PURPOSE / SCOPE:
The general rule in packaging is that the student’s financial aid and other Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA) may not exceed the stated Cost of Attendance (COA) for the year. If ICOM discovers that a student’s aid package exceeds the student’s COA, ICOM in most cases must adjust the aid package to eliminate the over-award.
DEFINITIONS:
Cost of Attendance (COA) – the amount it will cost a student to go to school including direct costs (costs the student is billed) and indirect costs (costs the student incurs due to attendance, not charged by the institution).
Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA)- other institutional or outside aid that the student will receive for a period of enrollment. Military and VA Benefits received by the student are not considered EFA.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) (2023-2024) - is a measure of a student’s family’s financial strength. An EFC is calculated according to a formula established by law. The formula considers the family's taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits (such as, unemployment or Social Security).
Student Aid Index (SAI) (2024-2025 and forward) - is a number that is calculated based upon the student’s and family’s income, asset, tax, and demographic information provided on the FAFSA.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) –is the official form that students use to apply for financial assistance for college from the federal government. Applicants complete the FASFA form online. For graduate students, the FAFSA is used to apply for Federal student loans.
Return to Title IV (R2T4) – is the calculation performed to determine the amount of federal funds a student has earned and the amount of unearned funds which the school and the student are required to return. This calculation is required when a recipient of Title IV aid withdraws or leaves an institution during a payment period/period of enrollment in which the recipient began attendance. The Return to Title IV (R2T4) requirements set by ICOM are outlined in the College Catalog.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) – is the process a school uses to determine if a student is meeting all of their educational requirements and is on target to graduate on time with a degree.
ICOM’s Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards are outlined in the College Catalog.
POLICY AND PROCEDURE:
Conflicting Information
Conflicting Information can result from a review of institutional data, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Tax Return(s)/transcripts, W-2 Forms, or any other information collected from or on behalf of the student.
ICOM’s Office of Financial Aid must resolve conflicting information before awarding or disbursing any financial assistance. Examples of conflicting information include but are not limited to the following:
- Marital status not consistent with the Federal tax return and/or the FAFSA.
- Interest and/or dividend income reported on the income tax return is not consistent with the amount of assets and/or dividends reported on the FAFSA.
- Answering the FAFSA question as a non/tax filer but there is reason to believe that a tax return is required to be filed.
ICOM's Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to request any documentation deemed necessary to resolve the conflicting information or to utilize internet-based resources to verify information on forms submitted and to request Form 4506 for tax/income confirmation from the IRS if warranted during the file review.
Eligibility
Each student’s FAFSA is reviewed to determine eligibility for federal loan funds. Student eligibility can vary based upon the year in school, annual and aggregate limits, and cost of attendance. Students who are in default on a prior federal loan, have reached annual or aggregate limits, who are not making Satisfactory Academic Progress, or otherwise don’t meet the eligibility requirements, may not be eligible for federal loans.
When determining a student’s eligibility for federal loans, ICOM starts with the student’s Cost of Attendance, then subtracts the Estimated Financial Assistance and then determines the amount of loan the student is eligible to receive. ICOM’s Cost of Attendance includes Direct Costs (charges that the student is billed) such as: tuition and fees, as well as Indirect Costs (expenses the student may incur while attending but not billed by the College) such as: books, supplies, course materials and equipment, transportation, living expenses (food and housing), personal expenses, and other miscellaneous costs such as insurance, loan, or exam fees.
Title IV aid is awarded and disbursed to students with the understanding that students will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded and successfully complete their courses while progressing toward graduation. When a student does not attend for the entire period or does not successfully complete all of their coursework, the U.S. Department of Education requires institutions to determine the amount of earned and unearned Title IV aid through a process called Return to Title IV (R2T4).
Treatment of Outside Scholarships
Students are expected to notify the Office of Financial Aid at ICOM when an outside award is anticipated. Documentation of the expected award, amount, and year will be requested. Outside aid that a student expects to receive during the academic year is added to the student’s aid information and may necessitate reducing other aid received.
Funding from all aid sources cannot exceed the stated Cost of Attendance for the year. Aid that does have to be repaid (loans) will be reduced first before aid that does not have to repaid. If a student receives aid designated to a specific item in the Cost of Attendance (i.e., tuition) and the aid covers that charge in full, the student cannot receive other aid to cover that same cost.
Professional Judgment
The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, provides authority for the financial aid administrator of an educational institution participating in Title IV student financial aid programs to exercise discretion in several areas related to student eligibility when an applicant has special or unusual circumstances. This authority is called “exercising professional judgment” (PJ).
PJ allows the aid administrator to treat a student individually when conditions exist that differentiate that student from a class of students. PJ decisions are made on a case-by-case basis as the result of examining a particular student’s unique circumstances. At ICOM, the student initiates a PJ review by identifying to the Office of Financial Aid their unique circumstances and providing supporting documentation. The Office of Financial Aid reviews PJ requests on an academic year basis and documentation must support unique circumstance within that academic year. The ICOM Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to deny PJ requests that provide conflicting, inaccurate, false, or unclear information/data.
At ICOM, the Director and Coordinator(s), are authorized to conduct Professional Judgment. Since graduate/professional students are not eligible for need based aid, the PJ does not increase need for the student, if approved, it would increase the amount of loan or other aid the student has access to as the cost of attendance would be increased. PJ requests that include amounts already within the stated Cost of Attendance for the year and do not warrant an increase in COA will be denied.
Financial Aid Notice with Incomplete/Missing Documents
If a student receives a financial aid notice indicating that the financial aid file is incomplete, the offered aid is only an estimate and subject to change pending receipt of all missing documents. As such, the aid will not be disbursed to the student account until all documents have been received and reviewed and eligibility has been established.
POLICY OWNER:
Office of Financial Aid
APPROVAL:
Effective: 02/15/2024
Last Reviewed: 02/15/2024