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Important Changes
Pell Grant Eligibility | ATB Notice | Repeated Courses | Attending Hours
Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Notice
The federal Department of Education recently established new regulations which reduce the duration of a student’s eligibility to receive a federal Pell Grant from 18 full-time semesters (or its equivalent) to 12 full-time semesters (or its equivalent). This provision applies to all federal Pell Grant eligible students effective 2012-13.
What does this mean to you?
Beginning with Fall 2012, a student has 6 years (12 full-time semesters) of total Pell Grant lifetime eligibility. (This includes all years Pell was received prior to Fall 2012.) All the years each student has received federal Pell grant will be counted toward the 6 years, regardless of when the student began receiving aid.
The Ventura College Financial Aid office will continue processing each student’s Pell grant unless he or she notifies the financial aid office not to do so. If a student is close to the 12-semester limit and does not want to utilize their Pell Grant at Ventura College, they must notify the financial aid office. The Board of Governor’s Fee waiver (BOGW) will continue waiving enrollment fees if the student is eligible.
Tracking Your Lifetime Eligibility Used on NSLDS
You can find your Lifetime Eligibility Used for the federal Pell Grant by going to the Web site www.nslds.ed.gov and creating a student account. NSLDS, the National Student Loan Data System, tracks your lifetime Pell Grants, loan usage and overpayment status. If you have loans, you may view how much you owe and to whom.
The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)
- Step 1: Obtain a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from the U.S. Department of Education
Your PIN serves as your electronic signature and provides access to your personal records with the U.S. Department of Education systems. You can request a PIN via the U.S. Department of Education’s web site at www.pin.ed.gov - Step 2: Access NSLDS by going to www.nslds.ed.gov. On the NSLDS screen, click on Financial Aid Review
- Step 3: Read the privacy statement on this screen. If you agree, click Accept to find your Lifetime Eligibility Used. A security configuration question may or may not prompt, depending on your browser’s current security configuration. If you are comfortable with your browser’s current security configuration, click Accept to continue. The Confirming Your Identity screen will appear after you click Accept.
- Step 4: Enter your Social Security number (SSN), the first two letters of your last name, your date of birth, and your PIN to confirm your identity. Keep your PIN safe and secure.
- Step 5: View the Financial Aid Review screen listing your total Lifetime Eligibility Used
ATB Notice
Effective for students who first enroll in an eligible program of study on or after July 1, 2012, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-74) eliminated the provisions under §484(d) (1), (2), and (4) of the HEA. Under those provisions, a student who did not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent could establish eligibility for Title IV student financial assistance by passing an independently administered examination approved by the U.S. Department of Education (an “approved Ability-To-Benefit (ATB) test”) or by successfully completing six college degree-applicable units.
Students who do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent and are beyond the age of compulsory education (18 in California) are not eligible to receive financial aid. Students will be required to complete a G.E.D. program in order to establish Title IV eligibility.
Please contact our office if you were enrolled in a program of study prior to July 1, 2012 and took and passed an approved Ability to Benefit Examination or successfully completed a minimum of 6 college degree-applicable units.
The following are Adult Education Program locations:
Oxnard Adult School
1101 W 2nd St.
Oxnard, CA 93030
(805) 385-2578
Simi Valley Adult School and Career Institute
1880 Blackstock Ave.
Simi Valley, CA 93065
(805) 579-6200
Ventura Adult and Continuing Education
5200 Valentine Rd. #101
Ventura, CA 93003
(805) 289-1744
Repeated Courses
The Department of Education recently published new regulations which affect students who repeat courses. These regulations may impact your financial aid eligibility and awards, including Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Direct Loans, Federal Work-Study. Beginning with the FALL 2011 semester, regulations prevent the Financial Aid Office from paying for a course that has been passed and repeated more than one time. In order for a repeated course to be counted towards your enrollment status for financial aid purposes, you may only repeat a previously passed course once (a total of two attempts). If you enroll in a previously repeated and passed course for a third time, this course will not count towards your enrollment for financial aid purposes. Examples of repeated courses:
- Allowable: Repeated courses may be included if the student received an unsatisfactory or failing grade. There is no limit on the number of attempts allowable if the student does not receive a passing grade. Grades of A, B, C, D, P, CR (Credit), or CRE (Credit by exam) are considered passing grades.
- Allowable: Student is enrolled in 15 credit hours which includes 3 credits repeating a previously passed course. Because the student is enrolled in a minimum of 12 credits which are not repeats, the student's financial aid eligibility is not impacted by the repeat.
- Not permissible: Student receives a D in a course and decides to repeat the course to improve his/her GPA. The student may repeat this passed course one time, but if the student wants to repeat it a second time, the second repeat would not count for financial aid eligibility.
In this example, the student is enrolled in 12 credits, including the 3 credit second repeat, so only 9 credits will count for financial aid eligibility.
Details of the new regulations
- Repeated enrollment that is not aid eligible will be excluded from the student's enrollment status for the term.
- Federal Title IV financial aid will be recalculated based on the student's adjusted enrollment status.
- This recalculation will be applied regardless of whether a student received aid for previous course enrollments.
- Some courses are repeatable per college policy and are not restricted by these regulations.
- Waitlisted courses do not count toward official enrollment status for financial aid purposes.
- All repeated courses do affect financial aid satisfactory academic progress calculations. A repeated course along with the original attempt must be counted as attempted credits.
- Suspension and Extension Appeals cannot override this federal regulation. If you are in a class that is not eligible for payment, but the class is part of your approved educational plan, you will not be penalized for repeating the class, but you cannot receive financial aid for that class.
Attending Hours
Effective Spring 2013, Financial Aid will be disbursed to students based on attending hours. The Financial Aid Office has made this change to maintain compliance with US Department of Education regulations. Therefore, the start date of your classes will dictate how much you will receive in each of your disbursement(s).
If you are registered and meet all financial aid eligibility requirements for your disbursement AND:
- You are registered and ALL of your classes begin on January 14, 2013, your first disbursement is scheduled the week of January 14, 2013 after all charges are paid.
- Your enrollment includes a combination of classes that start on January 14, 2013 AND classes that start later in the semester, you may receive a partial first disbursement* of financial aid, if eligible, the week of January14, 2013. The remainder of the first disbursement will disburse approximately 7-10 days after your next class(s) begins.
- You are ONLY enrolled in late start classes (meaning those that start after January 14, 2013), your financial aid disbursement(s)* will occur approximately 7-10 days after each late start class begins.
Please note, students must be registered in ALL of their classes, regardless of when they begin, prior to ourFreeze Date of March 11, 2013 in order for those courses to count toward your financial aid enrollment status. Courses registered in after this date cannot be considered for federal financial aid funding. All students should allow 7 to 21 days after payment appears on your MyVCCCD portal account to receive your refund.
*Loan disbursements for students in 6 or more Attending Hours (your classes have begun) will begin disbursing the second week of the semester or once you are attending 6 or more units.
