Financial Information (Student Handbook)

Financial Aid

Financial Aid Deadlines

In an effort to provide students with timely financial aid, MCCN has established the following deadlines:

• FAFSA to be completed if the student will be attending Summer Session: April 15
• FAFSA to be completed if the student will be attending Fall Semester: July 1
• FAFSA to be completed if the student will be attending Spring Semester: November 15

Campus-based aid will be awarded on a first come basis depending on availability of funds. Applicants must be accepted before a financial aid package will be issued.

Student Aid Report (SAR)

Filing the FAFSA will generate a Student Aid Report (SAR). The processor sends it to the student 6-8 weeks after filing. The College will access this information electronically if the student included the College code on the application.

Award Letter

Once all requirements are met and the student’s file is complete, an offer of financial assistance will be made with a financial aid award letter sent to the student. Failure to return the signed award letter and loan forms within two weeks may result in delay or loss of financial aid.

Financial Aid Verification

Students may be asked to supply supplemental information, as required by the U.S. Department of Education, if selected for verification (IRS tax return transcript and verification worksheet. To order a Return Account transcript, go to IRS.gov or call 1-800-908-9946.). Verification must be complete before any financial aid will be processed. No aid is processed until the student completes the verification process. The College follows the federal guidelines for verification, collecting the signed verification worksheet, and IRS tax transcript. If the student does not complete verification by the last date of attendance for the academic year, no financial aid will be processed. Mount Carmel College of Nursing may also select a student for verification even if not selected for verification by the Department of Education. All conflicting data must be resolved before any aid is administered.

Financial Aid - Satisfactory Academic Progress

Qualitative Standards - Grade Point Average

Students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) as follows:

Quantitative Standards - Pace

Students must be progressively working towards completion of the degree as measured by hours attempted vs. hours successfully completed with successful completion of a minimum of 65% percentage of hours attempted.

Quantitative Standards - Maximum Time Allowed for Completing Program

The degree in a reasonable amount of time as outlined in the regulations. Under no circumstances may students pursuing their first Bachelor’s degree exceed 150% of the time normally require to complete a program. The expectation is for all programs will be completed within 4 to 6 years.

A student who is exceeding the max-time-frame will be automatically withdrawn from federal aid and is required to submit an appeal.

What happens if I do not meet the SAP?

1. If you do not meet one or more of the SAP standards, a WARNING status will be assigned for one semester. You will maintain your aid eligibility during this warning period.
2. If by the end of the WARNING period (one semester) you have failed to meet any of the qualitative or quantitative requirements, your status will be changed to WITHDRAWN and no further federal aid will be disbursed.
3. You may appeal a WITHDRAWN status if there was a documented extenuating circumstance that prevented successful academic progression.
4. If an appeal is approved, your file will be updated based on individual circumstances to either PROBATION for one term or in certain circumstances an ACADEMIC PLAN for three terms. It is up to the discretion of the SAP Committee to determine which status will assist each student in their academic success.

What happens when my SAP status is WARNING, PROBATION or ACADEMIC PLAN?

Each semester that you are on WARNING, PROBATION or ACADEMIC PLAN status, you are required to:

1. Successfully complete all hours attempted in any course for which tuition charges are assessed, or successfully complete at least 12 attempted hours (if attempting more than 12 hours).
2. Increase your GPA in order to maintain the required minimum GPA for your grade level by the end of the probation period.
3. Meet all other SAP requirements or any other terms/conditions set by the institution, such as taking a reduced course load or enrolling in specific courses.

How do I regain financial aid eligibility when SAP WITHDRAWN?

Regaining eligibility for Title IV aid may occur in one of the following ways:

1. Submit an appeal - An appeal will only be approved based on documentable extenuating circumstances that affected your ability to be successful. Extenuating circumstances, in general, were unknown, nonexistent, or unpredictable prior to the trimester in which you were withdrawn from Title IV aid. Please see Standards of Academic Progress Appeal below.
2. If you do not have a legitimate appeal circumstance, you may pay all expenses out of pocket while you attempt to regain federal financial aid eligibility. You may submit a subsequent appeal when:
   
   1. You have successfully completed any deficient hours and/or increased your GPA to the required level for your academic rank; or
   2. You have completed at least one semester and satisfied your SAP requirements.

Standards of Academic Progress Appeal

Students withdrawn from federal financial aid due to Pace or GPA are able to appeal the withdrawn status due to extenuating circumstances. Those withdrawn due to Max Timeframe can appeal by requesting review to determine the applicable credit hours that apply towards current degree requirements.

Process for a SAP Appeal:

1. You will receive notification via U.S. Mail indicating a withdrawn status from financial aid. You are required to submit a completed SAP Appeal to Financial Aid (FA) in order to re-establish financial aid eligibility.
2. You can submit an appeal by email, fax, or mail to the Financial Aid Office.

Elements Required in Appeal

Letter of explanation detailing:

1. The nature of the difficulty that led to the inability to meet SAP.
2. Statement indicating how your circumstance has been resolved and what measures will be/have been taken to ensure academic success.
3. Third-party documentation – you must submit information to the FA office that verifies the nature of the difficulty that caused you to become withdrawn for financial aid purposes.
4. Documentation that is not consistent with applicable timeframe or is found to be fraudulent will not be considered.
5. Examples of third-party documentation for a SAP appeal include: letter from physician/psychologist, police report, employer documentation, divorce decree, legal records, obituary, death certificate or funeral announcement.

In the case of 150% max timeframe appeal:

1. You must include a letter indicating that the Financial Aid office has permission to obtain a degree audit from the Academic Advisor/ Office of Records and Registration.
2. The statement must also include information as to why it has taken you more than the allotted time

Federal Refund Policy

The financial aid office recalculates federal* aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a term.

2. Federal Financial aid is returned to the federal government based on the percent of unearned aid using the following formula: Aid to be Returned = (100% - Percent Earned) X Amount of aid disbursed toward institutional charges When aid is returned, any remaining balance owed to the College is the student’s responsibility. The student should contact the Business Office to make payment arrangements.

**Withdrawal Date is defined as the actual date the student begins the withdrawal process, the student’s last day of recorded attendance, or the midpoint of the term for a student who leaves without notifying the College. Students are allowed Leave of Absence (LOA) for up to 180 days before being considered withdrawn for purposes of financial aid.

Appeals/Use of Professional Judgment

If the student/family financial situation changes after filing the FAFSA, the student should contact the Director of Financial Aid regarding the situation. The student may file an Appeal Form. The College may be able to look at expected year income rather than prior year in cases where the family’s financial situation has changed significantly. A student may file an appeal at any time during the academic year. Once the appeal form and supporting documentation is received by the Financial Aid Office, the student can expect a decision within 4-6 weeks.
In all appeal cases the following guidelines will apply when using professional judgment to determine the outcome of an appeal:

1. No appeal will be considered without adequate documentation of circumstances.
2. All appeals are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
3. An appeal for independent status will only be considered in cases of documented parental estrangement or abuse, with adequate third party documentation. If the dependent student meets the criteria to be considered for “independent” status, the Financial Aid Office may consider the student’s actual expenses (with adequate documentation) and recalculate the student budget.
4. All decisions regarding an appeal are final.

Needs Analysis and Packaging Policy

Mount Carmel College of Nursing uses a self-help concept of financial aid packaging. The student must complete both the FAFSA and the Mount Carmel College of Nursing Information Sheet.
A Cost of Attendance Budget is determined for several types of students; actual tuition and fees are calculated for each student. Housing and personal budgets are established for students living at home with a parent or relative, living on campus in the apartments, and living off campus in an apartment or own home. Transportation costs are determined for live-in students and commuters (living with parent or in own apartment). The Financial Aid Office determines each student budget or total cost of attendance and subtracts the expected family contribution from the official student aid report to determine financial need.

Students are packaged in the following order: Pell grant, FSEOG, if applicable and available the Ohio Grant, external and internal scholarships, Federal Stafford Subsidized Loan and external aid. If the student has additional unmet need after the above, the students are rank ordered according to highest remaining unmet need to be packaged for institutional aid.

Institutional aid is packaged in the following order: College Work Program (for freshmen), Mount Carmel Grant (junior/senior student with highest unmet need after the above is packaged and less than $3000 in other grants), Nursing Student Loan, and College loans. Mount Carmel does not guarantee that it can meet the student’s total unmet need for financial aid and generally most students have remaining unmet need after being packaged with federal, state, and institutional aid.

No student can be packaged beyond unmet need. If receipt of additional outside financial aid later results in an over award, the student’s institutional loans will be decreased or cancelled first, then Stafford loan, and then scholarships and grants.

The regular academic year is packaged using Fall Semester and Spring Semester enrollment. If a student chooses to attend Summer Session it is added as a “trailer” term to the prior academic year. If the student has any remaining financial aid eligibility it can be awarded for Summer Session. This policy is also applicable to transfer students who begin Spring Semester. For purposes of Federal Family Educational Loans, the student may be awarded loans according to a “borrower based academic year” or the standard academic year depending on the student’s individual situation. A student may request in writing that his or her academic year begin Summer Session.

Loan Counseling

All students who receive loans from federal, state, or institutional sources are required to complete loan entrance counseling before the loan is disbursed, and loan exit counseling when the student leaves the College. The student must complete the loan entrance counseling session before the first disbursement of a Stafford Loan is made. If the student fails to complete the entrance interview, the loan is cancelled and returned to the lender.

The loan entrance sessions provide the student with information regarding their rights and responsibilities as a borrower.

Loan exit counseling sessions provide the student with specific information about their loan indebtedness as well as their rights and responsibilities as a borrower. Students who do not complete the exit loan counseling will have their accounts placed on hold and no academic transcripts will be sent to another institution until the counseling session is completed. If the student has left the institution without officially withdrawing, the directions for completing the online exit counseling will be mailed to them. Graduating students will have diplomas withheld until the exit counseling session provided by the Financial Aid Office is completed. Please allow two days for the Financial Aid Office to be notified of your completion of the online exit counseling.

The College is notified by the guaranty agency when students are delinquent in loan re-payments. The College issues a letter to the student requesting that they contact their lender or the College. A form letter provided by the guaranty agency is used.

Guaranty agencies request updated information on students regarding address, etc. The College provides to the guaranty agency any information on file regarding student’s last known address and employer. Providing this information is the responsibility of the Financial Aid Office.

Title IV Compliance

The College is in compliance with its program responsibilities associated with the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 (HEA98) via publication in the Student Handbook. In addition, information on Mount Carmel College of Nursing graduation rates for first-time, full-time, degree or certificate-seeking students is available upon request by contacting the office of the College President/Dean.

Billing and Payment

Fall Semester statements will be available to students online in mid-summer and Spring Semester statements will be available online in late November. Students may view anticipated financial aid to determine tuition and fees due. Questions regarding due dates, payment arrangements, or statement activity should be directed to the Director, Business Affairs (614-234-2230 or office CLE #105).

Tuition Due Dates are set nine working days before the start of classes.

Residence Apartments Leases

Student apartments are available with 10- or 12-month rental agreements. Apartment rentals are billed at the beginning of each semester as follows:

Fall Semester: (Aug. 1—Dec. 31) rent is due before Aug. 31

Spring Semester: (Jan 1—May 31) rent is due before Jan. 31

Summer Term: (June 1—July 31) rent is due before June 30

Payment plans are available and must be approved prior to the start of the semester.

Payment Methods

Three payment methods are available.

2. Payment may be made in person at the Mount Carmel College of Nursing Business Office on the first floor of the CLE (CLE 104). The office is open 8:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The office can accept check, money order, or cash payments. Credit card payments are accepted online only.
3. Payment may be made by credit or debit card or by electronic check online through the student CARMELink account using the Cashnet option in the Business Office and Account Information section. American Express, Discover, and MasterCard are accepted; a merchant processing fee of 2.75% will be assessed on every credit card payment. There is no processing fee for electronic check (ACH) payments.

Any student with an account balance due as of the first day of class will be placed on Business Office “hold” unless satisfactory payment arrangements have previously been made with the Business Office.

Any student with a Business Office “hold” cannot register for classes or view final course grades via the Jenzabar Student Portal. The submitted Course Request Form will be returned to the student and cannot be re-submitted until satisfactory arrangements have been made with the Business Office or the Library. This may result in the student being closed out of a specific course or section.

Satisfactory payment arrangements are defined as:

1. Payment for balance received in full;
2. Payment plan agreement signed and monthly payments received as agreed; or
3. Financial aid approved by the Financial Aid Director but still pending

Students who have questions or would like to schedule an appointment should contact the Director of Business Affairs (614-234-2230, Office CLE 105, ksmith@mccn.edu).

College Payment Plan

The payment plan is available to any student and is administered through the Business Office. The College payment plan allows the student or responsible party the convenience of distributing the tuition and fees expense over a number of months. Tuition and fees for one semester or the entire academic year can be included in the payment plan.

Pending financial aid is taken into consideration when calculating monthly payments.

Contact the Director of Business Affairs (614-234-2230) to schedule an appointment for questions about the College payment plan.

Refund Policy

Institutional* Refund Policy – Semester Courses

1. A student who drops a course on or before the first Friday of the term will be entitled to a 100% credit of tuition and fees.
2. A student who drops a class after the first Friday, but on or before the fourth Friday of the term, will be entitled to a 50% credit of tuition and fees.
3. After the fourth Friday of the term, there will be no refund of course charges.

Institutional* Refund Policy – Term Courses

1. A student who drops a course on or before the first Friday of the term will be entitled to a 100% credit of tuition and fees.
2. A student who drops a class after the first Friday, but on or before the second Friday of the term, will be entitled to a 50% credit of tuition and fees.
3. After the second Friday of the term, there will be no refund of course charges.
4. The federal refund calculation supersedes the institutional refund policy relating to term courses if a student withdraws, is dismissed, or is on Leave of Absence (LOA).

Institutional financial aid* will be subject to the federal refund calculation for students who withdraw, are dismissed, or take a Leave of Absence (LOA) prior to completing 60% of the semester term.

*Institutional financial aid includes Memorial Loan, Schell Loan, and other Mount Carmel loan programs. Scholarships are excluded from this refund policy.

Account Balances

Funds are credited to the student’s account as they are received from various sources. Once a student’s account has been credited with financial aid funds and shows a credit balance, the College will refund the credit amount to be used for other educational expenses. If the College receives funds late Fall Semester after Spring billing, the funds may be carried over to Spring Semester. Refunds may be deposited directly in a student’s bank account if the student enrolls in the electronic refund option in the Cashnet portion of the Business Office section of the student CARMELink account. No federal funds will be carried over from one academic year to the next.

Refund Disbursement

Funds are credited to the student’s account as they are received from various sources. Once a student’s account has been credited with financial aid funds and shows a credit balance, the College will refund the credit amount to the student within two weeks – to be used for other educational expenses. If the College receives funds in late Fall Semester after Spring Semester billing, the funds may be carried over to Spring Semester. No federal funds will be carried over from one academic year to the next. Students may enroll in electronic refund deposits online through CARMELink.

Refund Policy for Residence Apartment

The ten- or twelve-month Housing Agreements are binding and non-refundable, with the following exceptions:

• Student withdraws from the College
• Student is dismissed from the College
• Student is granted a Leave of Absence