2021-2022 Catalog > Financial Aid

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 (FWS)

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 complete all required verification documents through the MVConnect Self-Service portal. The FAFSA application 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 four 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 that 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 or its extension sites (the Education Center at Blue Island and Southwest Education Center in Tinley Park). Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn is an approved location for the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) degree program only. The EMS certificate is not financial aid eligible.   
• Meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
• Demonstrate financial need.
• Have the potential to complete the educational program chosen. Must possess a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate. Students who qualify for federal and or
  state funds will be informed of how and when they will receive their financial aid award through an Offer Letter on the MVConnect Self-Service Portal. All financial aid eligible students must sign their Offer Letter annually to complete the financial aid process. 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 – Year-Round Pell – Year-Round Pell Grants

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 allows a student to receive Federal Pell Grant funds for up to 150 percent of the student’s Pell Grant Scheduled Award for an award year. This provision is effective beginning with the 2017-2018 financial aid award year.

To be eligible for the additional Pell Grant funds, the student must meet all general eligibility requirements to receive financial aid for the payment period and must be enrolled at least six eligible credit hours in the payment period for which the student receives the additional Pell Grant funds in excess of 100 percent of the student’s Pell Grant scheduled award.

Students who have not used 100 percent of their scheduled award may be 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.

Satisfactory Academic Progress for Recipients of Financial Aid

All students at Moraine Valley who receive federal financial aid must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) toward completion of their degrees/certificates at the end of each period of enrollment.  This policy applies to the Federal Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Work-Study, Direct Loans, Stafford Loan, Parent Plus Loans, Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP), and military Veterans’ benefits. 

Only courses that satisfy requirements outlined by the curriculum guide, catalog, or graduation evaluation form can be used to determine your enrollment status for financial aid purposes. If a student takes a course that does not fulfill a program requirement, the student must use other funding to cover such a course.  Your financial aid SAP and enrollment status are based on your most recent program of study at Moraine Valley.

The U.S. Department of Education requires a policy to use both the qualitative (GPA) and quantitative (completion percentage) criteria when measuring SAP.

Moraine Valley reviews SAP at the end of each payment period and has approved the following standards defining SAP in accordance with regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education.

SAP Standards

• Cumulative GPA is a minimum 2.00 or higher, and;
• Cumulative completion rate is a minimum 67% or higher, and;
  • Students must earn credit for at least 67 percent of the cumulative credit hours enrolled (Completion rate is calculated by dividing credit hours successfully completed by credit hours attempted.  Successfully completed courses are courses where student earns a grade of A, B, C, or D; grades of I, W or F are not considered successful completion.).
• Completion of program within 150 percent maximum time-frame allowed.
  • The maximum time-frame for the completion of a degree/certificate program is defined as no more than 150 percent of the normal time-frame required to complete the degree program. For an undergraduate program, this is measured in credit hours. For example, a normal two year degree program requires 62 credits to complete (graduate). Students must complete the degree within 93 hours in order to remain eligible for Title IV funding. Coursework that transfers into an eligible program will be included in a student’s credit hours attempted and completed.

SAP Statuses

The following are various types of SAP statuses assigned to students applying and receiving Title IV funding. All courses earned at Moraine Valley and transferred into a student’s program are used when determining SAP statuses, including credits earned while not receiving Title IV funding.

• Satisfactory - Assigned to students who are meeting all of the SAP standards.
• Warning – Assigned to students who do not meet the cumulative GPA and/or completion percentage requirement(s) portions of SAP standards, they are placed on warning and notified accordingly. Students remain on warning until the next time SAP is reviewed; which is the next payment period. During the warning period, students remain eligible for federal financial aid for one payment period only.
• Termination – Assigned to students with warning or probation statuses who do not meet the SAP standards.  Students on termination status are ineligible for federal financial aid, and are notified accordingly. Students have the option to appeal their termination if they have mitigating circumstances.
• Probation - Assigned to students who are within one term of meeting SAP standards. Students who have appealed and received an approved appeal contract are placed on probation, and are eligible for Title IV funds. Students on a probation status must meet SAP standards.

Appeal Procedures

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 requested term. The appeal form can be found under the SAP section on the Financial Aid Self-Service portal. Removal of an academic restriction by Cashiers, Advising, 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 documented mitigating circumstances impacting academic performance. Mitigating circumstances are considered to be past events that are no longer barriers to prevent academic progress. The appeal form must support how the students are now in a position to be academically successful.

Appeals will not be granted for repeated circumstances. For example, an appeal can be granted due to a medical issue (i.e., back surgery in 2010), which would place a student on probation or an academic plan. If a student is placed on termination again, the same medical issue (i.e., back surgery in 2010) cannot be used as the basis for the new appeal.

The latter appeal must be based on a reason different from the first appeal with updated documentation that matches the period(s) of enrollment.

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 mitigating for purposes of appealing suspension/termination of financial aid.

Examples of mitigating circumstances to be considered for appeal:

• Serious illness or injury to students or immediate family member that required extended recovery time
• Death of an immediate family member
• Significant trauma in students’ life that impaired the students’ emotional, physical, or mental health
• Withdrawal due to military service
• Second degree or certificate
• Change of major
• Other unexpected circumstances beyond the control of the student

• Cumulative GPA equals 2.00 or higher, and;

• Cumulative Completion Rate equals 67% or higher, and;

• Completion of program within 150 percent maximum time-frame allowed.

The census date, also known as the Pell Recalculation Date (PRD), is the last day for students to add or drop courses before ”locking in” their enrollment status for Pell Grant awarding purposes. Moraine Valley uses the award period census date for all students who attend classes at the start of the semester. For students who begin attendance after the term has begun (and are NOT enrolled) the census date will be the date the Pell Grant is first awarded. The award period census dates can be found on our website.

For example, if a student is enrolled in a two-year associate degree program, the maximum period for which a student can receive Direct Subsidized Loans is three years (150 percent of two years = three years).

If a student’s bachelor’s degree was received in a foreign country, it must be evaluated by an accredited agency to ensure it is the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree. Moraine Valley recommends Educational Perspectives (edperspectives.org). For assistance with finding other accredited agencies, visit the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services website (naces.org).

How to Calculate the 67% Completion Standard

1. A student should get a copy of their transcript from the Registration Office.

2. Total all 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.

3. Total all successfully completed credit hours. These are defined as those with a grade of A, B, C, or D.

4. Divide all successfully completed credit hours by all attempted credit hours.

5. If the resulting percentage is 67% or greater, then a student has met the 67% completion standard for financial aid. Example: 19 successfully completed hours divided by 27 attempted credit hours = .703 or 70%.