Packaging Philosophy
Background Information
The packaging philosophy of the Financial Aid Office at Oklahoma City Community College is based on requirements of federal regulations, type of assistance programs available, and the composition of the pool of applicants for assistance.
Programs of financial assistance available through the Financial Aid Office include the following:
- Federal Pell Grant (Pell)
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- Oklahoma Tuition Aid Grant (OTAG)
- OCCC Tuition Fee Waiver Program (TFW)
- Federal College Work-Study Program (FCWS)
- Federal Perkins Loans (Perkins)
- Stafford Student Loan (SSL) - Subsidized
- Stafford Student Loan (Unsub Staf) - Unsubsidized
- Parent Loan (PLUS)
Academic divisions of the College and certain administrative units of the College award Tuition Fee Waivers which may not necessarily be based on financial need. These waivers may be based on academic and talent criteria as well as need.
Except for the Parent's Loan (PLUS) program, all the programs available through the Financial Aid Office require applicants to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on an annual basis in order to establish the applicant's (family or individual) ability to pay for college. This calculation is called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
Federal regulations define financial need as the difference between the Costs of Attending (COA) college and the EFC: COA - EFC = NEED.
Federal regulations also require schools to award FSEOG and Perkins Loans to applicants with exceptional financial need, generally defined as applicants with the lowest EFC.
Federal Pell Grants for 2002-2003 will be awarded to applicants with an EFC of $3,800 or less. Award amounts are based on a payment grid utilizing COA and EFC. This number may change from year to year based on changes in regulation.
Student loans through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) programs including the Stafford and PLUS loans are available to all applicants. The type of loan available is based on variables such as COA, EFC, NEED, other financial assistance available to the applicant and the applicant's dependency status (dependent student or independent student).
The Financial Aid Office awards FSEOG, Perkins Loans and need-based TFW to applicants who have a $0 EFC. These applicants are also eligible for the maximum Federal Pell Grant. The large pool of applicants with $0 EFCs necessitates this policy in an attempt to award funds to the "most needy" applicants. Not all $0 EFC Students will receive these funds.
However, packaging of these funds is limited by the amount of funds available at any point in time. Not all students with a $0 EFC receive FSEOG or Perkins loans.
Federal Work-Study funds are awarded to applicants who have at least $750 of remaining need after all other program funds including need based loans (Perkins and SSL) are awarded and other awarding parameters are met.
To reduce student borrowing, and therefore loan debt, the Financial Aid Office initially packages only the basic annual loan limit for which the student qualifies.
Level Hours Earned Base Annual Limit 1 0 - 29 $2,625 2 30+ $3,500
In no instance may the amount you borrow along with any other assistance received exceed your COA.
Standard award amounts for the academic year (fall and spring) from the various programs included in an initial package are as follows:
Program Standard Amount Per Academic Year
Pell: $400 - $4,000 determined by federal Pell payment chart
FSEOG: $400
Perkins: $1,500
FCWS: $750 - $3,040
SSL (Subsidized): to $2,625 level 1 ($1,313 Fall & $1,312 Spring) to $3,500 level 2 ($1,750 Fall & $1,750 Spring)
TFW: $202.20 or six credit hours per academic year, three credit hours each semester--subject to legislative change.
Academic Year awards are disbursed in two equal amounts (Fall/Spring). Student loans must be disbursed in two installments regardless of the loan period of enrollment. A one semester loan must be in two disbursements and the second must be after the exact midpoint of the semester. Exception: If the first disbursement will be after the midpoint, one disbursement is allowed.
Award packages must be adjusted throughout the year to avoid overawards of federal funds.
Students must report all resources available to them to the Financial Aid Office as early as possible or risk having to repay funds to a federal program. These additional resources include but are not limited to: veteran's benefits, BIA Grants, scholarships, waivers, Vocational Rehabilitation and JTPA funding.
