Revisions to Federal financial aid awards are not uncommon. Sometimes your family may have a change in circumstances, such as a parental change of employment, additional expenses, or emergency situations, or you may wish to tailor your award to suit your individual needs, as with higher work-study and less loan money.
If you or someone in your immediate family has been affected financially, due to COVID-19. Please visit our office for more information about what options may be available to you through a Special Circumstance Appeal. Adjustments include income changes due to a loss of job, reduction in hours, medical bills, etc.
We recognize that each student's situation is unique, so please communicate your special requests to our office so we may determine the appropriate documentation that must be submitted to take your special circumstances into consideration. Once the appropriate documentation is received and processed, we will make every attempt to grant your request, provided funds are available.
Pell grant eligible students can receive up to 150% of their scheduled Pell award each year. If you were a Pell Grant eligible student in fall and/or spring, you may qualify for a Pell grant for summer. If you are eligible for a summer Pell grant, we will award you automatically, just register for courses.
To be eligible for a summer Pell grant, you must:
Pell grant lifetime eligibility is 600% or a maximum of 12 full-time semesters to receive the Pell grant. Once you have used 600% (12 full-time semesters) of your Pell grant eligibility, you can no longer receive the Pell grant. You can check for your remaining eligibility level online by logging on to studentaid.gov using your FSA ID. Any Pell grant you receive during the summer semester is included in your Pell grant Lifetime Eligibility Used calculation.
Summer financial aid awarding will begin once summer registration opens, and only occurs when a student is registered for summer classes. Once you register for classes, if you qualify, you will be offered aid for summer, if you are eligible. If you would like to be considered for a loan for the summer, you must submit the loan request form.
Summer Financial Aid, including the Pell grant, will disburse to your account after the first week of summer classes, and your attendance is verified by your instructors. Refunds are generally processed in the second week of classes. Refunds are only given if you have an excess of financial aid after all charges are paid.
It is possible that you could owe money back for all or part of your Federal Pell Grant if you do not complete classes that you registered for in the summer. The amount you may owe will be calculated based on the drop or withdrawal date, the number of credits, and the last day that you attended classes. It is advisable to speak with a Student Financial Aid Advisor before withdrawing or dropping any classes to fully understand the impact on your financial aid.
Your summer Pell Grant amount will depend on the number of credits you are registered in, your expected family contribution, as well as your Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU). The Pell Grant amount will be adjusted if your enrollment level changes up until the end of the add/drop deadline. We will automatically award you the maximum amount you are eligible for in the summer Pell grant.
IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT)
To use the IRS DRT, when completing the FAFSA “Financial Information” section you will be able to select the “Link to the IRS” button to be transferred to the IRS site. (If you are not eligible to use the IRS DRT, you will not see this button.)
Provide the information requested from the IRS in order to confirm your identity. If the IRS site says it can’t find your data, make sure the information you entered matches your tax return exactly, including items such as abbreviations in your mailing address.
After confirming your identity on the IRS site, choose the option to “Transfer Now.” Note: For your protection, your tax return information will not display on the IRS site or on the FAFSA form, but we will inform you that the transfer was successful.
Once you’ve transferred your tax return information into your FAFSA form, navigate to the “Sign & Submit” page. On the “Sign & Submit” page, read the certification statement and check the box indicating that you agree with the statement. Then select “Submit My FAFSA” at the bottom of the page.
Ordering a Tax Transcript
To order a Tax Return Transcript you may go to the IRS website to order a copy by mail or create an account to download a copy of your tax return transcript online. The online option is not available to everyone. Several pieces of identifying information are required to create an account and those items are listed at the link above.
If you did not file taxes or if your address has changed from the time that you filed your taxes please use the 4506-t form to request either your Verification of Non-Filing letter or a copy of your tax return transcript to be sent to another address.
Availability of Funds: The college will not have enough money from SEOG, Work-study, and SSIG funds to meet the requirements of all students who show financial need. Students who meet the priority date application requirements and who enrolled on a full-time basis will receive priority (first) consideration. Students who do not meet the priority date and/or who enroll on a less than full-time basis will be considered for these funds as available.
Types of Aid Offered:
Grants are educational funding that does not have to be repaid after graduation. Federal Pell Grants are awarded through participating institutions to students with financial needs who have not received their first bachelor's degree. More information about Federal Grants can be found online at https://www.csi.edu/financial-aid/grants.aspx
A student loan is money for educational expenses that must be paid back with interest. Student loans can help you meet today's education expenses, but they will also bind you to a future of financial commitment that can last as long as 10 years. That's why it's important to fully understand your rights and responsibilities as a borrower before you take out a loan. More information about student loans can be found online at https://www.csi.edu/financial-aid/loans.aspx
College Work-Study is a federal and state-funded need-based program for those students who have applied for and are determined to be eligible for this program. More information about the College Work-Study program can be found online at https://www.csi.edu/financial-aid/work-study.aspx
Financial Aid Disbursement
All Financial Aid awards are automatically applied towards tuition and fees, room and board. CSI disburses financial aid funds in excess of these charges to the student (or borrowing parent in case of Plus loans). With the student's permission, CSI can apply excess Federal Financial Aid funds (the amount left over after paying tuition/fees and room/board) towards other educationally related charges. These charges may include: traffic/parking fines, child care fees, library fines, Student Health fees, late fees, reinstatement fees, and returned check charges, etc. Students can fill out an Authorization for the Deduction of Miscellaneous Charges form to have miscellaneous charges deducted from their Federal Financial Aid.
Verification is a federal process that selects approximately 30% of all students who file for federal financial aid to verify or prove the accuracy of the information that was reported on the FAFSA form. When a student is selected for Verification the College of Southern Idaho will require the Verification Worksheet be completed (if the student is a dependent student, at least one parent must sign this form along with the student), a signed copy of the federal tax form, and a copy of all W-2's. If the student is considered a dependent for Federal financial aid purposes, the student will also need to provide a signed copy of the parent's federal tax form and W-2's.
By the federal definition, a student is allowed to apply for Federal financial aid without reporting parental income or other information and who does not need to have their parental signatures on the financial aid forms if-
All students are required to meet CSI's Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress in order to receive and maintain eligibility for financial aid funds. Students must meet all standards (General Requirements, GPA Requirements, Completion Rate Requirements, and Maximum Credit Hour Requirements) in order to initially be eligible for, and maintain eligibility for financial aid. The standards of eligibility for some scholarships or awards may differ as defined by the awarding agency or department from which the award was made. Students lose their federal financial aid eligibility when: They fail to make/maintain satisfactory academic progress.
Once placed on suspension, there are several options for a student to re-establish eligibility for financial aid.
In order to appeal, you must first present the Satisfactory Progress Appeal including a detailed statement explaining your extenuating circumstances along with third-party documentation verifying your claim. The Satisfactory Progress Appeal can be found online here. The Financial Aid office will review your statement and documentation to determine if your extenuating circumstances have merit. If your extenuating circumstances are deemed to have merit, you will be granted the ability to complete step two of the appeal. If it is determined that your extenuating circumstances and/or documentation are invalid your appeal will be denied.
Step two of the appeal requires that you complete an academic plan with your major advisor. Access to the online academic plan is granted by the Financial Aid Office pending review of the student's extenuating circumstances. Approval/denial of the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal will be dependent on your academic plan and your ability to meet the terms of Satisfactory Academic Progress, therefore, receiving initial approval of extenuating circumstances does not guarantee that your appeal will be approved. Incomplete appeals/documentation will be denied.
Additionally, students who are found to owe a repayment of Federal financial aid and/or are not in good standing on a previous student loan will lose their eligibility for the current year and all proceeding years until the repayment and/or default are satisfactorily resolved.
Yes, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 reduced the duration of a student's eligibility to receive Federal Pell Grant from 18 full-time semesters (or its equivalent) to 12 full-time semesters (or its equivalent). This change is effective with the 2012-2013 Award year and applies to all Federal Pell Grant eligible students.
Yes, Undergraduate students (students working on a degree below a Master's) are held to the following lifetime limits-
Dependent Students=$31,000 (up to $23,000 may be subsidized)
Independent Students=$57,000 (up to $23,000 may be subsidized).
With this information in mind, it's very important for students to budget and plan appropriately for continuing their studies beyond CSI. Additionally, graduate and professional students (those working on a degree beyond a bachelor) are ineligible for Federal Direct Subsidized Loan under the Budget Control Act of 2011.
Satisfactory Academic Progress: For Federal financial aid purposes students are expected to meet satisfactory academic progress each year in order to initially establish and maintain their future eligibility for Federal financial aid. This standard is outlined on the satisfactory academic policy page online at https://www.csi.edu/financial-aid/satisfactory-academic-progress-policy.aspx
Entrance Counseling: All Direct Loan borrowers receiving student loans through the College of Southern Idaho, for the first time, must complete the online Entrance Counseling before their student loans can be disbursed. Students who have completed an entrance counseling session at CSI previously do not need to repeat an entrance counseling session. The Entrance Counseling can be completed online at https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/index.action
Loan Repayment: Contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center at 1-800-848-0979 or visit the Direct Loans Website online at http://www.myedaccount.com for Direct Loan repayment information.
Exit Counseling: If you drop below six credits in any one semester or if you are graduating from the College of Southern Idaho, you will be required to complete an Exit Counseling session. To complete your Exit Counseling, use this link and print the forms to use during your exit counseling. Connect online to complete your Direct Loan Exit Counseling. Log in using your SSN, DOB, and FSA ID.
Informed Borrowing Confirmation: Borrowers will view cumulative loan balance and repayment obligations. They will need to confirm their loan balance for each new award year stating 2020-21 forward, before a new loan can be disbursed. Informed borrowing confirmation requirement will be implemented April 2020.