What Is Financial Aid?
Grants, scholarships, work-study and student loans are all forms of financial aid. Grants and scholarships are funds that do not have to be repaid, as long as eligibility requirements are maintained. Work-study is employment, usually on campus, for which a paycheck is earned for hours worked. Loans are funds that must be repaid.
FAFSA - Major Financial Aid Changes for 2019-20
The Department of Education made some major changes to the FAFSA and how it will be processed. Learn about important filing changes by opening the form below.
The first step in applying for financial aid is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.
The 2019-20 FAFSA changes include the following:
Learn more about the redesigned, mobile-friendly fafsa.gov website and the myStudentAid app.
There's an easier, faster way to provide tax information for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). When completing the FAFSA you will be prompted to enter your FSA ID and link to the
IRS web site. The retrieval process will display your tax information and allow you
to transfer it to your FAFSA.
Our Financial Aid office encourages everyone to utilize the IRS Data Retrieval Process
if you and your parent(s) have filed your 2015 tax return(s). Families who do not
use the IRS Data Retrieval process will be required to submit an IRS tax transcript
and W2s directly from the IRS to complete the federal verification process. Our recommendation
is for you and your parent(s), if applicable, to file federal income taxes electronically
prior to filing the FAFSA. We strongly suggest in participating in the IRS retrieval
process. If you file your federal tax return electronically, the data will be available
to import into the FAFSA application within approximately 2 weeks of the IRS accepting
your return (or your parent(s) if applicable). If you or your parent(s) file taxes
by paper, it will take eight weeks before your information will be available for the
IRS data retrieval process.
Please note that you may still be required to supply other income information as part
of the general verification process. Additional items will be requested by your campus
FA Office.
The Community College of Allegheny County Title IV school code for ALL campuses and
centers: 003231
The FAFSA is a requirement of the US Department of Education (DOE) and will establish
the student's eligibility for the various types of aid listed in this document. Students
can complete the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. You must have an FSA ID. A Student Aid Report (SAR) will be generated to students
along with the results of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The
Student Aid Report (SAR) is the form that will list the Expected Family Contribution
(EFC) and is a major determinant in a student's eligibility for Federal Financial
Aid. The FAFSA must be completed each academic year (time period covering July 1-June
30). See PHEAA information below for important deadlines.
If additional documentation is needed prior to the offer of a financial aid award,
CCAC will send the student a letter requesting the additional information. Failure
to provide the requested documents will postpone the awarding of the student's financial
aid. The student can view any missing documents and the financial aid award online
at https://my.ccac.edu. You must have a NET ID and password in order to log in. Once logged in, navigate
to CCAC Central e-services, financial aid then financial aid self service.
If the student's financial aid award is not finalized prior to the tuition due date,
they will need to either pay for classes from their own resources or take advantage
of the CCAC tuition payment plan.
REMEMBER IF YOU REGISTER FOR CLASSES AND DECIDE NOT TO ATTEND, YOU MUST DROP THE CLASSES PRIOR TO THE FIRST DAY OF THE SEMESTER TO AVOID BEING CHARGED.
If you are applying for or receiving a grant from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) please note that at least half of your class schedule must be for classes that are fully offered on a campus/center. In addition, your program of study also needs to have at least half of its courses offered fully on a campus/center. If you are uncertain how this PHEAA policy relates to your class schedule, please contact the Director of Financial Aid at the campus of your choice.
Note: students with medical disabilities as defined by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) of July 1990 (PL 101-336) may request an accommodation to the 50% in-classroom instruction enrollment requirement of the Pennsylvania state grant program. The ADA Accommodation Request Form may be found online.
PHEAA (PA Higher Education Assistance Agency)
1.800.692.7392
www.pheaa.org
(Detailed directions are available at the Financial Aid office)