Applying For Financial Aid

1.  Apply for admission to SFCC by completing an SFCC admission application.

2.  Have an official academic transcript from all high schools, colleges, universities, or vocational-technical schools attended, sent to the Registrar's Office.

3.  Apply for federal financial aid.  Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on the U.S. Department of Education's web site at www.fafsa.ed.gov.   You (and a parent if you are a dependent student) will need to request a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from the Department of Education.  You do this by going to the www.pin.ed.gov web site.  You should fill the FAFSA out by March 1st of each year.  The FAFSA on the Web Worksheet may be obtained from any high school guidance counselor, from SFCC's Financial Aid Office, or on the Web at www.fafsa.ed.gov. There is no charge to apply for federal financial aid.  If you have any questions concerning applying for federal or state financial aid please email us at finaid@sfccmo.edu .

• Note 1:  This application is used to determine your eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Stafford Student Loans, and many Missouri funded financial aid programs.  You must complete the FAFSA each year. 
• Note 2:  Make sure you identify SFCC as one of the schools you want to receive your financial aid application.  You can use our school code of 007628. 
• Note 3:  A+ students, you must fill out a FAFSA each school year.  No A+ funds can be placed on your account until the financial aid office has a valid Student Aid Report on file.  So file early and yearly to ensure you can use A+ funds to prepay your tuition and fees.

4.  If you haven't received a high school diploma or a GED certificate, you'll need to take an Ability-To-Benefit Test.  Please see an SFCC academic counselor for more details. 

5.   Once your admission application is completed and you are admitted to SFCC, enroll in classes. 

• Note 1:  No aid can be assigned to your student account until you are admitted to the school as a regular degree seeking student and have enrolled in classes.  
• Note 2:  To receive federal financial aid, you must be a degree/certificate seeking student at SFCC.

6.  You'll receive your Student Aid Report (SAR) in two to four weeks from the time you you submit the FAFSA on the web. If you have not received your SAR within this timeframe you may call the Federal Student Aid Center at 1-800-4FEDAID to check the status of your application or check the FAFSA web site. 

7.  Please keep in mind SFCC has deadlines for each semester that a student must meet in order to use their possible financial aid to prepay tuition and fees and charge their books against their aid.  Normally, this means your financial aid file must be completed approximately six weeks before the start of the semester. See the Financial Aid Office for exact dates. 

8.  When the Financial Aid Office receives your SAR from the federal processor you will receive either a financial aid award letter or a missing document letter in approximately 10 - 14 days. 

• Note:  When you receive your SAR you may also contact a SFCC Financial Aid advisor to let them know you are interested in attending and receiving financial aid from SFCC.  At that time the Financial Aid advisor will confirm your application was received from the Central Processing System (CPS) and determine if your financial aid application was selected for verification by CPS.

9.  If selected for verification you must provide requested documentation to the SFCC Financial Aid Office before any aid eligibility can be determined.  Common documents needed to verify your financial aid application information are federal income tax forms (1040/A/EZ), any schedules, all W-2s, child support received/paid documents, social security benefits documents, welfare benefits, and a verification worksheet (provided by the Financial Aid Office).  This is another reason you should file early for financial aid.  Due to the large volume of applicants during the summer months it can take several weeks to process your financial aid file through the verification process and determine your eligibility for financial aid.  

• Note:  The student must complete their financial aid file before they can receive any Title IV funds.

10.  Once your financial aid file is completed and verified, you will be mailed an award letter.  This letter will show what type of aid you are eligible for and the amounts you would receive as a full-time student.  You must sign and return the award letter.  If you are eligible for student loans you will also receive a SFCC Student Loan Application. You must complete this form and return it to the Financial Aid Office.

11.  If you are eligible for a loan and decide you want a Federal Stafford Student Loan, please follow the loan application instructions located on the back of the form.  It is important for students to selct a lender for their student loan.  Students may select any lender who participates in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).  Make sure you provide the lender information on the SFCC student loan application.  Without this information we cannot complete your loan processing.  You may complete the Master Promissory Note at www.mohela.com/loanconnect/sfcc or complete a paper version (available at the Financial Aid Office) and complete Stafford Loan Entrance Counseling at www.mappingyourfuture.org and follow the Stafford Loan Entrance Counseling steps.  

• Note:  A student must be enrolled in at least six credit hours per semester to be eligible for a student loan.  You must also meet academic progress and GPA standards. See the Policies section located on the web site for a complete explanation of these standards.

12.  Your financial aid will be placed on your account and any outstanding tuition, fees, and other charges on your account will be deducted. 

13.  Prior to the disbursement date a Financial Aid Advisor will verify your enrollment.  This is to ensure the amount of financial aid originally awarded is still a valid amount.  They will check for any class additions or drops to determine if any changes in aid need to be made. 

14.  If you have excess financial aid a check will be mailed to you approximately seven to eight weeks into the semester.   

• Note:  Pell and loan funds are electronically sent to the school and placed into the student's account.  These funds will be placed onto the student's account within three days of the school receiving the funds.  The credit balance checks will be mailed within 14 days of SFCC receiving the money and placing it on your account.

15.  During the semester, please keep in mind that adding and or dropping classes will most likely impact the amount of your financial aid.   Please check with a Financial Aid advisor to determine the impact on your financial aid when adding and dropping classes.    

16. A student must apply for financial aid each school year.  Financial aid received in one year is not automatically renewable for the next.                          

• Note:  The award of financial aid is based on your attending classes through the completion of each semester.  When aid is awarded for a semester and you stop attending you will most likely have to repay up to 100% of your financial aid and tuition and fees to the U.S. Department of Education and/or SFCC.  Please notify a Financial Aid advisor before you withdraw from your classes.