Financial Aid Policies & Procedures

Attendance

To establish eligibility for financial aid, you must participate in academically related activities for each course. If you receive a satisfactory grade for the course, your participation in the course is documented by the receipt of a passing grade. Your financial aid will be adjusted and some or all of the award may be canceled if you are identified as a non-attending student. You will be responsible to repay any aid that was adjusted or canceled due to failure to attend/participate in class(es).

Eligibility Determination

Financial aid eligibility is calculated using a formula called Federal Methodology (FM). FM calculates your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) based on the information that you provide on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Your EFC is the amount you and your family are expected to pay toward your educational expenses. The Federal PELL Grant award is based on the EFC. Other programs are based on need. The college's COA - your EFC = your financial need. Your total need based aid package cannot exceed your financial need. Your total financial aid award cannot exceed the COA.

Over-Award Liability

If financial aid funds are disbursed to you and later it is determined to have been based on erroneous information or process errors, you are liable to repay NHCC the amount of financial aid you received in excess of your correct eligibility. Furthermore, if you are administratively withdrawn or dropped from some or all of your courses, you are liable to repay any funds that NHCC is required to return on your behalf.

Repeated Courses

Federal regulation limits the number of times a student may repeat a course and receive financial aid for that course. A student may receive aid to repeat a previously passed course one additional time. This limit applies whether or not the student received aid for earlier enrollments in the course.

Special Circumstance Appeals

Financial aid eligibility is based on parental and/or student prior-prior year income. If a family has special circumstances, regulations allow us the option to review the financial aid application. Possible reasons for a special circumstance review include: unemployment, divorce, death of a spouse or parent, loss of child support, loss of Social Security benefits, or loss of other income benefits. The circumstance in question must be able to be documented and significantly change the ability to contribute. Appeals are typically a one-time exception. The documentation required will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Start the appeal process by completing the Appeal Special Circumstances form. The financial aid administrator’s decision on a special circumstance review is final.

Student Loan Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct for Financial Aid prohibits: revenue sharing arrangements, most lender gifts to employees of the financial aid office and their family members with certain minimal exceptions, employees from receiving fees or other compensation for consulting with lenders, the institution from using award packaging or other methods to assign a first time borrower’s loan to a particular lender, the institution from delaying or refusing to certify any loan based on the borrower’s choice of a particular lender, the request or acceptance of any funds for private education loans in exchange for benefits to the lender, such as a preferred lender arrangement, and the institution from requesting or accepting assistance from any lender for call - center staffing or financial aid office staffing financial aid employees who serve on an advisory board for any lender from receiving any compensation or financial benefit for such service, other than reimbursement or reasonable expenses. The College annually notifies employees who have responsibilities related to Title IV federal loans of the Code of Conduct for Financial Aid Personnel.

Withdraw From All Classes / Return of Title IV funds

If a student will be withdrawing completely from a term, they must do so according to NHCC’s withdraw policies. The transaction must be completed via NHCC’s online system (E-Services). The withdrawal must be completed by the published deadlines and the student is responsible for understanding the impact of such action on their student account. The outcome of a complete withdrawal depends on when the withdrawal is initiated and the type of financial aid received. A complete withdrawal may also negatively affect academic progress.

Financial aid recipients who completely withdraw from their period of enrollment or stop attending classes prior to the 60% point of their period of enrollment are subject to the federal Return of Title IV calculation for federal aid and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (MHESO) refund calculation for Minnesota State Grant, SELF Loan, Child Care Grant, Safety Officer's Survivor's Grant, Indian Scholarship, ACHIEVE Scholarship, and Learn and Earn. The percentage of Title IV aid to be returned is equal to the number of calendar days remaining in the period of enrollment divided by the number of calendar days in the period of enrollment. Scheduled breaks of more than four consecutive days are excluded. Examples of both calculations are available in the Financial Aid Office.

If the student who totally withdrew (officially or unofficially) from classes received State financial aid funding (including State Grant, Child Care Grant, SELF Loan, Safety Officer's Survivor's Grant, Indian Scholarship, ACHIEVE Scholarship, and Learn and Earn), a portion of the unearned funds must be returned if the total withdrawal took place within the first 20 business days of the semester (full semester classes).

The responsibility to repay the unearned financial aid is shared by the college and the student. First the college’s share is returned to Title IV programs in the following order:

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan,
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan,
PLUS Loan,
Federal Pell Grant,
Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG), and
Federal SEOG.

Any remaining unearned aid is then the responsibility of the student and must be collected from the student and returned to the Title IV programs in the order listed above.

NHCC will return its share of unearned Title IV funds no later than 45 days after it determines that the student withdrew or stopped attending classes. Students return their share of unearned aid attributable to a loan under the terms and conditions of the promissory note. The student loan amounts that remain outstanding consist of the loans disbursed to the student minus any loans the school repaid. Grant repayment is made to the college under the repayment guidelines identified in a notice sent to students after the recalculation is complete. The amount of unearned grant aid to be repaid by the student consists of the initial amount of unearned aid due from the student minus the loans to be repaid by the student. The amount of grant overpayment due from a student is limited to the amount by which the original grant overpayment exceeds half of the total Title IV grant funds disbursed and could have been disbursed to the student. If the amount is less than $50.00, the student is not responsible for returning funds to Title IV grant programs.

Module Courses: Courses which do not run the full length of the term are considered module courses. A student enrolled in only module courses is considered to have withdrawn for return of Title IV purposes when the student ceases attendance and is not scheduled to begin another course within a period of enrollment for more than 45 calendar days after the end of the module the student ceased attending. A student who meets one of the following exemption criteria is not considered to have withdrawn:

The student successfully completes one module that includes 49 percent or more of the number of days in the payment period, excluding scheduled breaks of five or more consecutive days and all days between modules
The student successfully completes a combination of modules that cumulatively contain 49 percent or more of the number of days in the payment period, excluding scheduled breaks of five or more consecutive days and all days between modules
The student successfully completes coursework equal to or greater than the coursework required for the college's definition of a half-time student under 34 CFR 668.2(b) for the payment period.

Post Withdrawal Disbursement: If the student has received less Title IV aid than the amount earned, the student is due a post-withdrawal disbursement. A post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds will be disbursed within 45 days of the date of the college's determination. Title IV grant funds will be applied to any unpaid tuition and fees balance for the term. If Title IV loan funds are part of a post-withdrawal disbursement, the student ( or parent, in the case of a PLUS loan) will be contacted in writing of their loan eligibility within 30 days of the date the college determined the student withdrew. The student will have 14 days to respond to accept or decline the loan funds. The disbursement of accepted loan funds will be made no later than 180 days from when the college received the acceptance. If the post-withdrawal disbursement creates excess financial aid on the student's account, the funds will be disbursed to the student as soon as possible and no later than 14 days after the return to Title IV calculation was completed.

Tuition and Fee Refund: Students may also be eligible for a partial tuition and fees refund. Information on the college's tuition refund policy, including the dates and refund percentages, are located on the college calendar.

Official and Unofficial Withdraw From Classes

If a student will be withdrawing completely from a term, they must do so according to NHCC’s withdraw policies. The transaction must be completed using NHCC’s E-Services within the published deadlines. The student is responsible for understanding the impact of such action on their student account. The withdrawal date is the date the student begins the process. The date of the withdrawal is then used to calculate the Return of Title IV.

If a student unofficially withdraws (stops attending) from the College, there would be no official notification provided by the student. The College is not required to take attendance and thus will determine the withdrawal date (last date of attendance-LDA) no later than 30 days after the end of the payment period. Grades of FN-1858 are reported by faculty designating the student never attended. Grades of F are reported by faculty indicating the student completed the term but failed the course. Grades of FN with an LDA reported by faculty indicate the student attended at least one class session but last attended on the LDA date. Faculty also report LDA’s for the grade of NC. The Financial Aid office, the Records Office, and the Accounting Office work together to determine which students are subject to R2T4 and the date to be used.

Withdraw From Some Classes

Withdrawing from even just one credit, can significantly change your financial aid eligibility.

All or part of your financial aid may be reduced or canceled.
If you did not regularly attend/participate in class(es), financial aid eligibility will be canceled.
If you are enrolled less than half time, you will begin repayment on your student loan when your grace period ends.
You may not meet academic progress requirements for future financial aid.
You may have a balance due on your account because your financial aid awards may have to be adjusted.
If you withdraw from class after the tuition refund period ends, you will responsible for tuition payment even if your financial aid is reduced or canceled.
A hold will be placed on your account until you pay the balance in full and you will not be allowed to enroll in any future semesters or access college services (transcripts, etc.).
If you have stopped attending class(es), you must immediately withdraw yourself from class(es). Contact the Financial Aid Office if you have questions on your specific situation.

Verification

If your application is selected to be verified, we are required by law to confirm information listed on your application. Items selected for verification may include: household size, number in college, adjusted gross income, U.S. taxes paid, certain types of untaxed income and benefits, and identity and educational purpose.

Individuals selected for verification will need to provide the documentation requested on their Aid Application Status Letter located in their NHCC eServices account.

The Financial Aid Office compares the information provided on the FAFSA to the documentation collected during the verification process. If there are errors on your application, we will update your application, recalculate your aid eligibility and send a current award letter within approximately 14 days. All information required for verification must be submitted to the Financial Aid Office no later than 14 days before the end of your first term of enrollment. If you are selected for verification and plan to withdraw from school prior to completing the verification, contact the Financial Aid Office. Students who do not provide the required verification documents will not receive financial aid.