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ANNUAL AWARD: A scholarship or grant that is awarded for a particular academic year only. These types of scholarships or grants are not renewable. A new recipient is chosen each year.
AWARD LETTER: The official notification from the financial aid office, which lists all the financial aid awarded to the student.
CAPITALIZATION: The process of adding unpaid interest to the principal balance of an educational loan, thereby increasing the total amount to be repaid.
CAMPUS-BASED PROGRAMS: The term that applies to three federal financial aid programs administered on campus by eligible institutions of post-secondary education.
These programs are:
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program
CENTRAL PROCESSING SYSTEM (CPS): The processing facility for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The CPS does the following:
CITIZEN/ELIGIBLE NON-CITIZEN: A student must be one of the following to receive federal student aid:
- U.S. Citizen
- U.S. national (includes natives of American Samoa or Swain's Island)
- U.S. permanent resident with an I-151, I-551, or I-551C (Alien Registration Receipt Card). If the student is not in one of these categories, you must have an Arrival Departure Record (I-94) from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) showing one of the following designations:
- Refugee
Permanent residents of the Freely Associated States may be eligible for federal student aid. Citizens of the Permanent residents are eligible for Pell Grants, SEOG, or Work-Study only. Your are NOT eligible for federal financial aid if you only have a Notice of Approval to Apply for Permanent Residence (I-171 or I-464A), or if you are in the U.S. on an F1, F2, J1, J2, or G series visa.
CONSOLIDATION: A loan program that allows a borrower to combine various educational loans into one new loan. By extending the repayment period (up to 30 years depending on the loan amount) and allowing a single monthly payment, consolidation can make loan repayment easier for some borrowers.
COST OF ATTENDANCE (COA): The total amount it should cost a student to go to school—usually expressed as a yearly figure. The cost of education covers tuition and fees, on-campus room and board (or a housing and food allowance for off-campus students), and allowance for books and supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses. Certain other items may be added at the discretion of the Financial Aid Administrator (FAA). Your COA can be affected by your enrollment status.
DEFERMENT: An authorized period of time during which a borrower may postpone principal and interest payments. Deferments are available while borrowers are in school at least half time, enrolled in a graduate fellowship program or rehabilitation training program, and during periods of unemployment or economic hardship.
DEPARTMENTAL SCHOLARSHIP: A scholarship whose recipients are selected by an academic department based on a student's performance and excellence in the area of study. These scholarships are usually awarded to juniors and seniors.
DISBURSEMENT: The release of loan funds for delivery to the borrower. Disbursements for most loans are made in equal multiple installments, and made co-payable to the borrower and the school.
ENTRANCE/EXIT INTERVIEWS: Counseling session a loan borrower is required to attend before receiving his/her first loan disbursement and before graduating or otherwise leaving school. The counseling sessions provide valuable information about the provisions of a student loan and the student's responsibility to repay the loan upon leaving school.
EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION (EFC): An amount determined by a formula established by Congress, which indicates how much of your family's financial resources should be available to help pay for school. The EFC is used in determining your eligibility for financial aid. It is printed on the front of the Student Aid Report (SAR), SAR Information Acknowledgement, and Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR).
FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA): An application completed and filed by a student who wishes to receive federal student financial aid. The application collects household and financial information used by the federal government to calculate the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) toward post-secondary education costs.
FEDERAL FAMILY EDUCATION LOAN PROGRAM (FFELP): Education loans provided by private lenders and guaranteed by the federal government. Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans and Parent PLUS loans are included in this program.
FINANCIAL NEED: The difference between the Cost of Attendance (COA) and the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This amount is your total eligibility for aid from all sources, and is used in determining what your package will be.
GRANT: A type of financial aid award based on need or merit that is not repaid by the student.
GRACE PERIOD: The period between the time a borrower leaves a school or drops below half-time and the time they are obligated to begin repaying their loans – usually six or nine months, depending on the type of loan.
GUARANTY FEE: An insurance premium deducted from the borrower's loan proceeds prior to disbursement and paid to the guaranty agency that insures the loan. By law the fee cannot exceed 3 percent of the loan amount and the fee can be waived.
INSTITUTIONAL STUDENT INFORMATION RECORD (ISIR): An electronic federal "output" record for schools that contains a student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC) as calculated by the Central Processing System (CPS) and all the financial and other data submitted by the student on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
LOAN: Borrowed money that must be repaid with interest. Both undergraduate and graduate students may borrow money from the Federal Stafford Loan program. Parents may also borrow to pay education expenses for dependent undergraduate students from the Federal PLUS loan program.
NEED ANALYSIS: The process of analyzing household and financial information on a student's financial aid application and calculating an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to determine the student's need for financial aid for post-secondary education costs.
ORIGINATION FEE: A fee charged by the federal government and deducted from loan proceeds before disbursement to partially offset administrative costs of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).
PIN (Personal Identification Number): A U.S. Department of Education issued identifier that allows you access to your personal information in various U.S. Department of Education systems including the submission of signatures on the FAFSA and other financial aid documents. It's like the Personal Identification Number that you get from your bank that enables you to access your account. Because your PIN serves as your electronic signature, you should not give it to anyone.
PROMISSORY NOTE: The legal document borrowers sign when they get an education loan. It lists conditions under which the money is borrowed and the terms under which borrowers agree to repay the loan with interest. Borrowers should keep the borrower copy of their promissory notes until the loans are fully repaid.
RENEWABLE SCHOLARSHIP: A scholarship that can be continued throughout a student's enrollment at LaGrange College. Most academic scholarships are renewable provided the recipient maintains a cumulative grade point average of 2.75 or if the scholarship is awarded based on declaring a major in a particular area, the student continues in the specified area of study. Please refer to your scholarship notification for renewal criteria.
RENEWAL FAFSA: A partially pre-formatted version of the FAFSA that students may use if they applied for federal financial aid during the previous award year. If a student is among those eligible to complete a Renewal FAFSA, it will be sent directly to him/her by the central processor or the school.
RESOURCES: Student financial aid that must be taken into account to prevent over-awarding aid in the campus-based programs. Resources are called "estimated financial assistance" in determining a student's eligibility for federal student loans.
STUDENT AID REPORT (SAR): is the result of a student's FAFSA that contains the student's Expected Family Contribution, which is used to determine the student's eligibility for financial aid.
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT: Part-time on-campus and off-campus community service jobs that allow students to earn extra money for school.
SUBSIDIZED LOAN: A need-based loan on which the interest is paid by the federal government during the in-school, grace, and deferment periods.
UNMET NEED: Any financial need that has not been met by financial aid.
UNSUBSIDIZED LOAN: A non need-based loan on which interest is not paid by the federal government. Borrowers are responsible for the interest on all unsubsidized loans from the date the loan is disbursed.
VERIFICATION: A procedure through which a school checks the information a student reported on the FAFSA, usually by requesting a copy of signed tax returns filed by the student and, if applicable, the student's parent(s) and spouse. Schools must verify information about students selected for verification by the central processor, following procedures established by federal regulations. The processor prints an asterisk next to the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) on SARs and SAR Information Acknowledgements and flags ISIR's to identify students selected for verification. Many schools also select certain other students for verification in addition to those selected by the central processor.
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Financial Aid
Additional Resources
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