Financial Aid FAQ

1. How am I notified of my financial aid award?

Once your award eligibility is determined, an award letter will be mailed out to the address on record with the College. For your convenience, you can view your financial aid awards, read messages, accept or decline loan offers and determine what documents are required online!

Start by logging into your MyNCC account

• go to MyNCC Login
• Log in using your NCC ID(N#) and Password (PIN)
• Select the Financial Aid Tab

Click:

• Student and Financial Aid
• Eligibility
• Student Requirements – to see the outstanding documents still needed

2. Should I wait until my and/or my parent's tax return is complete before I fill out my FAFSA?

When filling out the FAFSA, NCC strongly recommends all students, parents, and spouses (if applicable) upload their income tax information to their FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval tool. In order to do so, all parties must have already electronically filed their taxes, at least two weeks prior to filling out the FAFSA.

3. Whose income do I report on the FAFSA if my parents are divorced or separated?

Upload the income tax information using the IRS Data Retrieval tool of the custodial parent (and stepparent, if custodial parent has remarried).

Note: If parents are not married, but live together as a family, then it is the parent with the higher income that is to be reported on the fafsa.  

4. How often should I apply for Financial Aid?

The FAFSA results are for one academic year. NCC's Fall semester begins each academic year. A good way to remember when it is time to complete the FAFSA for the upcoming academic year is soon after you electronically file your tax return. Apply online at www.fafsa.gov. Our school code is 002873. Never complete this form at fafsa.com. The ".com" website will charge you and there is no fee involved in completing the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid!

IMPORTANT: when completing a 2013/2014 FAFSA, the award offered is for the  Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Summer 2014*academic year.  

*if you have not used your full aid award between fall and spring, you may be eligible to receive federal aid for summer session of that award year.

5.What is the federal verification process?

A system used by the federal government to verify the information you provide on your FAFSA. If your FAFSA is selected, you may be asked to submit a tax transcript for you and your parent (if applicable). Tax transcripts are free and must be requested from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This request can take 10-12 days for you to receive. You may also be asked for other documents to complete the financial aid process. Once the verification process is complete, your financial aid awards may be adjusted. All NCC students who are selected for verification must submit the required documents to the Financial Aid Office in order for Federal aid, such as Direct Loans, Pell and SEOG, to be processed and applied to your bill.

6. Why do I need to hand in a "Tax Return Transcript"?

There are several possibilities:

• You did not use the IRS data retrieval tool when completing the FAFSA
• You used the IRS Data Retrieval Tool but changed some of the data on the FAFSA afterwards
• You were randomly selected for verification by the Federal Government
• The FAFSA you submitted had estimated, incomplete or contradictory data

7. How do I obtain a TAX RETURN TRANSCRIPT?

There are a few ways to obtain a copy of your (or your Parent's) Federal TAX RETURN TRANSCRIPT from the IRS, but there are significant delays involved. It is important to plan ahead.

Online request at www.irs.gov :

• In the TOOLS section select “Order a Return or Account Transcript”
• Click “Order a Transcript”.
• Provide the tax filer’s SSN, DOB and EXACT street address and zip code as it appears on the tax return.
• Click “Continue”.
• In the “Type of Transcript” field, select “Return Transcript”
• In the “Tax Year” enter the appropriate year.
• If successfully linked, you can expect a paper IRS TAX Transcript to be mailed to the address on the return within 5-10 business days. You would then need to bring that to the Financial Aid office.

Telephone request: Automated attendant: 1.800.908.9946

Be sure to request a TAX RETURN TRANSCRIPT. An Account Transcript is NOT acceptable. Nassau Community College is no longer allowed to accept a signed copy of a 1040, 1040ez, 1040a federal tax return to complete the verification process.

8. What is an Expected Family Contribution (EFC)?

Set by a federally mandated formula, the EFC is a number that helps your NCC financial aid counselor determine if you are eligible for federal financial assistance, including Pell Grant, Stafford Loan, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) and Federal Work-Study (FWS).

9. What happens if I don’t receive a SAR or if I need another copy?

Call 1.800.433.3243 if your SAR hasn’t arrived within four to six weeks after submitting your FAFSA. Give your name, address, Social Security number and date of birth and ask for another copy of your SAR. If your address has changed since you sent in your application, give both your old and new addresses

10. What if my financial situation changes?

You must first have a FAFSA on file and all required documents satisfied. Then you can submit a Special Circumstance form which can be found on our financial aid forms page. Submit that completed form and the supporting documentation for a financial aid counselor to consider. If there are any questions or requests, they will be sent to your NCC email by the counselor.

11. How can I get a job on campus?

Most campus jobs are available through Federal Work-Study (FWS), a need-based program. Fill out the FAFSA and indicate your interest in receiving financial aid in the form of a job/work. If appropriate to your level of need, you’ll receive an award letter indicating the amount you can earn through FWS. Once you are approved for FWS, visit www.ncc.edu/fws to learn about the steps to take to secure a position.

For non-FWS jobs, check with Job Placement in Nassau Hall.

12. Can I get money for books?

Criteria to receive a book voucher:

1. You must be eligible to receive a Pell Grant,
2. You have submitted all requested documents to the financial aid office by July 1*,and
3. Your total federal award** exceeds tuition and fee charges by at least $100,
4. You must be meeting satisfactory academic standards for federal aid.

What you need to know:

• You must check your NCC email. If eligible, a book voucher and instructions will be sent to your NCC email only. (Starting mid August for Fall vouchers and mid January for Spring vouchers)
• No manual vouchers will be issued
• ONLY if you meet the above criteria and do not receive a book voucher, email financialaid@ncc.edu. Email must be sent from your NCC email and include your NCC student ID.

*The Financial Aid Office will continue to process documents received after July 1st and email book vouchers. Only those who have submitted complete & accurate information by the July 1 deadline can be guaranteed a book voucher. New students entering in the Spring semester must submitted requested documents by December 1 to be guaranteed a book voucher.

**First time Stafford loan borrowers will not have their loan award included in the book voucher calculation. NYS TAP grant is toward tuition only and is not included in the book voucher calculation.

13. Are Winterim courses covered by financial aid?

Winter session is now considered as part of the spring semester for federal financial aid purposes. This means that if a student is registered for three credits during winterim, and nine credits during spring, they would be considered a full-time student and their Federal financial aid would be packaged as such.  Also, if a student is only enrolled in winterim session and not spring, the student may be eligible to receive federal aid.  To receive the aid for the winterim session the student must complete the winterim course.

IMPORTANT: All students are responsible to pay their winterim tuition bill by the assigned due date. All winterim and spring financial aid will be disbursed together as spring aid and will be disbursed in the spring semester only.

Please note: New York State aid such as TAP and Aid for Part Time Study, is not available for Winterim. Please be aware that all awards are contingent upon funding and your remaining aid eligibility.

14. How can I get a student loan?

First you must have completed a FAFSA.

If your award package reflects a loan offer, you can accept it online or complete a Loan Request form. All new borrowers must sign an electronic promissory note and complete an Entrance Counseling session at www.studentloans.gov.

In order for your Federal Loan to be deducted from your bill you must complete these steps:

Step 1: “Accept” your loan award. You can do this on MyNCC or by completing a Loan Request form, found on the forms page at www.ncc.edu/financialaid. (Note: The web accept function on MyNCC is not available during the spring semester.)  

Step 2: Complete an MPN (Master Promissory Note)

AND

Step 3: Complete an Entrance Counseling Session

Complete both steps 2 & 3 at www.studentloans.gov (make sure you receive a confirmation) All steps must be completed at least 2 business days before the BILL DUE DATE to allow for system updates. IMPORTANT: Student must be enrolled for at least 6 credits toward your degree/certificate program to receive loans.

15. What is an "EXIT Interview"?

All students who have borrowed a Federal student loan are required by law to complete an Exit Counseling Session; it is sometimes referred to as an “Exit Interview”. This requirement comes into effect at the point of completion of their educational program or if the student leaves school, or when their enrollment status drops below half time (6 credits). This process helps students to understand their rights and responsibilities with regard to their student loan repayment. To fulfill your federal requirement to complete a Student Loan Exit Counseling Session, go to www.nslds.ed.gov and click on “Exit Counseling”. You will need your federal PIN to Login.

16. How much can I get from Pell and TAP? Do I need to repay Pell and TAP?

Your Federal Pell Grant depends on the Expected Family Contribution amount you received when you filled out the FAFSA. The maximum Federal Pell Grant amount is $5,550.

TAP, the New York State tuition assistance grant, depends on the amount of your net taxable income from the previous year. The maximum TAP award at NCC is 100 percent of the full-time tuition rate.

Pell and TAP are grants and do not need to be repaid.

17. What happens to my financial aid if I withdraw from my class?

Before you withdraw, you’ll want to visit with a counselor. Withdrawal from individual courses or from the entire semester can affect your financial aid award for that semester and/or future semesters. Students receiving aid for their educational costs are required to maintain an acceptable cumulative GPA, while at the same time completing a specified percentage of the credits for which they register within a certain time frame. Withdrawals (noted as a “W” on your academic record) may affect the status of your “Satisfactory Academic Progress.”

18. What if my financial aid award package does not cover all of my charges?

NCC is happy to assist students and their families by offering an installment plan. Please contact the Bursar's office for more details.

19. What is the best way to contact the Financial Aid office?

While we make every effort to speak with you in a timely manner, Financial Aid awarding is unpredictable and some situations are more time-consuming than we could have anticipated. High call volume and long lines during peak periods may make it difficult to get through on the phone.Many students have found that communicating electronically to be convenient and successful. Email financialaid@ncc.edu from your NCC email account. Remember to include your N# in all correspondence. Important: We will not discuss a student account with a non-NCC email.

20. Is there Summer Pell?

If a you received full-time Pell in Fall & again in Spring, then no summer Pell is available to you for the summer session. If you received less than full time Pell in either fall and/or spring then you may be eligible for the remaining Pell in summer.