Financial Aid FAQ
Financial Aid - General
Financial Aid Awards
SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress)
Loans
Do I need to fill out a new Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA) every year?
Yes. Your FAFSA is good for one academic year (Fall through Summer). You
need to fill out your FAFSA for the next year anytime after January 1st. Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov to complete your FAFSA online.
What is a PIN number and why do I need one?
The PIN number is used to sign your FAFSA electronically. You will also use
your PIN to sign your Master Promissory Note the first time you borrow federal
student loans. You can get your PIN online at www.pin.ed.gov. For dependent
students, both the student and one parent need a PIN, as both are required to
sign the FAFSA.
What is a SAR, Student Aid Report?
Student Aid Report, abbreviated SAR by financial aid office staff, is either
mailed or emailed to you (if you provided an email address on your FAFSA). Your SAR tells you
the expected family contribution (EFC) for your education and whether you are eligible
for grants, loans or both.
The student and parent loan (PLUS) application process begins at most schools
in the spring and summer months. Your financial aid will normally be awarded
in equal installments at the beginning of each academic term if you are officially
enrolled and registered for at least half-time status.
Remember that just getting the SAR Acknowledgment does not mean
your FAFSA was accepted or that you will receive financial aid. There could
still be issues requiring your attention. For example, your SAR may have been
rejected because of missing parent or student signatures, no valid match with
Social Security Administration, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services,
Veteran's Administration, National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS), as
well as other issues.
If you are a male and 18 years of age, you must register with the Selective
Service (military draft) in order to receive any Federal aid.
I just received my SAR - Student Aid Report. What do I do with it?
Read it. It is important to carefully review the SAR, especially the
first page, to determine if your FAFSA was accepted or rejected and whether
you have been selected for verification. The fastest way to determine if your
FAFSA and SAR have been processed and accepted is to check if an Expected Family
Contribution or EFC has been calculated.
Miami's financial aid administrators will subtract your EFC from their estimated
cost of attendance or budget to determine your eligibility for need-based financial
aid. However, although you may demonstrate financial need, colleges may only
offer student and parent loans to meet your need. Your need may be met with
a combination of grants, scholarships, educational loans, and/or a part-time
job (Work-Study or other campus job). Virtually all eligible students will receive
a federal Stafford Loan as part of their aid package because of limited grant
and scholarship aid programs, regardless of your income or need.
We are electronically linked with the federal processor and will receive the
same information from your SAR, as long as you have listed Miami as a recipient
in the school section. Our federal school code is 003077. Keep
all your financial aid documents in a file so you can find them easily if needed.
I need to correct information on my SAR. How do I do that?
If the FAFSA application is incomplete due to a missing parent or student signature,
go back to www.fafsa.ed.gov and select the option to sign your FAFSA. If you estimated your income and have now filed your taxes you will want to correct your income.
The semester starts in a few weeks. Is it too late to apply for aid?
You can complete the FAFSA at any time during the semester.
- Students who apply for financial aid less than one month before the start
of the semester may not have their aid processed by the federal government
in time to "clear your fees" with the bursar's (cashier's) office.
Your classes may be canceled for nonpayment of fees unless you make alternate
payment plans. Alternate payment options are to enroll in a campus sponsored
payment plan, to put the charge on a credit card, or apply for a private loan
until your financial aid is disbursed.
How will I get my bill?
Miami University electronically distributes semester and monthly invoices via
an eBill to the recipient's Miami email address. Since eBills are created on a particular date (refer to the
Invoice Date on your eBill), the Total Due may or may not reflect
your current balance. This depends on whether or not transactions
have taken place on the account after the Invoice Date indicated on your eBill. Students can view, print, and pay their
bill online. In addition, they can authorize others (parents, guardians, and
spouses) to receive email notifications that the bill is ready for viewing and/or
grant access to others to view that bill. If you are a student, faculty, or staff member and want to check your
current balance, logon to Banner Web and view your Account Summary by Term.
Current students, faculty, and staff will receive an email at their Miami University
email address indicating their eBill
is available for viewing and payment. Using their MUNet logon ID and password,
eBill recipients will have these payment
options:
- Electronic Payment. Pay by electronic check (no additional fee) or credit card (a convenience fee will apply). Use the links provided in your eBill or choose the Pay Online button above.
- Mail. If you prefer, you can print your eBill as you would any document, remove the remittance stub, and then send it along with your payment to: Miami University Payment Center, 301 S Campus Ave. Room 107, Oxford, OH 45056-3439.
- In Person. Visit the Payment Center or Business Office on your campus.
- Payroll Deduction - available to Graduate Assistants, Faculty, and Staff only.
I am changing from full-time to part-time enrollment. What will that do to my financial aid?
When we develop your financial aid package, we assume that you will attend Miami
as a full-time student for the fall and spring semesters. You must inform us
in writing of any change in your enrollment. If you drop from full-time enrollment
to less than full-time, your eligibility for aid may be reduced. Usually,
you must be enrolled for at least six credit hours to be considered for any type of
aid. If you need to change your enrollment, you can fill out a Student Information
Form.
If you change your enrollment prior to the end of the drop/add period, your
grant and loan eligibility will be recalculated based on the information you
submit. You will receive a revised award notification listing any changes
in your aid package. At the end of the drop/add period, your financial aid will
be frozen to reflect your enrollment as of that date. Be sure you are enrolled
for all the classes you intend to take for the semester. Your financial aid
will not be adjusted after the end of the drop/add period.
When a student withdraws completely from the University during a semester,
the Office of Student Financial Assistance is required to calculate the amount
of federal Title IV financial aid the recipient has earned for the semester.
This formula is provided by the Department of Education. The Office of the Registrar
will inform The Office of Student Financial Assistance of the date the student
notified Miami of his intent to withdraw. This date is used to calculate aid
eligibility. For information regarding the effects of withdrawing on state and
university aid, please refer to the financial aid award notification letter.
If you are thinking about withdrawing, please contact
our office for an estimate of how it will affect your financial aid.
Keep in mind that if you drop a class or withdraw from the university after
the end of the drop/add period, you may risk suspension of your financial aid
in future academic years. See Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress for
more information.
I live on my own, in my own place and I pay my own bills. Can I be considered independent?
On the FAFSA there are questions that students are to answer. If you can answer
YES to at least one of them, you are considered independent. Otherwise, you
will need to use parent information on the FAFSA.
My parents do not claim me on their taxes though…
It doesn't matter. Parent taxes are not used as a criteria for dependency.
Taxes are only used in some cases to verify FAFSA data.
I sent in my FAFSA weeks ago and still haven't heard anything. What do I do now?
Did you receive a student aid report in the mail, or in your email? (It comes
via email if a student put a valid email address on the FAFSA.) Students receive
a student aid report when the FAFSA has been processed. If they haven't there
was probably an error.
Ask the financial aid office to check if you need to make corrections.
If there is an EFC that means the FAFSA was processed and there are other things
holding the aid up like verification. (This also means you DID get a student
aid report.)
Remember-the federal processor received over 11 million FAFSA forms this year.
We suggest that you call 1-800-433-3243 number if the first three things fail.
What is Satisfactory Academic Progress? (SAP)
Students must maintain a 2.0 GPA each semester and each academic year in order
to receive federal aid. In addition, they also must complete 67% of the courses
they attempt each semester in order to receive federal financial aid. (A student
can get a 4.0 in 2 classes, but get 2 W's and still be on academic progress.)
Finally, there are maximum timeframes that students have to receive federal
aid. Students get 1.5 times the length of their program to use aid. A student
in a 2-year program has 3 full-time years to receive financial aid.
If a student is SAP, it is likely for one of the above reasons. You must file
a SAP appeal form to ask if your aid can be reinstated. Read detailed information about Miami University's Satisfactory Academic Progress policy (PDF).
What do I put on SAP appeal?
We want to know the circumstances that prevented you from making academic progress.
We want documentation if applicable (Broken leg=hospital bill). A student needs
to state that they are aware of the SAP policy, and to write out a plan or course
of action for future semesters to maintain progress. Students must understand
the importance of maintaining satisfactory progress towards graduation in relation
to continued receipt of financial aid.
Why are the refund checks delayed 30 days at the regional campuses?
Students often change their enrollment from full-time to part-time or part-time to full-time during the first few weeks of classes. Delaying the disbursement allows time for enrollment to stablize so students receive the correct amount of aid..
How can I pay for my books?
Students expecting an overage, who have completed their financial aid for the
upcoming semester can get a book voucher beginning one week before the term
and 2 weeks into it. Hamilton students may use Middletown book vouchers. Students
who are attending Oxford classes MAY NOT use regional book vouchers. Oxford
book vouchers must be obtained on Oxford's campus (Financial Aid Office).
If you are not expecting an overage check, you are responsible for buying your
books using alternative payment methods.
What is the difference between a subsidized and unsubsidized loan?
Subsidized: US Dept of Education pays the interest while student is
in school and during grace and deferment periods.
Unsubsidized: Borrower is responsible for interest during life of the
loan. Financial need is not a requirement to get the unsubsidized loan.
For both loans, the student must be at least half-time.
What is verification, why was I selected for it and what needs to be submitted?
Verification is a process where we match the information you provided on your
FAFSA with your income tax information. The federal government chooses approximately
30% of FAFSA applications at random to be verified. If you did not file taxes,
there is a box on the verification sheet to indicate that. You also need to
fill out the required asset worksheet. Turn in the tax forms, the verification
form and the asset sheet to the MUM financial aid office. If the student is
dependent for FAFSA purposes, the parent too must fill out their section of
the worksheet and sign it.
Students selected for verification will NOT receive their financial aid until
they have completed the process. The application/FAFSA is not considered complete
until verification is complete.
How am I supposed to fill out the FAFSA if my taxes aren't done yet?
You are able to and encouraged to estimate your income on the FAFSA in order
to meet priority deadlines. Use the final pay stub of the year. It will have
your year-to-date income information, taxes paid and other useful information.
When your taxes are filed, you can make corrections to your FAFSA at that time
online.
What is Entrance Loan Counseling and the Master Promissory Note? How do I know if I need to do them?
First-time borrowers and most transfer students must complete this process
in order to have loans disbursed.
The Master Promissory Note, or MPN is completed the first time you borrow federal
loans. Some transfer students may need to complete a new MPN, especially if
they came from a school that was NOT a direct lending school like Miami. The
MPN is the written agreement between the borrower and the US Department of Education.
The MPN can be completed online at www.muohio.edu. Your PIN number is needed
to sign both electronically.
**Loans will not be disbursed until both of these requirements are complete. |
