Pathfinder Guidebook · FYE 100 Module 5 · Financial Planning with Purpose
10 Essential Skills in this module
  • 3Quantitative Reasoning
  • 6Professionalism
Trail Tip

Financial Aid at OCTC

The presentation, the steps to get and keep your aid, and who to ask.

About 8 minutes 6 of 8 in this module

Financial aid is money to help you pay for college. It's worth knowing how it works, because it can change what you can afford and how many classes you can take.

This Trail Tip gathers OCTC's financial aid information in one place: the presentation from the Financial Aid office, the steps to get and keep your aid, and where to go with questions.

The Financial Aid presentation

OCTC's Financial Aid office has a presentation for FYE 100 students. It explains the kinds of aid, how to apply, and what to do after you're awarded.

Find it in Blackboard

Check this module in Blackboard for the Financial Aid presentation. Watch or read it before you work on your budget, so you know what aid you can count on.

Getting and keeping your aid

These steps follow OCTC's Financial Aid Checklist. If you've already done some of them, start where you are.

  1. Create your StudentAid.gov account

    This account, also called an FSA ID, is how you sign in to the FAFSA and sign it.

  2. Complete the FAFSA

    The FAFSA is the free federal application for grants, work study, and loans. You fill it out again for each school year, so put it on your calendar.

  3. Apply for scholarships

    OCTC has its own scholarships, and there are many outside ones. Scholarships are money you don't pay back.

  4. Check your tasks in Student Self-Service

    If Financial Aid needs a document from you, it shows up as a task. Missing tasks can hold up your aid, so check often.

  5. Choose how you'll get your refund

    If your aid is more than your bill, the extra comes to you as a refund. OCTC sends refunds through BankMobile, and you choose how you want to receive yours.

  6. Check your bill

    Look at your account statement to make sure your aid covers what you owe. If it doesn't, ask about a payment plan.

  7. Keep your aid in place

    Stay enrolled, keep your grades up, and finish the classes you start. The next section has the two numbers to watch.

Pathfinder Tip

A refund often has to last the whole semester. Lesson 5.3 shows how to divide it across the months it needs to cover.

OCTC Financial Aid Checklist

The full checklist, with links for each step.

Open the Financial Aid Checklist (opens in a new tab)

Two numbers that protect your aid

To keep getting financial aid, you have to show you're making progress toward your credential. Colleges call this Satisfactory Academic Progress, or SAP. It's checked at the end of every semester, and two numbers cause most of the trouble.

Your GPA: 2.0 or higher

Your cumulative GPA, which covers all your classes so far, has to stay at 2.0 or above. That's a C average.

Your completion rate: 67% or higher

You have to pass at least two-thirds of the credit hours you sign up for. If you sign up for 12 credit hours and pass 6, your rate is 50%.

Key term

Completion rate: the credit hours you've passed, divided by the credit hours you've attempted.

Look back at

How your GPA is calculated

A W still counts against you

A class you withdraw from (W), fail (E), or leave incomplete (I) counts as attempted but not passed. A W doesn't lower your GPA, but it does lower your completion rate. Withdrawing from two classes in one semester can be enough to put your aid at risk.

There's also a limit on total credit hours: aid covers up to 150% of the credits your program requires. Changing programs several times or repeating many classes can use that up.

If you fall below

The first time, you're placed on warning and can still receive aid for one more semester. If you're still below after that, your aid is suspended. You can appeal a suspension through Student Self-Service, and Financial Aid can explain how.

Notices about your status go to your KCTCS email shortly after the semester ends, so keep checking it over the break.

Ask before you change your schedule

Dropping a class, withdrawing, or taking fewer credit hours can change your aid. Sometimes it means paying money back. Talk to Financial Aid before you make the change, so you know what it will cost.

Good questions to bring:

  • How many credit hours do I need to keep my aid?
  • If I drop this class, what happens to my aid this semester and next?
  • When will my aid arrive, and when would a refund come?
  • Are there scholarships or grants I haven't applied for?
See also

Lesson 6.4: how your course load connects to your aid