General Information about financial aid at NOVA.
Financial Aid Newsletter – GREENBACK
Check out the latest issue of The Financial Aid GREENBACK, our quarterly Financial Aid newsletter. This issue: Department of Ed partners with NOVA, Win $100 in CashCourse Contest, the New Financial Aid & Student Accounts Support Center, and more. This newsletter is designed to help students and staff members stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest in the world of financial aid.
Established in 2007, the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program (CTG) provides an incentive for students to first complete an associate degree at a Virginia public two-year college before transferring to a participating Virginia four-year college or university as a means to reduce the overall cost towards completing a bachelor’s degree.
In addition to paying lower tuition charges for their freshman and sophomore years while attending a two-year college, students who qualify may also receive a CTG award once they transfer to the four-year institution.
Click here for more information and to apply: 2YRCollegeTransferGrantApp201516
Do you need help balancing your budget? NOVA will be offering a Financial Management Workshop sponsored by the Student Life Office at NOVA on Wednesday, April 15, 2015, from 2:00 pm-3:00 pm in room CS 129. Come join us to learn how to balance a checkbook, combat bank fees, choose a credit card, and more! Click here for more information.
The National Student Clearinghouse has learned that a number of Direct Loan recipients, who are currently enrolled, have been contacted by their lenders regarding repayment of their loans. Please instruct your students to request a deferment form from their lender and return the completed form to your school.
The completed deferment form must include the following information:
Please forward all completed deferment forms to the Clearinghouse and include a cover sheet containing your school’s full name, school code, branch code, and the academic term in question.
Deferments must be mailed. They CANNOT be faxed because most lenders require the original form and signature.
IMPORTANT: If a student has more than one loan holder, he or she must complete a separate deferment form for each lender/servicer.
Please mail your cover sheet and deferment form(s) to the Clearinghouse at:
National Student Clearinghouse
2300 Dulles Station Blvd, Suite 300
Herndon, VA 20171
The Clearinghouse will complete the deferment forms we receive from you using the enrollment information provided by your school for the term in question.
If you have any questions, please contact your Clearinghouse regional director or service@studentclearinghouse.org.
The on-line scholarship application is now active and accepting new scholarship applications for 2015-2016 NVCC Educational Foundation scholarships. Complete the application process accurately and prior to the application deadline: Wednesday, February 18, 2015.
To access Financial Aid Scholarship Applications, go to https://nvcc.academicworks. com. Once there, you must sign up, if you have not already done so, by using your VCCS email and creating your own pass- word.
When you have signed in, complete the General Application first. After completing the General Application, you may apply for any additional scholarships that interest you, provided you meet the requirements.
If you have additional questions, please contact the Financial Aid Support Center (855-323-3199) or your campus representative for assistance.
Although the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) is still the preferred method for providing tax information when completing the FAFSA, accessing a real-time tax transcript at www.irs.gov/transcript will simplify the process of obtaining a Tax Return Transcript for those filers who are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Electronic tax filers should have access to a transcript two weeks after taxes are filed, starting about the end of February.
Federal tax filers will be required to provide authentication prior to viewing and printing their Tax Return Transcripts. Get Transcript provides:
Letters of Non-Filing
Get Transcript will alleviate the need to visit the IRS Office in person or request a transcript via mail; the filer will simply go to www.irs.gov/transcript. After user authentication, students or parents will provide the reason for the request, select the year(s), type(s) of information requested, and other requested information, and the document will be displayed in a printable format.
In preparation for completing the FAFSA, families are encouraged to file their taxes electronically and to do so as early as possible to meet all financial aid priority deadlines.
In spring 2015, Federal Student Aid (FSA) will implement a new login process for their student and borrower-based websites, including FAFSA on the Web, NSLDS® Student Access, StudentLoans.gov, StudentAid.gov, and the TEACH Grant website. The new FSA ID, which will be comprised of a userselected username and password, will replace the Federal Student Aid PIN as the process by which students, parents, and borrowers authenticate their identity to access their federal student aid information. The FSA ID will offer new functionality, including a single sign-on process for most of FSA systems.
FSA is making this change to eliminate the need for individuals to enter personal identifiers (Social Security number, name, and date of birth) when accessing Federal Student Aid’s systems. This change is critical to comply with new security requirements and industry best practices.
FSA is working to ensure that the transition from the FSA PIN to the FSA ID is as seamless as possible for customers. Existing users will be able to link their PIN information to the FSA ID. This change will not impact the FSA User ID log-in process that is currently in place for financial aid professionals.
Students will receive additional information regarding this change, which is expected to occur around the end of April, 2015. Please monitor the NOVA Financial Aid website for forthcoming announcements about the transition to the new FSA ID.
Thank you in advance for your support as FSA implements this important change. As always, if questions arise contact the Financial Aid Support Center.
NOVA Financial Aid wants to ensure that you know how to find the status of your student loans and the contact information for your loan servicer(s) in case you have questions about loan repayment.
If you have not already done so, it is important to prepare to repay your student loans. Check with your loan servicer if you aren’t sure how or when to make a payment. You are responsible for staying in touch with your servicer and making your payments, even if you do not receive a bill. Many borrowers choose to have their loan servicers electronically debit loan payments from their banks each month in order to help prevent missing payments and becoming delinquent on student loans.
If you ever have difficulty making a loan payment, you should contact your loan servicer before the payment is late. You might qualify for deferment, forbearance, or a different repayment plan that can temporarily postpone or reduce the amount that you must pay. In order to see what options are available for your situation, you would need to call your loan servicer.
You may look up the contact information for your loan servicer by logging into your “My Federal Student Aid” portal at www.studentaid.gov. Click on the log in button in the upper right corner at www.studentaid. gov and enter your information to log in. If you do not know your 4-digit financial aid PIN, you may click on the “Forgot your PIN” link to request a duplicate PIN. Once you log in, scroll down to view your federal student loan history. Click on each of your loans to view the contact information for your current servicer. Different loans could have different servicers, especially Perkins loans. You should call your loan servicer today if you have any questions about repaying your student loans, including any options that may be available for you.
More information is available at www.studentaid.gov > Repay Loans.
Check out this short video for more information: http://cheapscholar.org/2013/11/26/student-loan-repayment-101-video/
Check out the latest issue of The Financial Aid GREENBACK, our quarterly Financial Aid newsletter. This issue: new electronic refund options, FAFSA to replace the Student Aid PIN, be proactive with your student loans, and more. This newsletter is designed to help students and staff members stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest in the world of financial aid.
The 150% Direct Subsidized Loan Limit can be confusing to students who don’t live, eat, and breath student loans (like some of us in financial aid. We want to make the limit change understandable for students who could be impacted. What better way to explain than with a visual that details:
Click this link to check out the graphic: NS015_150_Subsidy_Limit
Check out this info-graphic on 5-Loan-infographic to manage your loans.
Information provided by: NorthStar Education Services| www,nseds.com