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Office of Financial Aid

Office of Financial Aid home page

Week of August 29, 2011

A Note For 2L Students

Q: It looks like my 2011-2012 financial aid package is a lot smaller than the financial aid package that I received as a first year law student, is this correct?

A: Yes, for most students this is correct!

Fortunately, most students have the option to have their award amounts increased. Below is an explanation of the continuing student Cost of Attendance Budget along with instructions for having the loan increased.

  1. The total amount of financial aid funds (loans, scholarships and work study) that you receive from all sources cannot exceed your Cost of Attendance (COA) budget. Your COA has a tuition charge allocation as a well as allocation for living expenses and fees.

  2. A one-time lap top allowance is included in your first year COA only. This line item is not included in the COA of continuing students.

  3. The total living expense allocation for 2011-2012 is not smaller than the living expense allocation for the 2010-2011 academic year. The reason for the difference in the cost of attendance between this year and next year is the tuition charge allocation.

  4. As a first year JD student, your COA is based on a flat rate tuition charge. As a continuing student your COA is based on a per credit tuition charge.

  5. Initially, we base your financial aid award and cost of attendance on your registration in the minimum credits required for your program and enrollment status. As an evening student, we base your COA on your enrollment in 6 credits per term. As a full-time day student, we base your COA on your enrollment in 12 credits per term.

  6. If you are taking more than the minimum credits and the initial financial aid award that you have received is not enough, we can increase your loans. We can customize your COA to reflect your actual enrollment rather than the minimum credits.

  7. Once we customize the tuition portion of your COA, your total COA will increase. Once you COA amount increases, your loan eligibility increases as well. Be advised, If your registration for the fall and spring terms is not for the same number of credit hours, your financial aid refund will not be for the same amount each term.  Therefore, we ask that you budget accordingly.

  8. We are aware that the average student takes more than the minimum credits required for their program. Unfortunately, we cannot base your initial COA on average enrollment for the following reasons: If you take fewer credits than the average student does, we may be required to reduce your financial aid. This reduction in financial aid may result in a tuition balance due to the school.

The Office of Financial Aid cautions students against borrowing up to the Cost of Attendance limit. However, if you need more loan funds than have been offered on your 2011-2012 financial aid award, please send an email to the Office of Financial Aid. In your email, please specify the exact dollar amount that you are requesting and the number of credits you intend to take in both the fall and spring semesters. Be advised, should you take less than the minimum number of credits, your financial aid may be returned and you may incur a balance.  Any resulting balance would be due to Kent immediately.

A Note For 3L Students

Q: Are you a full-time graduating JD student that is planning to take less than 12 credits in either fall 2011 or spring 2012?  If yes, please read the information below and follow the instructions to ensure that your financial aid disbursements for 2011-2012 are not delayed.
 
A:Your financial aid award and cost of attendance are based on your registration in the minimum credits required for your program and enrollment status. As a full-time day student, your initial cost of attendance is based on your enrollment in 12 credits per semester. We are aware that many full-time students take less than 12 credits in their last 2 semesters.  For this reason, if you are taking less than 12 credits please be aware of the following:

  1. In order to be eligible for federal loans you must be enrolled at least half time. Half-time for JD students is 6 credits. Unfortunately, if you plan to take less than 6 credits you are ineligible for federal loans and you must make alternative arrangements to pay your tuition balance.

  2. Generally, in order to be eligible for your scholarship you must be enrolled in at least 12 credits. Fortunately, in some cases, the Office of Admissions allows graduating students to receive their scholarship when taking less than 12 credits. Please contact the Office of Admissions for further confirmation.

  3. If you plan to take between 6 and 11 credits, it is best to send your enrollment intentions, for both the fall and spring semesters, to our office via email to prevent delays of your disbursement and refunds.  Once we receive your enrollment intentions, we will customize your cost of attendance budget to reflect your projected enrollment. It is best to let us know your enrollment intentions at least 3 weeks before classes start to ensure that your financial aid is not delayed.

  4. The Office of Financial Aid cautions students against borrowing up to the Cost of Attendance limit. Be advised that if you do not register for the credits that you have stated your financial aid may be reduced, resulting in a tuition balance due to the school immediately.

  5. If your registration for the fall and spring terms are not for the same number of credit hours, your financial aid refund will not be for the same amount each term.  Therefore, we ask that you budget accordingly.

Fall 2011 Disbursement Schedule

News Update: Please note that if you accepted your loans after August 5, 2011 your fall 2011 semester loan funds may be delayed (this delay will not effect your spring 2012 disbursement). This is due to the Department of Education’s Loan Disclosure Statement mailing schedule. Anytime you accept a loan on the myIIT portal, you will receive a Loan Disclosure Statement from the Department of Education’s Direct Loans Program. This delay is in effort to ensure that students receive information regarding their loan disbursement before their funds are posted to their school student account. The Department of Education wants to make sure that students are aware of their loan obligations before they receive the funds. As a result, if you accept your funds 5 days before, or anytime after the scheduled disbursement date, your funds will not disburse to your student account until 5 days after your loan is originated by the Office of Financial Aid.

Law Students

Disbursement: August 12, 2011

Stuart Students

Disbursement: August 22, 2011

Fall Loan Disbursement Process: Step-by-Step

All loan funds, federal, and private, are posted directly to the student’s account according to the disbursement schedule listed above.

  1. On the scheduled disbursement date, we must verify that you are eligible to receive the funds. This process can take 1-3 business days.
  2. The funds are then released and credited to your student account.
  3. If a credit balance exists after the funds have been credited, the Bursar’s Office will process your refund. If you have direct deposit set up your refund will be deposited into your personal bank account, if not, it will be mailed (not held for pick up) by the Bursar’s Office. The university encourages all students to sign up for direct deposit on the myIIT portal.

If you have any questions regarding the status of your refund check or charges on your account, please contact the Bursar's Office at 312-906-5160 or in room 290. Click here for the Bursar's Office website for more information on credits and refunds: http://www.iit.edu/bursar/credits_and_refunds.shtml.

If you have any questions regarding the financial aid funds that have been credited to your account, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at 312-906-5180 or in suite 230.

December 2011 Graduates: Please Notify Our Office of Your Enrollment Intentions

If you are planning to graduate in the December 2011 semester, please notify our office as soon as possible of your enrollment intentions and credit hours, if you have not done so already. Your award will need to be revised for the fall semester only. Please send us an email at finaid@kentlaw.edu.

Fall Scholarship Status

Kent Scholarships have been posted to the accounts of all eligible students. If you received a scholarship it may have changed the amount of your Federal Graduate Plus or Stafford Loan. For this reason, please use your myIIT account to view your financial aid award.  

Scholarships for day division students enrolled in less than 12 credits for the fall semester will be posted after the Office of Financial Aid receives approval of your scholarship from the Admissions Office.

Full tuition scholarships are based on current enrolled credits as of August 12, 2011. Revisions to scholarship amounts for increased/decreased credits will occur after the add/drop period for the fall semester. You will receive a revised award notification email when it is finalized.

If you have question about your scholarship eligibility or if there seems to be a problem with your scholarship award amount please contact the Office of Admissions at 312-906-5020.

Don't Forget to Accept Your Awards

If you still have not accepted or declined your loans, please do so as soon as possible.  You must use your myIIT account to accept/decline your loans. If you do not accept your loans, we cannot process them. That is why we urge you to accept them now to avoid delays with disbursement. If you do not wish to wish to receive any of the funds, you may decline the loan(s) using the myIIT portal.

Please select one of the options below on the myIIT portal at: https://my.iit.edu/cp/home/displaylogin.

Accept: If you wish to receive any portion of the loans still listed as offered, you must accept the funds. Also, please be aware that you may be required to complete a Promissory Note and Loan Entrance Counseling with Direct Loans at www.studentloans.gov before the funds can be disbursed. Please refer to your 'Requirements' section on the myIIT portal.

Decline: If you do not wish to receive any of the funds still listed as offered please decline the loan(s) using your myIIT portal.

Missing Required Documentation

To avoid delays, please submit any requested documentation as soon as possible.
Please follow the steps below to see if you still have missing requirements:

  1. Log into the Illinois Institute of Technology's myIIT portal at the following link: https://my.iit.edu/.
  2. Select the 'Finances' tab from the menu.
  3. Required documents are listed in the Financial Aid Requirements channel.

You may download some of the required forms and links to promissory notes on our website at http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/finaid/DLforms.html.

Once you complete your Master Promissory Notes (not loan application) and Entrance Counseling via the Department of Education's website, it may take up to 2 weeks for your required document status on the myIIT portal to reflect this. If it has been over 2 weeks since your completion of a Promissory Note or Entrance Counseling and your documents status on myIIT is still showing not received, please contact our office.

If you were awarded the Perkins Loan this academic year 2011-2012, please check your Kent email (or your IIT e-mail address on the welcome screen of your myIIT portal, as communications could be sent there), for information from the IIT Perkins Loan servicer, ECSI, on completing the Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling. Students that competed this requirement last academic year 2010-2011 are not required to complete this requirement again. This maybe marked as spam in your mailbox, but it is not. You will not be able to complete the promissory note online if ECSI does not have your information on file that is why we ask that you wait until you receive an email notification. However, if mid-August has past and you have not completed this requirement, please contact ECSI directly at 1-888-549-3274 and state that you are attending the IIT Downtown Campus. Also, for more information see the Bursar's Office website at:

http://www.iit.edu/bursar/institutional_and_perkins_loans.shtml.

Still haven't received your 2011-2012 Financial Aid Award?

Has it been 3 weeks since you completed your FAFSA and you have not received a financial aid award for the 2011-2012 academic year? If so, follow these instructions to make sure your FAFSA information is sent to the DTC Office of Financial Aid.

  1. Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and view your Student Aid Report (SAR).Make sure the Downtown Campus school code is listed on your FAFSA. The DTC school code is E00773 (Listed as Chicago Kent, this is the correct school code for both Kent and Stuart Graduate School of Business.) Once you update the school code to the correct school code it will take 1 to 2 weeks to receive a Financial Aid award notification.

  2. If you have the correct school code listed on your FAFSA, check your SAR comments. Your SAR comments will let you know if the data that you entered on your FAFSA has caused an error that prevents your FAFSA information from being transmitted to the school. If there is a problem with the data that you entered on your FAFSA, please update the data elements requested. Once you update the information, it will take 1 to 2 weeks to receive a Financial Aid award notification.

  3. If your comment codes are showing no problems and you have E00773 listed as your school code please contact the Office of Financial Aid so that we can find out why you have not received an award.

Bar Study Loan Information

Bar Examination loans are intended to assist students in paying for bar preparation courses and meeting other financial needs while studying for the Bar Exam.

Students may submit the application for the Bar Exam Loan funds during their last year before graduation. The terms, conditions, and credit criteria for Bar Examination Loans are similar to those for alternative loan programs. Unfortunately, students with negative credit ratings are generally not eligible for Bar Exam loans.

To apply for a Bar Examination Loan, review the Bar Loan Comparison Chart, select one of the lenders, and complete their on-line application. Once your are approved, the lender will contact our office to certify your loan. The funds will be disbursed directly to you from the lender.

Free Credit Report

Did you know that you are now able to receive a free credit report once every 12 months? We encourage students to review their credit reports annually to check for inaccuracies and identify any suspicious activity.

To receive your free credit report, please visit the following link: http://www.annualcreditreport.com. This central site allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, commonly called a credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Please be aware that other sites may advertise free credit reports, but this is the only site that is sponsored by the federal government and the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. Other sites may charge fees.

Office Hours - Suite #230

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday ~ 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday ~ 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Friday ~ 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

Phone: (312) 906-5180 - Fax: (312) 906-5274


 

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