Announcements

 

Spring/Summer Business Hours

To insure students have summer and fall financial aid awards in time to make informed decisions, the financial aid office public hours will change on Monday, March 12th so that we are open to the public from 10am to 5pm each day.

The 8am to 10am dedicated processing time each morning will allow us to handle the increase in both summer and fall financial aid applications without increasing staff or other resources while continuing to provide timely financial aid awards and efficient delivery of funds.

Students may still access their financial aid information via UNCGenie and submit documents by fax, mail and email or use the office drop box.

 

Filing the FAFSA and Correcting Tax Information

You can begin completing your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at www.fafsa.gov beginning January 1st. In the U.S. Department of Education’s effort to make filing the FAFSA a little easier, as long as you have filed your 2011 federal tax return, you can link to the IRS from the FAFSA, retrieve the tax information directly from the IRS, and it will automatically populate the FAFSA questions related to the tax return. We strongly encourage you to file your taxes early so that you can take advantage of this process and still meet the UNCG March 1st priority filing date.

Using the IRS data retrieval process will potentially result in faster processing of your financial aid file because of more accurate FAFSA data. The faster we are able to process your file the better chance you have of receiving maximum financial aid eligibility. It may also give you freedom from having to contact our office during the peak processing time when the wait on both the phones and in the office can be long.

If you have not filed your taxes in time to use this feature and meet our priority filing date, you should still file the FAFSA so that you meet the March 1st deadline. Once you have filed your taxes you can go back to your FAFSA and use the IRS data retrieval to update estimated information. Using the IRS data retrieval to correct estimated information will allow us to satisfy certain requirements if you are notified by our office that you have been selected for the verification process. Verification is a process mandated by the U.S. Department of Education that requires schools to gather additional documentation to check the accuracy of information submitted on the FAFSA.

If you are notified by our office that you have been selected for verification, you are required to submit certain documents. The documents that we can now accept have changed based on policy changes by the U.S. Department of Education. We will now only accept as documentation of tax information either

1. a tax return transcript from the IRS or
2. an updated FAFSA with the IRS data retrieval.

The data retrieval from the IRS has become vital in filing the FAFSA and in the financial aid process. Filing your taxes early to take advantage of this feature prior to the March 1st priority date should help make the financial aid journey a smooth one.

IRS Data Retrieval - 2012-2013 FAFSA Instructions

2012-2013 Changes to Federal Loan Programs

Beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year, graduate students are no longer eligible for subsidized loans. Graduate students will be awarded unsubsidized loans only for use in their educational programs.

For the 2012-2013 academic year, the Direct Stafford Subsidized Loan interest rate will increase to a fixed rate of 6.8%. The interest rate on the Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan will remain the at the same fixed rate of 6.8%. The interest rate on Direct PLUS Loans will remain at fixed rate of 7.9%.

The Department of Education will no longer offer borrower repayment incentives at the time of disbursement for Direct Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2012. As a result, the up-front interest rebate (currently 0.5% for Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized and 1.5% for Direct PLUS) that has been provided to Direct Loan borrowers at the time of their loan disbursements will no longer apply.

The origination fee deducted by the Department of Education for the 2012-2013 academic year will be 1% for Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and 4% for Direct PLUS Loans. With the termination of the up-front interest rebate, the amount of loan money disbursed to your student account will be slightly less than previous years.

These changes in terms and conditions will be effective unless implementation is changed by the U. S. Congress. Your loan servicer will notify you of any changes.

 

2012-2013 Changes to Federal Pell Grant

Students will be allowed to receive 12 semesters of full-time Federal Pell Grant awards. You are limited to one full-time award per year. There will be no eligibility to receive a second Pell Grant award in summer if you were enrolled full-time during the fall and spring semesters. For students who enroll on a part-time basis, the total Federal Pell Grant award amount you may receive will be the equivalent of 12 full time semesters. The U.S. Department of Education will notify you on your Student Aid Report (FAFSA output) of your remaining eligibility for this program.

 

2012-2013 Changes to State Grant Programs

There will be an 8 semester limit to the NC Education Lottery Scholarship and a 9 semester limit to the UNC Need-based grants in order to spread the funds out to many students and to encourage degree completion of students.

 

Repeat Coursework

As a reminder of a policy change from 2011-2012, you should expect to have your aid reduced if you take a course a second time after you have already earned credit hours for that course (unless the course is designated as being eligible for multiple grades in the course catalog). This federal policy change impacts the disbursement of aid because you may be required to repay aid due to an award reduction. In addition, your satisfactory academic progress will be impacted. This will affect your cumulative hours because you will not earn additional hours but will have increased attempted hours for repeating a course.

 

Financial Aid for Summer 2012

Summer Financial Aid applications will be available online through UNCGenie beginning March 2012. The link is now active.

Summer aid will be based on your 2011-2012 FAFSA and what you received for the fall and spring of 2011-2012 . Generally, only Federal Pell Grant and student loans would be available for summer. You must be enrolled at least half time to be eligible for summer aid loans (Undergraduate - 6 hours, Graduate- 3 hours).

To apply online through UNCGenie, you will need to:

1. Log into UNCGenie, click on FINANCIAL AID
2. Click on MY ELIGIBILITY
3. Click on the SUMMER AWARD ESTIMATOR. The estimator is designed to let you know if you have any remaining eligibility for a Federal Pell Grant or Federal Student Aid loan that you can use to help cover your costs for summer.

If you are awarded aid, your award will show on your bill and defer your charges for the amount of the aid. Generally the summer bills are due sometime in early May and you will need to pay the difference if your award is not enough to cover the full bill.

Spring 2012 Check Disbursement

The Cashier's Office will mail checks to those who have aid that exceeds their charges to UNCG beginning January 4, 2012. For those of you who have signed up for direct deposit of your refund, you should see that in your accounts approximately January 6, 2012. Please make sure you update your mailing address on UNCGenie as the checks will go to your campus mailbox if you live on campus or to your local address if you live off campus. Aid will be disbursed to students who are registered, have submitted all necessary forms to the UNCG Financial Aid Office, are making satisfactory academic progress, and have been confirmed in their courses for the spring semester. You may not be confirmed in your courses due to:

• Owing a balance to UNCG above the amount of financial aid you are receiving.
• Owing a prior balance from a previous year greater than $200.
• By not completing your university immunization requirements.
• By not having financial aid awarded to you due to not completing requirements.
• By not being enrolled in the correct number of hours to receive your disbursement.

Loan disbursements will not be made if you are not enrolled in full time hours (12 hours for undergraduates, 6 hours for graduates with at least 3 hours at the 500 level or above) unless you have previously completed a Financial Aid Revision Form and submitted it to our office. This form allows us to update your cost of attendance and award as necessary based on your expected enrollment.
You should view your status on UNCGenie. If you have questions you may contact our Financial Aid Counselors at (336) 334-5702. Please enter your ID and PIN to discuss specific information about your account. You may also receive general information about financial aid by sending e-mail to finaid@uncg.edu.

 

Important Financial Aid Information for Spring Semester

As you prepare to register for spring and summer courses in the next few weeks, we wanted to reminder you of some important financial aid facts. Due to the federal budget deficit, Congress has made cost-saving adjustments in financial aid programs effective this semester.

For those who are eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants, Congress has changed the law allowing a student to receive a second Pell Grant in the same academic year. Beginning with this academic year and moving forward into the summer 2012 term, you will be able to receive one full-time equivalent Pell Grant per year. If you are enrolled full time during the fall and spring semesters, you will receive your full Federal Pell Grant for the academic year. There will be no remaining Pell Grant eligibility for the summer for you to use as has been the case in the last several summers. You should take into consideration this funding elimination when discussing your spring and summer schedules with your advisors and registering for classes. Make sure that you maximize your enrollment opportunities during the regular academic year as second scheduled PELL funding will not be available for future summers.

Also, a new federal regulation effective fall 2011, prevents financial aid from being disbursed to take courses for which you have already received a passing grade. If you are registered for a course that is not a repeatable course per the catalog, the Financial Aid Office may be making adjustments to your awarded and disbursed aid. You will see this show up as a bill from the Cashier's Office.

You must enroll at least half time (6 hours for undergraduates and 3 hours at the 500 hour level or above for graduate students) to qualify for most federal and state financial aid programs.

Winter session courses are part of the spring semester. Aid for winter session is disbursed at the same time as spring semester courses. If you register for, then drop a winter session course, it may have an impact on your total hours of eligibility for spring semester and your locked hours. You are responsible for knowing the drop dates for these courses that begin prior to the start of the spring semester.

Please remember that you must make satisfactory academic progress for fall semester to remain eligible for aid for spring semester.

 

Are You Maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress?

Remember, you must complete 67% of your locked hours each semester to maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP). You must also maintain a minimum of 67% of your cumulative hours attempted to remain in good standing.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

To view your locked hours:

1. Click on the UNCGenie in the upper right corner of the UNCG web site
   
2. Click on Enter Secure Area on the UNCGenie Home page
   
3. Enter your Student ID Number and your UNCG PIN
   
4. Click on Financial Aid
   
5. Click on Locked Hours for Financial Aid Eligibility
   
6. Select term and click submit

If you have not maintained satisfactory academic progress, you will not be eligible for financial aid for the following semester (s). To reestablish financial aid eligibility, review the Satisfactory Academic Policy and watch the Satisfactory Academic Progress Videocast to learn how to earn and maintain SAP.

 

Immunization Requirements and Financial Aid

Financial aid will not be applied to your student bill until Student Health Services confirms that you have satisfied your immunization requirements. If you haven’t already done so, make sure to complete the Student Medical Form and submit it to Student Health Services in order to provide information about your health and immunization history.

 

Full Time Attendance and Financial Aid

Full time attendance is not required to receive financial aid. You may receive most types of financial aid with at least half time enrollment. Half time enrollment for an undergraduate is 6 credit hours and half time status for a graduate student is 3 credit hours of enrollment at the 500 level or above. Most financial aid awards are made assuming you will be full time. If you choose not to enroll full time for a semester, your financial aid award and disbursements will be adjusted.

The Financial Aid Office policy on loans is that we will not disburse loans to you unless you are enrolled full time or you have provided us with a Financial Aid Revision Form that indicates your level of enrollment so that your cost of attendance can be adjusted to reflect your true enrollment. Students should complete this form as early as possible to insure that their loan disbursements occur in a timely manner.

2011-2012 Financial Aid Revision Form
2012-2013 Financial Aid Revision Form

 

Check Your Financial Aid Status on UNCGenie

UNCGenie provides you with online access to your financial aid information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This convenient feature, accessible from the UNCG web site, enables you to check your application status, loan and award amounts, student account charges*, and outstanding requirements for financial aid.  You will need to know your Student ID Number and your UNCG PIN.  Your PIN is not your advising code.  Unless UNCG has assigned a PIN to you, use your birth date in this format: YYDDMM.

Check Your Financial Aid Status:

1. Click on UNCGenie in the upper right corner of the UNCG web site
2. Click on Enter Secure Area on the UNCGenie Home page
3. Enter your Student ID Number and your UNCG PIN
4. Click on Financial Aid
5. Browse the menus to find the information you need

* To view estimated semester charges, go to the Financial Aid menu, click on Award, followed by Account Summary by Term. Your deferrable aid (accepted loans, scholarships, etc.) will not be subtracted from your account balance on this screen.

* To view your actual bill charges, return to the UNCGenie Homepage and click on Student Account Center. This will open in another window. Then click on ebills, followed by Student Accounts under account type.

Need help navigating UNCGenie?  Check out our UNCGenie Guide to find out how to access your Financial Aid Information.

 

Apply for Emergency Loans through UNCGenie

The UNCG Financial Aid Office has instituted an online application process to apply for emergency loans. This process determines your eligibility for an emergency loan for the current term without having to first come to the Financial Aid Office.

Apply for Emergency Loans through UNCGenie:

1. Click on the UNCGenie in the upper right corner of the UNCG web site
   
2. Click on Enter Secure Area on the UNCGenie Home page
   
3. Enter your Student ID Number and your UNCG PIN
   
4. Click on Financial Aid
   
5. Click on Emergency Loan Application

Please make your request in whole dollars (do not include cents in your amount requested).

If you will be repaying the loan with pending financial aid you can currently apply for a maximum of $700 if you have expected aid to cover that amount. The system will not allow you to continue if you request more than the $700 maximum.

If you will be repaying the loan with a source other than financial aid, the maximum you may receive through this process is $300. You must provide contact information and possibly documentation before your loan is approved.

You will be contacted via your UNCG email address concerning the status of your application.

If your loan is approved, you will need to come to the Financial Aid Office and pick up an approval notice to take to the Cashier’s Office to receive your funds. There is a $5 processing fee for all approved emergency loans that will be taken out by the Cashier’s Office when you receive your funds. If you have outstanding financial aid requirements or have already received an emergency loan for the current semester, you will be unable to apply for an emergency loan through this process.

If you cannot receive a loan through the online process, you may visit the Financial Aid Office and complete an application and appeal for consideration of your circumstances.