000 and 5,846 you are eligible for PELL. This grant, which does not have to be paid back, is pro-rated by number of credit hours taken and total EFC. Click on the link below to see the payout chart. If you do not know your EFC, please refer to the Student Aid Report FAFSA sent to you or contact our office at 478-289-2169.

Click here to access the 2023 - 2024 PELL chart.

To be eligible for HOPE, your high school MUST submit your final high school transcript to the Georgia Student Finance Commission.

• • You must graduate from a HOPE eligible high school with a 3.0 OR complete a HOPE eligible home study program with a 3.0, using the HOPE grade point average calculation for both.
  • You must also Meet U.S. citizenship or eligible non-citizen requirements
  • Be a legal resident of Georgia, and be registered with Selective Service, if required
  • Maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined by the college
  • Not be in default or owe a refund due on a student financial aid program
  • Be in compliance with the Georgia Drug-Free Postsecondary Education Act of 1990.
  • Must submit a GSFAPP on www.GAfutures.org or completing a FAFSA.

Initial eligibility may be determined by checking your personal account on www.GAfutures.org.

Direct loans (subsidized and unsubsidized) are available to students who need additional money for school and living expenses. Most students are eligible and can receive up to $5,500 per year. Students with more than 30 hours can receive $6,500 per year. In order to qualify you must: be in good academic standing, not be in default of a student loan, not owe an overpayment, and must have submitted all prior academic transcripts.

Many students think they are independent simply because their parents do not claim them on their tax returns, or because they moved out of the parents’ house to attend college. This is NOT the case.

For federal student aid purposes, you are only considered “independent” if at least one of the following applies to you:

• • You born before January 1, 1998
  • As of the date you first file the FAFSA, you are married
  • You are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training
  • You are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces
  • You now have or will you have children who will receive more than half of their support from you between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022
  • You have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who receive more than half of their support from you, now and through June 30, 2022
  • At any time since you turned age 13, both your parents are deceased, you were in foster care or you were a dependent or ward of the court
  • As determined by a court in your state of legal residence, you are or were an emancipated minor
  • Someone other than your parent or stepparent had legal guardianship of you, as determined by a court in your state of legal residence
  • At any time on or after July 1, 2020, your high school or school district homeless liaison determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless
  • At any time on or after July 1, 2020, the director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless
  • At any time on or after July 1, 2020, the director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless

 

Once you have submitted your documents, it will take 24-72 hours for our documents department to update our system as being received. The time it takes for our processors to process your request will vary based on the time of year. Generally, it will take about 5 business days from being updated on your BANNER web account.

A withdrawal is considered as attempted hours. All attempted hours are considered when determining your academic progress. Maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is a federal requirement to receive financial aid.

If you withdraw from all enrolled classes for a term before the withdrawal deadlines, your student account will be recalculated. (You may be required to repay ALL or a portion of your financial aid)

You will become ineligible to receive financial aid funding until the account balance is repaid in full.

Disbursement for financial aid usually happens about three weeks from the start of classes. If aid is placed on the students account after the beginning of the semester, it will disburse the Thursday of the following week.