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Week of October 8, 2012

October 23 & October 24 Mandatory Financial Literacy Workshops

Are you worried about your student loans and debt? If so, you're probably not alone! You're making an important investment in yourself. It's also important that you be able to achieve your financial goals (including repayment of your student loans) once you graduate. Do you have all the financial skills needed to do so?  Having a better understanding of money management and student loan repayment can help you maximize your educational investment and minimize your debt.  With this in mind, our office will be hosting a workshop about loan repayment and person budgeting. The workshop is open to all students. Please be aware that attendance is mandatory for all continuing students. During this interactive seminar, we will focus on:

*       General Loan Repayment  
*       Personal Financial Management
*       Public Service Loan Forgiveness & Income Based Repayment 

The session will be held as follows:

October 23 at 12-2pm Room Auditorium
October 24 at 6:30pm-7:30 Room 370

If you are unable to attend please one of the session please contact the Office of Financial aid so that we can make alternative arrangements for you.

Fall Loan Disbursement Process: Step-by-Step

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 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.

All loan funds, federal, and private, are posted directly to the student’s account according to the scheduled disbursement date.

  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 Student Account's Office (formerly 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 Student Account'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 Student Account's Office at 312-906-5161 or in room 290.

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.

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.

Please note that completing the Financial Aid Awareness Counseling does not satisfy the Loan Entrance Counseling Requirement. It is an optional counseling session that covers the basics of financial literacy. The required counseling session is called Loan Entrance Counseling. Please see our website for more information: Financial Aid Required Documents

Once you complete your Master Promissory Notes (not loan application) and Loan 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 Loan 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 2012-2013, 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 (2011-2012) 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 passed 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 Student Account's (formerly Bursar's Office) website at:

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

Change In Proof of Citizenship Confirmation Policy: Original Copy Required In Person

Due to a federal regulation change, all students that have been selected for citizenship confirmation, or are submitting citizenship documentation to satisfy any other requirement must submit the original document in person for the student's file for the academic year. Continuing students are also required to bring in their documentation even it is already on file from last year. Please note this is only for students that have been selected for citizenship confirmation on their FAFSA.

Graduating In December 2012 or Less Than Half Time Enrollment In Spring 2013? Please Notify Our Office of Your Enrollment Intentions

If you are planning to graduate in the December 2012 semester or will be less than half time in the spring 2013 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.

Full-tuition Scholarship and Honors Scholars status

Please be aware that all Full Tuition and Honors scholarships have been updated to reflect final enrollment for the Fall 2012 semester. Please contact the office of financial aid if you have questions about your scholarship amounts.

Scholarships Posted For Continuing Students

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 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 your fall enrollment as of August 16th. 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 atwww.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.

Still haven't received your 2012-2013 Financial Aid Award?

Has it been 3 weeks since you completed your FAFSA and you have not received a financial aid award for the 201-2013 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). Once you correct the 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.

Reminder: Direct Deposit Available

Please be aware that the university allows students the option of having their financial aid refunds direct deposited into their checking or savings account. The university encourages all students to sign up for direct deposit. Click here for more information on the new TouchNet service.

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 Information, on our website. 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 8:30a.m.-7p.m.

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

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


 

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