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Office of Financial Aid

Office of Financial Aid home page

Week of January 20, 2014

Spring 2014 Semester Disbursement Schedule & Step-by-Step Disbursement Process:

Spring semester financial aid was scheduled to disbursed on January 13, 2014 for students with completed financial aid files for the 2013-2014 academic year. Funds were disbursed electronically to the student's tuition account. This is not the date you will receive a direct deposit refund for living expenses. For refund estimation times please contact the Student Accounting Office at 312-567-3794 option 5 or email sa@iit.edu.

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 from an excess in financial aid funds, the Student Account'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 312-567-3794 option 5 or email sa@iit.edu.

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 email finaid@kentlaw.iit.edu stop by suite 230.

Chicago-Kent Full Tuition Scholars and Honors Scholars

Please be aware that full tuition and Honors scholarships for continuing students are initially based on your fall enrollment as of January 13th. All full tuition and honors scholarship awards for continuing students will be adjusted to actual enrollment after the last day to add and drop classes.

Chicago-Kent Scholarships Awarded for Continuing Students

Kent Scholarships for the spring 2014 semester have been posted to the accounts of all eligible students. If you have questions 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.

Generally, in order to be eligible for your scholarship you must be enrolled in at least 12 credits. 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.

Less Than Half Time Enrollment In Spring 2014? Please Notify Our Office of Your Enrollment Intentions

If will be less than half time in the spring 2014 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.iit.edu.

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 2013 or spring 2014?  If yes, please read the information below and follow the instructions to ensure that your financial aid disbursements for 2013-2014 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. 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 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.

A Note For 2L Students

Q: It looks like my 2013-2014 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 and here are the reasons why:

  • A one-time lap top allowance is included in your first year Cost of Attendance (COA) budget. This line item is not included in the COA for continuing students.
  • As a first year JD student, your COA is based on a flat rate tuition charge. As a continuing student your initial COA is based on a per credit tuition charge. The tuition component of the COA is based on a minimum of 12 credits per term for full time and 6 credits for part time students.
  • Eligible continuing students are awarded Federal Work Study (FWS). It is a need based employment program that requires students to earn their award amount through work. FWS reduces the amount a student can borrow in federal student loans. If you do not plan on participating in the program and need additional funds you may email to request the amount be converted into additional loan funds.
  • If your current cost of attendance does not meet your financial requirements please send your fall and spring enrollment intentions, and if you are authorizing a FWS conversion, via email to the Office of Financial Aid. In your email, please specify the following in your email authorization request:
  1. Exact dollar amount that you need
  2. Number of credits that you intend to take in both semesters
  3. If you are declining FWS

Please note, the Office of Financial Aid cautions students against borrowing up to the Cost of Attendance limit.

New Loan Origination Fee Increase as of December 1st

Federal Direct Stafford Loan: 1.072%

Federal Direct Plus Loan: 4.288%

Federal Sequestration Impacts Loan Origination Fee Increase on December 1, 2013

As of December 1, 2013 the loan origination fees on the Federal Direct Stafford and Federal Direct Plus Loan will increase for the remainder of the 2013-2014 academic year and be effective until October 1, 2014. The new loan fee percentages will apply only to loans where the first disbursement of a loan is made on or after December 1, 2013. 

To help you determine whether this change will affect your 2013-2014 Federal loans, we have provided a few examples of different loan scenarios. See the examples and chart below for further explanation:

Charged New Origination Fee:

Example 1: A student accepts a loan on the myIIT portal for the first time before or after November 30, 2013 and has an incomplete file. The first disbursement is scheduled after November 30th, therefore the newly accepted loan will be subject to the new origination fee. 

Example 2: A student requests to increase his existing Graduate Plus Loan after November 30, 2013. His existing Graduate Plus loan was approved with an endorser/co-signer. Increasing a Graduate Plus loan that was initially approved with an endorser requires a new loan origination record and a new endorser application. Since the loan increase will require a new loan origination, the first disbursement of this loan increase will occur after November 30th, and as a result will be subject to the increased loan origination fee.  

Example 3: A student accepts his 2013-2014 Graduate Plus Loan in July 2013 but the loan is pending for credit. The student decides to appeal the credit decision with Direct Loans. The student works with Direct Loans and gets the credit appeal approved after December 1, 2013. As a result the first loan disbursement occurs after November 30th, therefore it will be subject to the increased loan origination fee.  

Charged Old Origination Fee:

Example 1: A student requests to increase her existing Graduate Plus Loan. The student was approved based on their credit only, without an endorser or credit appeal. The first disbursement of the existing Graduate Plus loan occurred on September 12, 2013. Since the first disbursement occurred before December 1st the loan increase is not subject to the origination fee increase.

Example 2: A student accepts a Stafford Loan via the myIIT portal on November 10, 2013. The fall portion of the loan is disbursed on November 27th. Since the first disbursement occurred before December 1st the loan is not subject to the origination fee increase.

 

Direct Loan Program Loan Fee Amounts

Loan Type

Impacted Loans

Loan Fee

Fee on a Loan Amount Of

 

Direct

Unsubsidized

Stafford

Loan

 

First disbursed on or after July 1, 2013 and before December 1, 2013

 

1.051%

 

$215.46 on a $20,500 loan

 

First disbursed on or after December 1, 2013 and before October 1, 2014

 

1.072%

 

$219.76 on a $20,500 loan

 

Direct Plus Loan

 

First disbursed on or after July 1, 2013 and before December 1, 2013

 

4.204%

 

$420.40 on a $10,000 loan

 

First disbursed on or after December 1, 2013 and before October 1, 2014

 

4.288%

 

$428.80 on a $10,000 loan

Lower Loan Interest Rates

As a result of the recent Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013 federal student loan interest rates for the 2013-2014 academic year have been lowered to 5.41% on the Federal Direct Stafford Loan and 6.41% on the Federal Direct Plus Loan. The new law amends the Direct Loan interest rate section of the Higher Education of 1965.

For more information see the Department of Education website: http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/interest-rates

Still haven't received your 2013-2014 Financial Aid Award?

Has it been 3 weeks since you completed your FAFSA and you have not received a financial aid award for the 2013-2014 academic year? If so, follow these instructions to make sure your FAFSA information is sent to the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Office of Financial Aid.

  1. Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and view your Student Aid Report (SAR). Make sure the Chicago-Kent College of Law school code E00773 is listed on your FAFSA. 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.

2013-2014 Continuing Student Scholarships

Chicago-Kent Scholarships have been posted to the accounts of all eligible students. A revised award notification email has been sent to all students that had scholarships added to their awards. If you received a scholarship it may have changed the amount of your Federal Plus or Federal 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 12 credits. 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.

2013-2014 FAFSA Reminder

In order to qualify for financial aid for the 2013-2014 academic year, you must complete the 2013-2014 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

You can complete your FAFSA online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. In order to apply you will need your Personal Identification Number (PIN). Please remember to include our school code, E00773, when completing your FAFSA and keep in mind that the school name will be listed as Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Need help completing the FAFSA? The Department of Education provides several helpful resources with complete instructions, including videos, and phone numbers if you need more help.

Don't Forget to Accept Your 2013-2014 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 Master Promissory Note and Loan Entrance Counseling with Direct Loans at 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.

Planning to Study Abroad?

If you have been granted permission to study abroad through Chicago-Kent College of Law and are borrowing educational student loans to meet your educational costs, please complete the Chicago-Kent Study Abroad Application Form with the Office of International Law and Policy, and obtain the Office of Financial Aid signature, or submit a copy of the form. Please be sure to list the program name, semester of study, and credit hours. The financial aid process for the study abroad program can take 4 to 6 weeks.

If credit is approved by home school (Chicago-Kent), student may be considered enrolled at home school for financial aid purposes. You must still follow the same eligibility criteria as if you were taking classes at Chicago-Kent. You must complete a FAFSA, be enrolled at least half time, and be degree seeking. Please be aware that your Cost of Attendance during your study abroad term will be based on the living expenses and tuition charges of the program, not the standard Chicago-Kent budget.

The Office of Financial Aid does not determine the Cost of Attendance for host schools. For this reason, it is very crucial for each student to thoroughly research the host school's charges and costs of living prior to their departure. It is the students responsibility to budget themselves until their financial aid is processed.

Planning to Visit Another Law School?

If you have been granted permission to study at another law school for credit toward your Chicago-Kent law degree and are borrowing educational loans to meet your educational costs, you must notify the Financial Aid Office as soon as possible. You must complete the Financial Aid Request Form to Visit Another Law School, if you wish to use federal student loans.

We will ask the host school's Financial Aid Office to complete a Consortium Agreement with cost of attendance amounts, and their Registar's Office to provide enrollment verificaion with dates of attendance, and credit hours.

Once we receive all the required documentation from the visiting school, we will finalize your financial aid award, and you can accept the loans you wish to borrow on the myIIT portal. The funds will be scheduled to disburse to your student account according to your enrollment period at the visiting school. If you are expecting a refund, the Student Accounting Office will process it. It is the students responsibility to pay tuition at the visiting school. Please be sure that you have set up direct deposit of your refund.

The Office of Financial Aid does not determine the Cost of Attendance for host schools. For this reason, it is very crucial for each student to thoroughly research the host school's charges and costs of living prior to their departure. It is the students responsibility to budget themselves until their financial aid is processed.

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 sections entitled "Loan Requirements" and Forms and Worksheets."

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 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 as of the 2011-2012 academic year 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

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.

Financial Aid Contact Information

The Office of Financial Aid is dedicated to assisting students in financing their education and making financially informed and responsible decisions. Please feel free to contact our office at any time during the office hours listed below.

Office Hours - Suite #230

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

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

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

Email: finaid@kentlaw.iit.edu

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 you 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.



 

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