Financial Aid Award Letter Terms and Conditions

• All Financial aid awards are estimated and subject to change based on enrollment status or changes made by you or Community College of Philadelphia.
• Your award may not exceed your Community College of Philadelphia Cost of Attendance.
• You must accept all Federal Direct Loans and Federal Work-Study awards
•  All fees and financial obligations due to Community College of Philadelphia will be deducted from your financial aid award, however, check the tuition and fees due against your refund check to ensure that all obligations have been fulfilled.
• Financial aid awarded to you with the exception of work study funds will be credited to your college account. If your funds exceed college charges, the difference will be refunded to you. The college will process refunds to students weekly.  Refund checks will be mailed directly to student's home address.
• If you have or will receive a scholarship, loan, employment assistance or other forms of financial assistance from a source outside of the college you are required to report this to the Financial Aid Office.
• Your award may be automatically cancelled, if you knowingly misrepresented, provided incorrect or false information on any one or all applications for financial aid. Work Study awards are subject to availability of funds.
• You may not receive Federal/State aid at multiple institutions simultaneously.
• To ensure that your bill is paid, each time you make a change to your roster, you should check with the Student Tuition Services office to ensure that your obligation is fulfilled.
• Be sure to read the Enrollment Information Guide. It is a comprehensive overview of payment deadlines, refund and payment deadlines.
• Students who receive financial aid may have to return funds to the College or to the Department of Education if they withdraw from any or all courses. Students who stop attending all of their courses may have to return their aid.
• The amount received for financial aid varies depending on the expected family contribution (EFC), cost of attendance and enrollment level. The student's EFC is determined by the Federal Government when the student applies for financial aid, not Community College of Philadelphia.
• Federal Direct Loans are made available to students admitted to a degree-seeking program, enrolled at least half-time (6 credits per semester). For a complete listing of loan amounts, see the Financial Aid User's Guide.

Award Changes and Adjustments

Students should read the College Catalog and the Financial Aid User's Guide carefully for important financial aid eligibility criteria. Many circumstances could change a student's financial aid eligibility. Some changes may take place after a student is enrolled for classes and has received financial aid. Listed are some changes that may affect eligibility.

• Withdrawing from the College
• Dropping or adding classes
• Failing to maintain satisfactory academic progress
• Failing/withdrawing from all courses or a term
• Change of major
• Receiving outside aid from other funding sources
• Failing to submitted requested documentation
• Bankruptcy
• Defaulting on Federal Student Loans
• Providing late, inaccurate or incomplete information
• Discharge of loan due to disability
• Receiving adjusted sources of aid such as PHEAA State Grants

Financial Aid Academic Progress Requirements

• Students must complete 67 percent of all credits they attempt
• Students must earn an acceptable Grade Point Average (GPA)
• Students must earn passing grades in their classes
• Federal regulations governing Financial Aid are more strict than the Academic policy at Community College of Philadelphia. Students may receive "academic amnesty;" however, they may be required to pay for their courses.

Return of Title IV Funds

The Office of Financial Aid is required by federal statute to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term. The federal Title IV financial aid programs must be recalculated in these situations.

If a student leaves the institution prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term, the Office of Financial Aid recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula:

Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula: Aid to be returned = (100% of the aid that could be disbursed minus the percentage of earned aid) multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.

If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution would be required to return a portion of the funds to the Department of Education and the student would be required to return a portion of the funds to the College. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe the college.

If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the institution would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid within 120 days of the student's withdrawal.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

• Unsubsidized Direct Loans (other than PLUS loans)
• Subsidized Direct Loans
• Direct PLUS Loans
• Federal Pell Grants for which a Return of funds is required
• Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants for which a Return of funds is required
• Other assistance under this Title for which a Return of funds is required