Financial Aid

Financial Aid & Scholarships

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Financial Aid Programs

Graduate Students

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding:

Applying For Aid
Eligibility for Aid
Gulfline and Financial Aid
Student Loans
Florida Bright Futures Scholarship
Florida Prepaid Program
Academic Issues Affecting Aid Eligibility
Using Your Financial Aid to Pay For Your Costs
Transfer Issues
Financial Aid for Study Abroad

Applying for Aid

Answer: There are several steps you need to take in order to begin the financial aid process.

Apply for a U.S. Department of Education personal identification number (PIN). Your PIN will allow you to electronically "sign" financial aid applications. Parents of dependent students need their own PIN. Apply for a PIN online at pin.ed.gov. If you already have a PIN from the U.S. Department of Education, you can reuse it year after year. You don't need to obtain a new one.
Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at fafsa.ed.gov. You are encouraged to file the FAFSA by our priority filing date of March 1.
Complete the FGCU Foundation Scholarship application online at http://www.fgcu.edu/. The application is available between November 15 and March 1.

Question: What is the school code for Florida Gulf Coast University that I should use when I complete the FAFSA?

Answer: FGCU's Federal School Code (also known as the Title IV Institution Code) is 032553.

Question: Why do I have to include my parent's information on the FAFSA? When can I put only my information on the FAFSA?

Answer: When you apply for federal student aid, your answers to certain questions will determine whether you're considered dependent on your parents or independent. If you're considered dependent, your parents' income and assets as well as your own must be reported on the FAFSA. If you're independent, you'll report only your own income and assets (and those of your spouse, if you're married). Not living with your parents does not necessarily classify you as independent.

Students are classified as dependent or independent because federal student aid programs are based on the principle that students (and their parents or spouse, if applicable) are considered the primary source of support for postsecondary education.

For the 2009-2010 academic year, you're an independent student if at least one of the following applies to you:

you were born before January 1, 1986;
you're married;
you are or will be enrolled in a master's or doctoral program (beyond a bachelor's degree) during the 2009-2010 school year;
you have children who receive more than half their support from you;
you have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who receive more than half their support from you and will continue to receive more than half their support from you through June 30, 2009;
you're an orphan or ward of the court (or were a ward of the court until age 18);
you're a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces ("veteran" includes students who attended a U.S. service academy and who were released under a condition other than dishonorable).

If you answer NO to all of the categories above, you are considered a dependent student.

In unusual cases, an aid administrator can determine that a student who doesn't meet the above criteria should still be treated as an independent student. If you request the Financial Aid Office to review your dependency status, the financial aid administrator can change your dependency status if he or she thinks circumstances warrant it based on the documentation you provide. But remember, self-support and living away from your parents are not, in and of themselves, reasons for a change of dependency status. A parent refusing to provide support for their child's education is also not sufficient for the student to be declared independent. The decision is based on the aid administrator's judgment and is final - it can't be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education.

Question: I live with another relative other than my parents. Can I put their information on the FAFSA instead of my parents?

Answer: If you are a dependent student, you must provide parental information on the FAFSA. Grandparents, foster parents and legal guardians are not considered parents by the U.S. Dept. of Education for the purposes of filing a FAFSA.

Question: My parents are divorced. My mother/father has remarried and my step-parent refuses to supply their tax information. Can I still apply for financial aid without my step-parent's information on the FAFSA?

Answer: In order to file the FAFSA, financial information has to be provided for both your parent and your stepparent.

Question: I submitted my FAFSA on-line. What do I do now?

Answer: After you have been admitted to FGCU, and the Financial Aid Office has received an electronic record of your FAFSA from the central processor of U. S. Dept. of Education, your record will be reviewed to see what financial aid you are eligible for. You may be required to submit additional documentation to the Financial Aid Office to insure that your application is complete and correct. Check your record in Gulfline to see if you are required to submit any documentation to the Financial Aid Office. Once your application is complete and correct, you will be awarded financial aid. The Financial Aid Office will notify you by e-mail to check your record in Gulfline to see your financial aid awards. The types and amount of financial aid you are awarded depends on the information you supplied on the FAFSA, program eligibility and the availability of funds. Your awards could include grants or scholarships, work-study, or loans.

Question: Do I need to be admitted to FGCU before I can apply for financial aid?

Answer: You don't have to wait until you're admitted to FGCU in order to apply for financial aid. Students can complete the FAFSA on-line starting January 1 for the upcoming academic year (Fall and Spring semesters). You can include FGCU among the colleges you want your FAFSA information sent to when you complete the FAFSA. If you haven't been admitted to FGCU when the Financial Aid Office receives your FAFSA information, your application will be held aside pending admission before you are awarded financial aid. You must however have an official FGCU ID number (UIN) to complete the online FGCU Foundation Scholarship application at http://www.fgcu.edu/as/financialaid.

Question: Do I have to reapply for financial aid every year?

Answer: You must complete the FAFSA each year in order to be considered for federal and institutional aid for the upcoming academic year. You must also complete the FGCU Foundation Scholarship application each year in order to be considered for a scholarship, even if you have received one in the past.

Question: If the academic year is half over, and I still haven't applied for financial aid, is it too late for me to apply?

Answer: If you want to apply for federal aid, you must complete the FAFSA before the end of your period of enrollment during the academic year. Your completed FAFSA must be received by the central processor of the U.S. Department of Education by your last day of enrollment or by June 30, whichever is sooner.

If you are enrolled for just the Fall semester in a particular academic year, your FAFSA must be received by the central processor by the last day of the Fall semester.
If you are enrolled for both the Fall and Spring semesters, your FAFSA must be received by the central processor by the last day of the Spring semester.
If you are enrolled for the Fall and Spring semesters as well as the Summer term, your FAFSA must be received by the central processor by June 30.

The kind of aid you will be eligible for is limited by the availability of aid at the time you apply. You should never wait until the deadline to file the FAFSA. Loan processing requires additional time and must be completed before the end of your enrollment period.

Eligibility for Aid

Question: What is the Verification process? Why was I selected for verification and how do I complete the process?

Answer: The U.S. Department of Education has developed a process called Verification in order to insure the accuracy of the information that is reported by students and parents on the FAFSA. The central application processor for the U.S. Department of Education selects some applications randomly; others are selected because the reported information appears to be inconsistent or incorrect. The Financial Aid Office is also permitted to select applications for Verification. If you are selected for Verification, you must provide certain documents to the Financial Aid Office. This includes a completed Verification Worksheet, which is available on our web site, signed copies of federal tax returns for you, your parents (if you are dependent) and your spouse (if you are married). Additional documents may be requested by the Financial Aid Office. Because of the large number of students that are selected for Verification, it generally takes about two weeks for the Financial Aid Office to review and process the documents that you have submitted. If inaccuracies are found in the review process, your FAFSA will be reprocessed with the correct information.

Question: I am a graduate student. Can I receive financial aid?

Answer: Graduate students are eligible to receive Federal Stafford Loans, Federal Work-Study, the FGCU Graduate Student Grant and, in some cases, the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan. The FAFSA must be completed to apply for all of these awards. In addition, graduate students may also complete the online FGCU Foundation Scholarship application at http://www.fgcu.edu/as/financialaid to apply for scholarship funds.

Question: I am a non-degree student. Can I receive financial aid?

Answer: Generally, students must be enrolled in a degree granting program in order to be eligible for financial aid. However, students who are enrolled in the Teacher Immersion Program (TIP) at FGCU and have been approved by the Teacher Immersion Program coordinator may be eligible to borrow Federal Stafford Loan funds.

Question: I am an international student. Am I eligible for any financial aid?

Answer: International students are not eligible for any federal financial aid or aid from the state of Florida. The Office of International Students at FGCU provides information about financial opportunities for international students. See their web site for more information http://studentservices.fgcu.edu/International/StudyAbroadScholarships.asp

Question: How many credit hours must I take to be considered full-time for financial aid?

Answer: Undergraduate students must enroll for at least 12 credit hours each semester in order to be considered full-time. Graduate students must enroll for at least 9 credit hours each semester in order to be considered full-time.

Question: What should I do if my financial circumstances change? Can the information on my FAFSA be updated?

Answer: In some cases, changes in family circumstances can be considered when determining your eligibility for financial aid. You may speak with a Financial Aid Office representative to determine whether the change in your circumstances warrants an adjustment of your FAFSA information. You may refer to the Change of Circumstances Form on our web site for examples of circumstances that may warrant adjustments.

Question: Can I receive financial aid for summer classes?

Answer: In some cases, students are eligible for financial aid during the summer term.

If you received a Federal Pell Grant and did not enroll as a full-time student during both the preceding Fall and Spring semesters, you may have remaining Federal Pell Grant eligibility for the summer. You must contact the Financial Aid Office and inform them that you have not received your entire yearly Federal Pell Grant award and that you are enrolled for the Summer term.
If you did not borrow the annual maximum Federal Stafford Loan during the preceding Fall and Spring semesters, you may be eligible to borrow a Federal Stafford Loan during the summer. You must contact the Financial Aid Office and request a loan for the summer term.
If you are a dependent student and you enroll for at least 6 credit hours during the summer, your parents may be eligible to borrow a Federal PLUS loan for the summer term. Your parents must apply for a Federal PLUS loan for the summer term.
Florida Bright Futures Scholarships are not available during the summer term.

Question: Will moving on-campus or off-campus affect my financial aid eligibility?

Answer: Where you live while attending FGCU is one of the factors that are used to determine the amount of aid for which you are eligible. See our web site for information about the Cost of Attendance that is used at FGCU to determine how much financial aid you will receive. Students who live with their parents while they attend FGCU have a different cost of attendance than students who live away from their parents (either on or off campus) since the cost of living at home with your parents is less than the cost of living in a residence hall or the cost of maintaining your own residence.

Gulfline and Financial Aid

Question: What kind of information about my financial aid can I find on Gulfline (https://gulfline.fgcu.edu/pls/fgpo/twbkwbis.P_GenMenu?name=homepage)?

Answer: Gulfline is FGCU's web based information system for students, faculty and staff. You can check your financial aid record in Gulfline to

find out what documents the Financial Aid Office requires from you,
view your financial aid awards,
accept, decline or adjust your financial aid awards,
report the amount of any scholarships or grants from outside sources that are not included in your financial aid record,
see if any required loan entrance counseling or exit counseling has been completed.

Student Loans

Question: What is the difference between a subsidized Stafford Loan and an unsubsidized Stafford Loan?

Answer: A subsidized loan is awarded on the basis of financial need. If you qualify for a subsidized loan, the federal government pays the interest on the loan ("subsidizes" the loan) as long as you remain enrolled on at least a half-time basis until repayment begins. The interest is subsidized as well during authorized periods of deferment. An unsubsidized loan is not awarded on the basis of financial need. If you qualify for an unsubsidized loan, interest will be charged from the time the loan is disbursed until it is repaid in full. You may choose to pay the interest while you are in school or allow it to accumulate. If you allow the interest to accumulate, it will be capitalized - that is, the interest will be added to the principal amount of the loan and will increase the amount that has to be repaid. If the interest is paid as it accumulates, you will have less to pay in the long run.

Question: How many credit hours must I take to be eligible for a student loan?

Answer: The U.S. Department of Education requires that a student enroll on at least a half-time basis in order to be eligible to receive a Federal Stafford Loan. Undergraduate students must enroll for at least 6 credit hours each semester in order to be considered half-time. Graduate students must enroll for at least 5 credit hours each semester in order to be considered half-time.

Question: What is a Federal PLUS Loan? Whose loan is it and who is responsible for repaying it?

Answer: Although PLUS is an acronym for Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, there are two kinds of PLUS loans.

The first is a loan for the parents of undergraduate dependent students. The parent is the loan borrower and is obligated to repay the loan. The purpose of the loan is to make aid funds available up the amount of the difference between the student's cost of attendance and all other aid the student is receiving.
The second is for graduate students. This is a new feature of the PLUS program starting with the 2006-07 academic year. Graduate students may borrow PLUS loans if their cost of attendance exceeds the aid they receive from all other sources, including the Federal Stafford Loan. The graduate student is the loan borrower and is obligated to repay the loan.

Question: What is a Master Promissory Note (MPN) and how do I sign it?

Answer: A promissory note is a binding legal document you sign when you get a student loan. It lists the conditions under which you're borrowing and the terms under which you agree to pay back the loan. It will include information on how interest is calculated and what deferment and cancellation provisions are available to the borrower. It's very important to read and save this document because you'll need to refer to it later when you begin repaying your loan or at other times when you need information about provisions of the loan, such as deferments or forbearances. You only have to sign the Master Promissory Note (MPN) once even if you borrow several loans over the course of your education. If you change lenders, a new MPN must be completed. You will be contacted by your lender or their representative with information on how to sign the MPN. The MPN can be signed electronically or on paper. Borrowers are strongly urged to sign the MPN electronically.

Question: How much am I allowed to borrow each year in student loans?

Answer: The amount you can borrow each year from the Federal Stafford Loan program is based on the number of credits you have earned toward the degree you are pursuing as well as your dependency status. Detailed information about Annual Loan Limits is available on our web site.

Question: What is an alternative loan? Why doesn't the Financial Aid Office at FGCU certify alternative loans?

Answer: An alternative loan is a private education loan offered by a lender. The loan is not government guaranteed and consequently alternative loans often cost more than loans offered by the federal government. FGCU does not certify alternative loans for dependent undergraduate students. Parents of dependent students should consider borrowing a PLUS loan if the student requires additional loan funds beyond those provided by the Federal Stafford Loan program.

Florida Bright Futures Scholarship

Question: Do I have to fill out the FAFSA to get a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship?

Answer: As of the 2011-2012 academic school year, ALL Bright Futures recipients are required to complete the FAFSA (www.fafsa.gov). Without a valid FAFSA, we will not be able to disburse your Bright Futures scholarship. Use code 032553 as the FGCU Federal Code. You must also request a PIN in order to sign your FAFSA electronically - www.pin.ed.gov.

Florida Prepaid Program

Question: If I am enrolled in the Florida Prepaid program, does that affect my eligibility for financial aid?

Answer: The value of your Florida Prepaid Account must be reported as an asset on the FAFSA. In the past, the benefits you received from the Florida Prepaid Program were counted as a direct reduction of your aid eligibility. In most cases, this new treatment is beneficial to students. If you are a dependent student, the value of the account should be reported by your parents as one of their assets on the FAFSA. If you are an independent student, you should report the value of the account as one of your assets on the FAFSA. If you don't know the value of the account, contact the Florida Prepaid program at (800) 552-GRAD (4723).

Academic Issues Affecting Aid Eligibility

Question: What will happen to my financial aid eligibility if I withdraw from all of my classes?

Answer: If you are receiving federal financial aid and you withdraw from all your classes, the university is required by U.S. Department of Education regulation to evaluate your record and determine how much financial aid you are eligible for, based on how long you were enrolled. Students who withdraw from all their classes may have to repay some or all of the aid they were awarded. Total withdrawal can also affect your eligibility for financial aid in subsequent semesters.

Question: What will happen to my financial aid eligibility if I withdraw from some, but not all of my classes?

Answer: The timing of your withdrawal and the number of classes you withdraw from can have a significant effect on your financial aid eligibility. If you are a loan borrower, it can affect your eligibility for loan payments that have not yet been disbursed and may affect your repayment date. You should see a financial aid representative to discuss your withdrawal plans.

Question: I've been told that I have to be making satisfactory academic progress in order to receive financial aid. What does that mean?

Answer: The U.S. Department of Education requires that all colleges have a standard in place to insure that students who are receiving federal financial aid are making satisfactory academic progress towards earning their degree. The Financial Aid Office measures your progress at the end of each spring semester to see if you are making satisfactory academic progress. If you are not, you can lose eligibility for financial aid in the subsequent year.

Question: Is there a limit on how long I can receive financial aid?

Answer: U.S. Department of Education regulations prohibit students from continuing to receive federal financial aid if they have earned more than 150% of the credits that are required to earn their degree. If the degree you are trying to earn requires 120 credits, you may not continue receiving aid if you have earned 180 credits and have still not earned the degree. This can happen if students change their major and are required to take additional courses. This regulation affects both undergraduate and graduate students. If you are receiving a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, you can receive funding for up to 132 credit hours towards the completion of your first baccalaureate degree.

Question: What is cross-enrollment? Can I take classes elsewhere and get financial aid for those classes?

Answer: Students are sometimes permitted to take classes at another college other than FGCU while they are enrolled at FGCU. The only college with which FGCU has a cross-enrollment agreement is Edison College. In order to receive financial aid for your FGCU courses and your Edison College courses, you must complete the Cross Enrollment Contract for Financial Aid and meet all the requirements described in that contract.

Using Your Financial Aid to Pay For Your Costs

Question: If I have enough financial aid to cover by bill, is my bill paid, or do I have to pay the bill myself and get reimbursed by the university?

Answer: You should check your record in Gulfline to determine whether you have enough financial aid to pay your bill and whether or not your aid has been applied toward the payment of your bill.

Question: Can I use my financial aid to purchase the books I need for my classes?

Answer: Click here for details - Financial Aid Advance Purchase Program

Question: Will my financial aid pay for my tuition at another college if I cross-enroll elsewhere?

Answer: The only college in which you may cross-enroll and receive financial aid for those courses is Edison College. You must complete the Cross Enrollment Contract for Financial Aid and meet all the requirements described in that contract. If you cross-enroll, you must pay the tuition and fees charged by Edison College. If you are eligible for financial aid at FGCU, the amount of your aid here will be based on your FGCU courses and your Edison College courses.

Transfer Issues

Question: I am transfer student from another school OR I am transferring to another school. How do I get my financial aid transferred?

Answer: Some, but not all financial aid can be transferred from one college to another. You should contact the Financial Aid Office at the college you are leaving as well as the Financial Aid Office of the college you will attend. You can find out from them what aid transfers and what aid does not transfer. You should inform them of your transfer plans and find out if there are any requirements you must fulfill as you transfer.

Financial Aid for Study Abroad

Question: Is financial aid available for study abroad programs?

Answer: Financial aid is available for some study abroad programs. Financial aid eligibility for studying abroad is determined by the type of study abroad program you attend, as well as the type of financial aid you receive. Only students earning a degree at FGCU are eligible.

FGCU Study Abroad Programs are those for which you are eligible to receive credits and grades that will be counted in your FGCU cumulative grade point average.
Affiliate Study Abroad Programs are part of another university or college and you will only receive transfer credits at FGCU. Grades will appear on your transcript but will not be included in your FGCU grade point average. A completed Financial Aid Consortium Agreement is required to establish your eligibility for financial aid.
A study abroad program for which you will not receive transfer credits or grades at FGCU is not eligible for any financial aid funds.

Detailed information about the kind of financial aid you may receive, depending on the type of Study Abroad Program is available on our web site.