2012-2013 Federal changes to Financial Aid
The U.S. Department of Education has proposed the following changes commencing with the 2012-13 academic year.
Loss of Subsidized Loan Eligibility for Graduate and Professional Students
Effective July 1, 2012, graduate and professional students are no longer eligible to receive Federal Direct Subsidized Loans. Graduate students will only be eligible for Unsubsidized Direct Loans (up to $20,500 per academic year). The terms and conditions of Direct Subsidized Loans received by any student for loan periods beginning before July 1, 2012 for either graduate or undergraduate students, are not afected by this change.
Termination of Direct Loan Borrower Repayment Incentives
Effective July 1, 2012, repayment incentives, reduction of interest rates, or origination fees available to to loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2012 will be terminated. Up-front interest rebates will no longer be available.
Interest Deferment
Effective July 1, 2012, interest subsidy during the six month grace period is eliminated for new undergraduate loans made after July 1, 2012 and before July 1, 2014. The repayment period still begins 6 months after the student is no longer enrolled at least 1/2 time, but the interest that accrues during those six months will be payable by the student rather than be subsidized by the federal government.
Federal Pell Grant Eligibility
Duration of eligibility is reduced from the equivalent of 18 full time semesters to the equivalent of 12 full-time semesters. This reduction will affect all students beginning with the 12/13 award year.
Repeated Coursework
Federal regulations limit the number of times a student may repeat a course and receive Financial Aid for that course.
- Once a student has repeated the course twice with a grade above a (D), he/she is no longer eligible to receive aid for that course.
- A student may receive aid when repeating a course that was previously failed (F, W, WI, and NC) regardless of the times the course was attempted and failed.
- If a student takes a course that is not aid eligible, a recalculation of aid is done to exclude the credits for the course. If a balance is due after the recalculation, the student must make payment by the according university deadlines.
- Students must continue to adhere to CSUMB's Course Repeat Policy and the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy, Please contact the Office of the Registrar of the Financial Aid Office at 831-582-5100 for more information.
FAFSA Application Process
ALL applicants and parents who indicate they have filed a federal tax return will be directed to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Applicants and parents who indicate they will file a federal tax return will receive email communication(s) from FAFSA directing them to use the IRS Tool to update their income information once they have filed their 2011 federal income tax return. Applicants selected for the verification process will be required to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (or) they may choose to request a tax transcript from the IRS which must be submitted to the Financial Aid Office in conjunction with any Verification documents.
The IRS Data Retrieval Tool is available for online FAFSA submittals and is accessible through the FAFSA web site www.fafsa.ed.gov. The retrieval tool allows FAFSA applicants and parents with the ability to transfer their income information from the IRS to the FAFSA.
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