Financial Aid
Financial aid is available to Moraine Valley students who prove eligibility and are enrolled in approved programs. Types of funds available to assist students include the following:
Federal Funds
Pell Grant
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
Work Study Program (FWSP)
Direct Loans (Stafford and PLUS)
State Funds
Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP)
Police/Fire Officer Survivor Grant
Grant Program for Dependents of Correctional Officers
Other Funds
Adjunct Faculty Organization Scholarship
Joanne Casolari Memorial Scholarship
Chicagoland Regional College Program
Jane E. Crawley Scholarship
Faculty Association Scholarship
Barbara J. Lehrman Memorial Scholarship
Moraine Valley Community College Foundation Scholarships
Moraine Valley Distinguished Scholar Award
Student Government Association Book Scholarship
Student Life Award of Excellence
Support Staff Association Scholarship
Detailed information about these awards is available in the Financial Aid Office or at morainevalley.edu/financialaid.
Application for Financial Aid—To apply for financial aid at Moraine Valley, applicants should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Moraine Valley Data Confirmation form. The FAFSA application form is available online at fafsa.gov.
Early application enhances students’ chances of obtaining financial aid. Qualified applicants whose files are complete by May 1 will receive priority consideration. Eligible students must have all paperwork turned in to the Financial Aid Office by July 1 to be considered for a fall semester book voucher, Dec. 1 for a spring semester book voucher, and May 1 for a summer semester book voucher. Since processing financial aid can take up to eight weeks, students must plan well in advance of the time they will begin their course of study. Specific deadlines can be found at morainevalley.edu/financialaid. To qualify for financial aid, a student must meet the following criteria:
- be a citizen of the United States or a permanent resident;
- be enrolled at Moraine Valley in an eligible program which is at least 16 credit hours in length. The Department of Education requires that no more than 25 percent of an eligible program be offered at a location other than Moraine Valley Community College or its extension sites (the Education Center at Blue Island and Southwest Education Center in Tinley Park). Students enrolled only in developmental/remedial classes or the Intensive English Language Program are not eligible for loans. If these courses are required to complete an eligible program, then these courses will be covered through the Pell Grant and MAP. Students are limited to 30 credit hours attempted.
- meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP);
- demonstrate financial need; and
- have the potential to complete the educational program chosen. Must possess a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Students who qualify for federal and/or state funds will be informed of how and when they will receive their financial aid award via an award letter.
Students who are interested in an educational loan must complete a Federal Loan Request Form to initiate the loan process.
Pell Grant Eligibility
Pell Grant Duration of Eligibility—The duration of a student’s eligibility to receive Pell Grant funds is 12 semesters or 600 percent. A percentage is calculated for students not attending full-time.
Summer Pell Grant–Students are only eligible for the summer Pell Grant if they received Pell Grant funds for only fall or spring, or if the students were paid less than full-time in either fall or spring. For financial aid purposes, 12 credit hours or more is considered full-time; 9-11 credit hours is considered three-quarter-time; 6-8 credit hours is considered half-time; and 5 or less credit hours is considered less than half-time.
Repeated Courses—Courses may be repeated once and count toward enrollment status for Title IV Aid (Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, Federal Work-Study, and Federal Direct Loans) if the student previously received a grade of “D” or better in the course. If a student passed a class once and then is repaid for retaking it and fails the second time, that failure counts as their paid retake, and the student may not be paid for retaking the class a third time.
Satisfactory Academic Progress for Recipients of Financial Aid—According to federal and state guidelines, students must maintain satisfactory academic progress to be eligible to receive financial assistance.
Moraine Valley has established the following standards of progress for students receiving federal and state financial assistance:
- To be eligible for financial assistance, students must maintain a minimum cumulative 2.0 grade point average, which includes developmental and remedial courses.
- Students must earn credit (grade of A, B, C, or D) for 67 percent of the cumulative hours in which they enroll.
- A student’s eligibility for financial aid at Moraine Valley will terminate if it is determined that the student cannot complete their program within 150 percent maximum time frame period allowed. Credit hours attempted include developmental courses, remedial courses, transferred hours, and hours forgiven under the Forgiveness policy.
- Students who transfer hours from another institution which count toward the completion of their program at Moraine Valley will have those hours counted in their maximum time frame.
- Students who apply for financial aid for the first time who have a previous history at Moraine Valley must have a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average and have earned 67 percent of hours attempted to be eligible for federal/state funds. The student’s record will be reviewed as if he or she had been on aid.
Students are only allowed to repeat courses to replace previously passed courses one time and receive Title IV funds. When evaluating SAP, both attempts will be calculated in the student’s GPA, attempted and completed (if applicable) credits. This repeat policy applies to all courses whether or not financial aid was utilized. Students may be paid for repeatedly failing the same course (normal SAP policy still applies to such cases). If students withdraw before completing the course that they are being paid Title IV funds for retaking, the course is not counted as their one allowed retake for that course. However, if students passed a class once and are repaid for retaking it but fail the second time, the failure counts as their paid retake and they may not be paid for retaking the class a third time.
Courses in which students receive “W” or “I” will count as hours attempted but not as hours earned. They will not be included in the grade point average.
Student records will be reviewed at the end of each semester, including the summer session. If a student’s grade point average is below 2.0 and/or the student has not completed their program within 150 percent maximum time frame allowed, an email or letter will be sent to the student stating the following:
Notifications to Students—Students receive the following notifications:
a.
Warning Letter—Warning letters alert students that although they remain eligible for Title IV funding, they must return back to a satisfactory status at the end of the next payment period enrolled.
b. Suspension/Termination—Suspension/Termination letters notify students that they are no longer eligible for Title IV funding as well as offer guidelines how to regain Title IV funding.
c. Warning Maximum Time—Warning maximum time frame letters warn students who are at or reaching 120 percent maximum time frame to meet with an academic advisor to determine how many credits remain to complete their program. This notice also alerts students that they must complete their program within 150 percent maximum time frame.
d. Maximum Time—Maximum time frame letters notify students that they are no longer eligible to receive Title IV funding because they weren’t able to complete their program within 150 percent time frame allowed.
Students applying for a Stafford loan must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 for the loan to be disbursed. There is no probationary period or appeal procedure for student borrowers per the college’s default management plan.
How to Calculate the 67% Completion Standard
- Get a copy of your transcript from the Registration Office.
- Total your attempted credit hours. These are defined as enrolled hours on or after the first day of class. Courses in which students receive an A, B, C, D, F, I, W, and/or X will be counted toward hours attempted.
- Total your successfully completed credit hours. These are defined as those with a grade of A, B, C, or D.
- Divide your successfully completed credit hours by your attempted credit hours.
If the resulting percentage is 67% or greater, then you have met the 67% completion standard for financial aid.
Example: 19 successfully completed hours divided by 27 attempted credit hours = .703 or 70%.
Repeated courses will be counted in hours attempted, but only the most recent grade received will be computed into the grade point average. The hours for the original course will not be added to hours earned.
How to Calculate Grade Point Average Standard
Example Calculation (Semester Grade Report)
| Course |
Letter Grade |
Grade Points Value |
|
Credit Hours |
|
Grade Points |
| COM-101 |
B |
3 |
x |
3 |
= |
9 |
| PSY-101 |
D |
1 |
x |
3 |
= |
3 |
| MTH-095 |
C |
2 |
x |
3 |
= |
6 |
| BIO-111 |
A |
4 |
x |
4 |
= |
16 |
| IMS-101 |
F |
0 |
x |
3 |
= |
0 |
| Totals |
|
|
|
16 |
|
34 |
Dividing 34 grade points by 16 credit hours gives a GPA of 2.125.
A student’s cumulative GPA is calculated by using total grade points on transcript divided by total credit hours attempted.
Procedure for Appeal and Reinstatement—Reinstatement will occur after classes have been taken at the student’s own expense, a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average has been achieved, and 67 percent of hours attempted have been earned.
Students not meeting SAP requirements have the option to appeal their suspension/termination of financial aid. It is the responsibility of the students to initiate any appeal. Students must submit their appeal between the dates noted on the appeal form in order to be considered for the appropriate term. Removal of an academic restriction by Admissions, Registration, Counseling and Career Development, or another Moraine Valley office does not constitute reinstatement of federal aid eligibility. All appeal decisions are final. Please note: Sitting out for an enrollment period(s) is not sufficient to re-establish eligibility for Title IV aid. Appeals are based on a documentable extenuating circumstances impacting academic performance. Extenuating circumstances are considered to be past events that are no longer barriers to prevent academic progress. The appeal application must support how the students are now in a position to be academically successful. Appeals will not be granted for the repeated circumstances. For example, an appeal can be granted due to a medical issue (back surgery in 2010) placing the students on probation or an academic plan. If students are placed on termination again, the same medical issue (back surgery in 2010) cannot be used as the basis for the appeal. The latter appeal must be based on a reason different from the first appeal. Note: Circumstances related to the typical adjustment to college life such as working while attending school, financial issues related to paying bills and car maintenance/travel to campus are not considered as extenuating for purposes of appealing suspension/termination of financial aid.
Refund Policy and Repayment of Financial Aid—According to the updated version (Section 668.22) of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, students receiving Title IV funds (Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG and Federal Direct Loans) and who withdraw from all their classes (officially or unofficially) within any timeframe of the semester will be subject to the federal and Moraine Valley’s refund policy.
Moraine Valley Community College’s refund policy related to student withdrawal states that it is a student’s responsibility to drop a course within published deadlines.
Courses dropped within the refund period will not appear on the students record. No-shows do not constitute a drop. 100 percent refund up to 8 percent of the course taken. Contact Cashier’s Office for refund dates based on number of weeks in class. A student is entitled to a full refund for any class that is cancelled by the college.
Refunds for short-term classes vary according to the length of the course. More information is available in the Cashier’s Office or at morainevalley.edu.
The federal refund policy states that the student may retain only the amount of aid that he/she has earned (as a result of the prorated amount of time the student has been in attendance for the semester.) Any aid that is not earned must be returned to its source. Some federal programs, such as grants, may have smaller amounts to be refunded based on the particular aid program and the student’s date of withdrawal. The student will be responsible for any tuition and fee balance resulting from the refund(s).
Further details and examples can be obtained in the Financial Aid Office, S107.