Eligibility for financial aid

Washington County Community College offers financial help to eligible students who enroll part-time or full-time in credit programs that lead to degrees, certificates or diplomas, as described in the college catalog.

While the primary responsibility for financing an education rests with the student and a family, WCCC supplements this obligation with awards from grant, scholarship, work and loan programs.

Eligibility

To be eligible for financial aid from federal, state, or College sources, students must meet the following criteria:

• Be accepted into an eligible degree or certificate program at the College
• Be a United States Citizen or an Eligible Non-Citizen
• Have a valid Social Security Number
• Be registered with Selective Service if you are male and 18-25 years of age (go to www.sss.gov for more information)
• Have a high school diploma, or a General Education Development (GED) Certificate
• Not have a prior drug conviction for an offense that occurred while you were receiving federal student aid
• Not owe a refund on a federal grant or be in default on a federal student loan
• Not incarcerated
• Meet all requirements as set forth by the Department of Education www.ifap.ed.gov

To remain eligible, recipients must apply each year and maintain satisfactory academic progress toward their degrees as outlined in the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy. This policy and the Financial Aid Refund Policy (for students who change enrollment status by adding/dropping courses or withdrawing from the college) are posted on the WCCC website and copies are available in the Financial Aid Office.

Financial Aid is not awarded for credit hour registrations associated with Audits, Challenge Exams, Work Experience Credit, Transfer Credit, or repeats of courses with grades of “Incomplete.” In addition, financial aid is not awarded for courses that are not needed (as either a required course or an elective) for the students’ current degree or certificate program.

Federal regulations allow for financial aid to pay for a student to repeat a course once to obtain a better grade. The Satisfactory Academic Progress policy does not allow financial aid to pay for more than one repeat of a course. If it is determined that a student needs remedial courses before taking required courses, those for-credit remedial courses are covered by financial aid.