Making the Student Portal work for you
Your student portal can let you know if it’s time for you to refinance.
Students must refinance at least once every 9 months. In some circumstances, students may need to refinance earlier than this. Simply filling out the FAFSA does not mean that you have refinanced. You can go online to your student portal to view any financial aid that you have been awarded. Under Financial Aid- Award Letter, you will find a list of any financial aid that you have been awarded. For instance, you may see the following:
| Academic Year | Description | Status | |
| 1 | 2/4/2013 – 10/30/2013 | 5 Packaged — Accepted/Signed | |
| 2 | 11/3/2013– 7/30/2014 | 5 Packaged — Accepted/Signed | |
| 3 | 8/3/2014 – 4/29/2014 | 5 Packaged — Accepted/Signed | |
If today’s date was 05/04/10, then you would need to refinance, as no financial aid has been awarded to you for this current month.
I know I have to refinance, but what all do I need to do?
In order to refinance you may need to fill out a new FAFSA. The FAFSA is a free application that determines your eligibility to receive Federal Financial Aid. This form must be filled out annually, usually by July 1st of that year to ensure there are no delays in receiving your financial aid. Please go to FASFA in order to complete your application. In order to determine if you do ask yourself the following questions:
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When do I graduate?
Looking forward 9 months, what month will it be?
If the answer for either question is before July of that year, you do NOT need to fill out a new FAFSA. However, If the answer for either question extends past July, you will need to fill out the FAFSA for the New Year.
*The FAFSA for a particular award year can only be completed once*
You will need a four-digit pin number in order to sign your FAFSA. If you do not have or know your FAFSA four-digit pin number, from the FAFSA website, you can click on PIN site at the top of the screen. Once there, you can check your PIN status. If it states that you do not have a PIN, simply apply for a PIN. If it states that you already have a PIN, simply request a duplicate PIN. If you happen to lock yourself out, you may have to re-apply for a new PIN. Please remember that it can take 48 hours for the Social Security Administration to verify the information that you supply in order to validate your new PIN.
Once your FAFSA has been completed schedule an appointment with your financial aid office. There is some paperwork that you will need to sign off on. Simply having a completed, FAFSA does not mean that you have refinanced. Please note that approximately one out of every three students will be selected for a process, in which we may need to verify the information you have submitted on your FAFSA. Please note that none of your Financial Aid will post to your account until this process is completed.
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How do I know if I can Stipend Funds from my account?
Under My Account- account summary, your balance will be listed at the top of the page. If the number is in (XXX), this means there is a credit on the account. If there are no (), then you may be waiting on funds to post to your account. The example on the left shows an account with a balance due, and the example on the right shows an account with a credit balance.
Account Summary Account Summary
Your Name Your Name
Your Enrollment Period Your Enrollment period
Enrollment balance is $659.84 Enrollment period is ($659.84)
Please remember that your tuition and fees must be taken off your account before you can stipend funds off. You can determine this by simply looking at your ledger. First, determine when your most recent quarter started. If you are not sure go under Financial Aid- Award Letter, and open up the award letter for the enrollment period that you are currently in. On the top of the page, you will find your loan disbursement amount and in which quarter funds are being disbursed. Loan periods will read as follows: for January 2010- 201001QA, for February 2010- 201002QB, for March 2010- 201003QC, for April 2010- 201004QA and so on. Please remember that each quarter is a total of three months. If today is 4/5/10, and your quarters read: 201004QA, 201007QA, and 201010QA you can determine that your quarter has just begun in April. Tuition and fees are not taken out until the end of the second week, of the beginning of your quarter, and at this point, you would not be able to Stipend funds from your account for approximately one more week.
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I know I have funds available on my account, how do I receive them?
Go online to your student portal under account summary and print off one page with your balance on top of the form. Then, get an attendance verification worksheet and a request for funds form from the Student Records Office at the main campus, or the bookstore at the Norwood Learning Site. Take your attendance verification form to your class for your instructor to sign off on, and complete the request form with the exact amount you would like from your account. Completed Stipend requests can be turned in to the main campus in the Accounting office, or at Norwood in the bookstore. Please allow 3-14 days for processing.
Why haven’t I received any updates from the Financial Aid Office?
Please stop by Student Services to update your personal information. Updating information with your instructors does not update your information for the Financial Aid Office and you will not receive the important information you need in regards to your financial aid.
How can I get more money to finance my education?
EDMC Scholarship Foundation awards scholarships to students that have attended for at least three consecutive months and are enrolled in either the LPN program or any other associates degree program. To find out more information on please visit your financial aid office.
Work Study is a program that provides jobs to help students with financial need pay for educational expenses. Please check with the Financial Aid Office to determine if you qualify for this program.
AmeriCorps is a national service program that provides education awards in exchange for a year or two of community service. Contact them at 1-800-942-2677, or AmeriCorps.
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