Financial Aid Application Process

You should submit any required documents to the Financial Aid office during your appointment. Please respond promptly to requests for information and ensure all documents have been received by admissions. Admissions will need to be completed for you to receive federal or state aid. You will receive notification from Financial Aid on your next step.

You can review your financial aid information anytime on the Self-Service portal (your student account for registering, checking grades, and viewing other student information). For general questions about financial aid, please view Craven CC Financial Aid TV.

Receiving Financial Aid

If you have completed the financial aid process and are eligible for assistance, you will be able to view your award letter on Self-Service. The award letter will indicate the types and amounts of aid for which you are eligible. Pell awards will be adjusted according to the number of credit hours you’re attending—for example, three-fourths time (9-11 hours), half time (6-8 hours), and less than half time (1-5 hours).

Make sure your refund preference has been selected with BankMobile Disbursements, a technology solution, powered by BMTX, Inc. Grant refunds will be made through BankMobile Disbursements according to the dates listed on our Dates and Deadlines page. Please make sure your correct address is on file with Student Services.

If you receive the Pell Grant, North Carolina Guarantee Scholarship (NCNBG) and/or North Carolina Transition Scholarship (NCSTS) you can charge your tuition, fees, and books against your grants during pre-registration and registration.

Please note that you will be responsible for any amount owed that aid does not cover. This must be paid by the end of preregistration/registration.

You must be attending a class in order to receive financial aid for that class. If a student has some classes that begin at the beginning of a term and some classes that begin at a later date (Flex-term and B-Term classes), this can affect a student’s Pell grant refund at the first published disbursement date.

For example, if a student is enrolled for 5 credit hours in a class that begins the first day of the semester and 2 credit hours for a B-term class, the student’s Pell Grant will be adjusted to an amount the student is eligible for 5 credit hours for the first published disbursement date of the term. Once B-Term begins, the student will be at 7 credit hours and the Pell Grant will be readjusted to include this class.

Conditions of Financial Aid

To receive NCNBG, NCSTS and, in some cases, Pell Grant funds, you must be enrolled at least half time (six hours). Enrollment status is checked before disbursement can be made.

Enrollment status for financial aid purposes is determined at the end of drop/add and when attendance is verified. Audited courses or credit-by-examination courses are not counted in the enrollment status. Up to 30 credit hours of developmental course work and all prerequisite courses are counted in enrollment status.

Only tuition and fees may be charged against your Pell Grant during pre-registration. Books and supplies may be charged beginning approximately one week before the first day of classes. Charging of your tuition, fees, books and supplies against your grant will end with drop/add each semester. The student will be held liable for any charges that exceed his/her financial aid awards.

Students receiving federal student aid must maintain satisfactory academic progress (see section below).

Financial aid recipients must reapply for aid every academic year.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements

If you’re receiving federal student financial aid through us, you must maintain satisfactory academic progress in the course of study you are pursuing in order to continue receiving aid. Our satisfactory academic progress requirements include:

1. Maintaining a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0.
    
2. Passing two-thirds (67%) of the cumulative course work attempted. Coursework attempted includes withdrawals, automatic withdrawals, incompletes, and repeated courses. Developmental coursework or courses taken at another institution count toward courses attempted or passed. If your passing percentage is 66.67%, it will be rounded to 67%.
    
3. Completing degree requirements within 150% of the published program length if you’re a full-time student. For example, a student in a college transfer curriculum must complete the degree by the time they have attempted 96 credit hours (64 x 150%). Students who exceed this maximum time frame will not be eligible for any further aid. Developmental coursework does not count toward the 150% maximum.

Satisfactory academic progress requirements are monitored at the end of each semester.

Financial Aid Warning Period

If you do not meet the 2.0 GPA and 67% completion requirements, you will be placed on warning and notified of your status through your student email by the Financial Aid office. You may continue to receive financial aid while on warning. If it is mathematically impossible for you to achieve your degree within 150% of the published length (maximum timeframe), you will be placed on warning for one semester only.

Continued eligibility for aid is determined at the end of the warning term. If you still do not meet the 2.0 GPA and 67% completion requirements, you will be placed on financial aid suspension, and financial aid will be terminated until the requirements are met. If you do not graduate during the warning period for maximum timeframe, you will be placed on financial aid suspension and financial aid will be terminated.

Please note that you cannot receive funds from any financial aid program while on financial aid suspension.

Appeal Process

You can appeal suspension of financial aid in the case of extenuating circumstances. Appeals generally will be considered when you have experienced:

1. Extended illness or hospitalization;
    
2. Accident in which you are incapacitated;
    
3. Extended illness of an immediate family member which results in greater family responsibilities for you; or
    
4. Grade change.

The procedure for an appeal is as follows:

1. You must meet with an Academic Advisor and complete the Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form. Documentation from your advisor, family physician, or others involved in the situation may be required to support the appeal.
    
2. The Appeals Committee will consider extenuating circumstances to determine whether reinstatement of aid is justified and will notify you of the decision via student email.

Reinstatement of Aid after Suspension

If your aid is reinstated after suspension, then the student is placed on probation. You can continue to receive aid each semester even if the cumulative satisfactory progress requirements are not met as long as the following conditions are met:

• GPA must be a 2.5 or better for semester if cumulative GPA is below a 2.0;
   
• You have not attempted the maximum number of hours (150% of the published program length); and
   
• You must earn passing grades in all attempted hours each semester.
   
• You may not withdraw from a class during probationary period if passing percentage below 67% and/or cumulative GPA below 2.0.
   
• If you’re on probation for maximum timeframe (150%), you can only take classes on education plan once.

All Craven CC courses attempted, repeated, and/or completed (all grades including F, AW, W, and I) in your program of study will be assessed each semester.

For financial aid purposes:

1. You cannot receive financial aid for audited classes and credit by exams, and these classes are not counted as hours attempted;
    
2. Classes dropped during the “drop/add period” are excluded from financial aid satisfactory progress determinations;
    
3. If you enroll in a class and subsequently switch to another section of the same class, that class is not counted twice when computing the hours attempted.

Aid may not be used to preregister while on probation. If you fail to adhere to these conditions, you will be re-suspended. If you are re-suspended, you will not be allowed to re-appeal. The Financial Aid administrator will notify you of your status through student email at the end of each semester. However, it is your responsibility to track your own progress and not rely completely on the school’s notification.

How Withdrawing Affects Financial Aid

If you are receiving federal aid and withdraw from school before the 60% point of the semester, you may owe a portion of the aid already received for the semester. This is determined by the Financial Aid office and prorated according to the federal guidelines. You will be notified in writing as to the repayment amount. This must be repaid before enrolling for a subsequent semester.

Your withdrawal date is always your last date of attendance. If you stop attending without notification, you are still subject to review and may have a portion of your aid returned if you failed to complete at least 60% of all enrolled classes.

Title IV Federal Financial Aid students who withdraw or stop attending the college during the first 60% of the semester will have their financial aid recalculated according to the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, 34 DFR part 668.22. Some grant recipients may owe repayment to both the institution and the federal government as the result of this recalculation.

Students who receive financial aid from any of the following sources: federal programs (Title IV) – Pell Grant, Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG), and state grants may be responsible for repaying a portion of their aid if they drop or stop attending classes during the refund period.

Withdrawal from classes may also affect eligibility for financial aid for the following semester or academic year. Students will be notified if monies are due the College.

Whether students withdraw officially or unofficially, the college must determine if students earned all federal or state aid received. The student’s withdrawal date is their last date of attendance. The law specifies how Craven CC must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that students earn if they withdraw from school. The Title IV programs that are covered by this law are Federal Pell Grants, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs). Though students' aid is posted to their account at the start of each semester, students earn the funds as they complete the semester. If students withdraw during the semester, the amount of Title IV program assistance that they have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula (known as a Return of Title IV). If students received less assistance than the amount that they earned, they may be able to receive those additional funds. If students received more assistance than they earned, the excess funds must be returned by the school and/or student.

The amount of assistance that students have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if a student completed 30% of the semester, they earn 30% of the assistance they were originally scheduled to receive. Once they have completed more than 60% of the semester, they earn all the assistance that they were scheduled to receive for that semester.