FA 101

• The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be filed every year.
• Financial aid is awarded based on full-time enrollment (12 or more credits per semester) and will be prorated if your enrollment is less.
• You must enroll in an eligible degree, diploma, or certificate program at least 16 credit hours in length for Pell Grants. Programs at least 16 credits, but less than 24 credits, are eligible for pro-rated Direct Loan funding.
• Pell Grants can only be received for an equivalent of 12 full-time semesters.
• Financial Aid does not cover audited classes, test outs, life experience, classes repeated more than twice, or continuing education classes.
• Guest Students are not eligible for financial aid.
• Notify your campus Financial Aid Office if you are attending another institution at the same time you are attending Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC). You can only receive financial aid from one college during a semester.
• If you have a prior degree from EICC or a bachelor’s degree, you may not be eligible for financial aid.
• Your enrollment status for financial aid is based on the courses you are enrolled in on a certain date called the census date. This date will be about two weeks after the beginning of the semester.  
  
  • If you do not enroll in any classes until after the census date has passed, you should enroll in all of your classes on the same day. Your enrollment status will be based only on the courses you register for on that day.

The recent overhaul of the FAFSA has caused processing delays and changes. This means your financial aid offer might need further review to ensure accuracy, and as a result, your initial financial aid offer amount could change. Please check your EICC email regularly for updates.

We are committed to working with you to ensure you receive the most accurate and timely financial aid information possible.

• To retain eligibility for financial aid, you must maintain satisfactory academic progress. It is your responsibility to read and understand the EICC Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy found at eicc.edu/sappolicy.
• You must actively participate in your classes. You will not receive financial aid for a class until you have established active participation.
• If you completely withdraw, or cease to attend classes, your financial aid may be recalculated. You may be required to repay all or part of your financial aid. Refer to the policy at eicc.edu/title-iv. 
• The acceptance of Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized loans allows the Financial Aid Office to reallocate to either loan type if your eligibility or enrollment changes. Direct Subsidized Loans are need-based and eligibility can change for various reasons, such as a scholarship award(s) being added to your account.

Your financial aid offer letter and My Awards page on Financial Aid Self-Service list the financial aid you are being offered for the 2024-2025 school year. Your awards are based on the information you provided on your FAFSA.

• Decide whether or not to borrow loans for the academic year. You can find more information at eicc.edu/directloan.
• Accept, reduce, or decline your loan(s) on the My Awards page of Financial Aid Self-Service.
  
  • Log in to Financial Aid Self-Service at eicc.edu/fa.
  • Navigate to the My Awards page by clicking “Review and accept your Financial Aid Award Package.”
  • Scroll down to the “Loans” section and click on “Accept or Decline.”
  • Accept, decline, or reduce your loan amount.
• If accepting loans, complete Master Promissory Note (MPN) and loan entrance counseling at studentaid.gov.
• Accept or decline your work-study award. If accepted, the Financial Aid Office will send you an application and more information.
• Report any other financial assistance to the Financial Aid Office.

If your financial aid is greater than your tuition and fees, then you may use the remaining financial aid to purchase your books through the EICC bookstore. If you do not have enough financial aid funds left to pay for all of your bookstore charges, then you will need to pay the difference using personal funds. You are not required to buy books through the EICC bookstore. If you choose to use another retailer, then you will need to use personal funds to purchase books.

You may view your available bookstore funds by logging into eicc.textbookx.com.

Books may be charged during the following periods:

• Fall 2024: August 1, 2024 – September 6, 2024
• Spring 2025: December 1, 2024 – February 3, 2025
• Summer 2025: May 1, 2025 - June 2, 2025

If your financial aid is greater than your tuition, fees, books, and supplies, then you will receive the remaining funds as a financial aid refund. EICC has partnered with BankMobile Disbursements to offer refunds through either direct deposit or mailed paper check. You will receive information about refund options to both your email and mailing addresses.

The earliest date financial aid refunds will be issued is approximately four weeks after the start of the semester.

The following items may affect your refund date: 

• Establishing active participation: You will not receive your financial aid for a class until you have actively
  participated in the class. 
• Late-start or modular classes: If you are registered for late-start or modular classes (any class shorter than the
  length of the full semester), you will receive financial aid for those classes once they begin and you have actively participated in those classes.
  
  •  For example, you are enrolled in 6 credit hours for a semester – 3 credit hours for a 1st 8-week class and 3 credit hours for a 2nd 8-week class. If you are a Pell Grant recipient, you will receive Pell Grant for the 3 hours in the 1st 8-weeks, and, after you establish active participation in your 2nd 8-week class, you will receive another Pell grant disbursement for the remaining 3 hours. These two disbursements equal a Pell Grant disbursement for 6 hours.
• One semester loans:  If your loan is for one semester only (fall only, spring only, or summer only), your loan will be disbursed to you in two disbursements. You must be reported as actively participating in at least 6 credit hours before you receive your second loan disbursement.

Financial aid is limited during the summer semester. You must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress and meet all other financial aid requirements to receive summer aid. If you have already graduated, will graduate in May, or are a Guest Student for the summer, you are not eligible to receive summer financial aid at EICC.

Federal Direct Loans are available during the summer semester if you are enrolled in at least 6 credit hours, and you have not borrowed the annual loan maximum for the academic year. Please visit eicc.edu/directloan for maximum loan amounts. Summer loans are always processed separately from fall and spring loans. If you choose to borrow during the summer, you should Request a New Loan in Financial Aid Self-Service.

Some awards have minimum enrollment requirements:

• Iowa Kibbie Grant recipients must be enrolled in at least 3 credits hours.
• Last Dollar Scholarship recipients, who have maintained eligibility, must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours for summer.