Columbia State Community College Federal School Code: 003483
CLICK HERE for a listing of priority processing dates.
APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL AID:
STEP 1: FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA)
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the financial aid form required to be considered for all federal and most state financial aid programs.
Applying for financial aid is a free process.
If you are applying for the 2011-2012 award year (Fall 2011, Spring 2012 and Summer 2012), please complete the 2011-2012 FAFSA. The last day to file the 2011-2012 FAFSA is June 30, 2012.
If you are applying for the 2012-2013 award year (Fall 2012, Spring 2013 and Summer 2013), please complete the 2012-2013 FAFSA. The 2012-2013 FAFSA will be available on January 1, 2012. The last day to file the 2012-2013 FAFSA is June 30, 2013.
In order to complete the FAFSA you will need your prior year tax form (IRS Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ. For example, when completing the 2011-2012 FAFSA you will be asked to provide information from your 2010 tax form.
There is not a priority deadline for the State of Tennessee, but the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) advises Tennessee students to complete the FAFSA as early as possible after January 1st to be considered for state grant funds.
If you have not filed taxes for the required year, you may estimate your income. Please be as acurate as possible when estimating.
If you estimate your prior year tax income on the FAFSA you greatly increase your chances of being selected for verification by the U.S. Department of Education. CLICK HERE for more information on verification.
The FAFSA is an on-line form. You are filing a federal form and reporting your information to the U.S. Department of Education via a secure, government website.
You may list up to ten (10) schools to receive your FAFSA results. If you do not list Columbia State Community College on the FAFSA, the Office of Financial Aid will not get your FAFSA results or award you financial aid.
Columbia State Community College Federal School Code: 003483
In order to electronically sign your FAFSA, student and parent will need to apply for a federal PIN number. CLICK HERE to request a PIN.
To complete the FAFSA please go to www.fafsa.ed.gov or simply CLICK HERE.
Paper FAFSA are no longer readily available through the Office of Financial Aid. If you wish to file a paper FAFSA, please CLICK HERE.
To view a tutorial about completing the 2012-2013 FAFSA, please CLICK HERE.
STEP 2: YOUR STUDENT AID REPORT
Once you submit your FAFSA it is processed by the Central Processing System (CPS).
The CPS runs all your data through a complex equation called the Federal Methadology.
When the CPS has finished analyzing your data through the Federal Methadology, an e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address listed by the student on the FAFSA.
This e-mail will contain a summary of the FAFSA results called the Student Aid Report (SAR).
The student aid report will list all the information that you provided on the FAFSA, as well as your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
Your EFC is not a bill. It is not a statement of what you will have to pay for college.
The EFC is how much a family “could” contribute to a college education, not what they are expected to pay.
The government uses the EFC to determine if you are eligible for Pell grant, the State of Tennessee will use to determine if you are eligible for TSAA Grant, and Columbia State Community College will use to determine if you are eligible for other type of need-based aid.
When you receive your SAR, please review the information carefully to insure that you reported everything accuratly.
You may then go back to the FAFSA website and make any corrections that you need to make.
Your SAR will note if you were randomly selected by the CPS for a process called verification. CLICK HERE to learn more about verification.
STEP 3: YOUR AWARD NOTIFICATION
Once you complete the FAFSA the Office of Financial Aid will receive your data electronically from the CPS.
Beyond filing the FAFSA, there may be additional paperwork required by the Office of Financial Aid. CLICK HERE to learn how to view the status of required forms on myCN.
Once you have completed and submitted all required paperwork, the Office of Financial Aid will determine what types of aid you can receive and how much you can get.
Awarded financial aid will be visisble to you on your myChargerNet account. CLICK HERE to learn how to view your awards on myCN.
Once aid is awarded an e-mail will be sent from the Office of Financial Aid to your Columbia State e-mail account. CLICK HERE to learn how to check your e-mail on myCN.
STEP 4: SCHOLARSHIPS
Completing the FAFSA does not automatically make you eligible for scholarships.
Each scholarship usually has its own application and awarding criterea.
CLICK HERE to learn more about scholarships.
BEFORE YOU APPLY FOR FINANCIAL AID:
To receive financial aid at Columbia State Community College you must be admitted as a student.
If you have not applied for admission to Columbia State Community College, please CLICK HERE.