Financial Aid

See the following information for a complete listing of Standards of Academic Progress (SAP).

The FAFSA is used to determine how much federal and state aid you may qualify for in an academic year. Most kinds of aid require a FAFSA, including subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

The FAFSA can be waived for high school student or for those with bachelors degrees for purposes of receiving lottery funds. Certain third-party benefactors require a FAFSA to be completed before they will pay (ex. WIA, TIA, etc.). A FAFSA must be filed yearly.

The Department of Education requires that parental information be provided on the FAFSA until you: reach the age of 24, get married, earn a bachelors’ degree, are currently serving on active due in the US Armed Forces, become a Veteran of the US Armed Forces, have children for whom you provide more the ½ of their support, both parents are deceased, were in foster care or a ward of the court, are a court determined emancipated minor, under legal guardianship of someone other than your parent or stepparent as determined by the courts, are determined as a youth that was homeless or at risk of being homeless by one of the following: high school or district homeless liaison, director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program, director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program.

Only in unusual circumstances can the Financial Aid Office override this requirement. Examples of unusual circumstances would include (a) the student is legally separated from his/her parents (b) the student was removed from the home by state agencies or courts due to physical and/or emotional abuse (c) total family disillusionment exists which makes it impossible to obtain the parent(s) financial information (d) the student is the victim of human trafficking. A student may complete an Unusual Circumstance – Dependency Override Form available on the ATC website Financial Aid Forms page.

TRANSCRIPTS OF HOUSEHOLD INCOME: Student’s/Spouse’s prior year federal tax return and W-2 form(s) including schedule “C”; support or any other type of taxable or untaxable income. If under the age of 24, this same information must be provided for the parent(s) also.
DOCUMENTATION OF ASSETS: documents reflecting the balance/value of savings and checking accounts, CD’s, stocks/bonds, money markets, business or farm, rental property, real estate (other than home in which one resides) etc.

You can check the status of your financial aid by logging into financial aid Self-Service. You can check to see: if you have any outstanding documents; if you have been awarded; and if your aid has been posted to your student account. You can even accept your financial aid awards.

Applications submitted after the financial aid priority application deadline(s) will continue to be processed, but funds will not be guaranteed to be available for fee payment purposes or purchasing books and supplies at the ATC Bookstore. You should prepare to pay your cost of tuition, fees, books and supplies by setting up a payment plan with the Cashier's Office. If you are determined eligible for aid, you will be reimbursed up to your eligibility for financial aid.

• Aiken Technical College Foundation Scholarships: Kym Johnson (803) 508-7413
• Aiken Technical Scholars Program: Patsy Fields (803) 508-7278 or Shareffa Harris (803) 508-7420
• Veterans Education Benefits: Susan Gannon (803) 508-7346

It is important to remember each time that you withdraw from a class it will affect your Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Completion Rate. Federal regulations require that your Cumulative Completion Rate be at least 67%. Grades of W, WF, NC, U, or F count against your completion rate.

If you have federal Title IV aid (PELL, SEOG, DIRECT LOAN) and withdraw from ALL of your classes before the completion of 60% of the term, you will not have earned all of your aid and may find that you must repay unearned funds. Unlike a partial withdrawal, you will only earn a percentage of your awarded aid based on the number of days that you attended class. For example, if you receive $2,000 in federal aid and you withdraw from all of your classes after attending only 50% of the term, your aid will be recalculated and be adjusted to $1,000. Your tuition, however, will remain the same.

If you have state aid (SCNB, SC LIFE, SC-LTAP) and withdraw from all of your classes before the drop period of the term has ended, you will lose all of these funds for the term. However, if you attend these classes beyond the end of the drop period of the term, you will have earned 100% of the awarded aid.

It is important to remember each time that you withdraw from a class it will affect your Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Completion Rate. Federal regulations require that your Cumulative Completion Rate be at least 67%. Grades of W, WF, NC, U, or F count against your completion rate.

If you have federal Title IV aid (PELL, SEOG, DIRECT LOAN) and you remain enrolled in at least one credit hour class, your aid will not be reduced from your original award. For example, if you registered for 12 credit hours and you withdrew from 6 credit hours, you will still be paid based on 12 credit hours. If however, you drop below 6 credit hours and your DIRECT LOAN has not yet been fully disbursed, it will be cancelled.

If you have state aid (SCNB, SC LIFE, SC-LTAP) you must remain enrolled through the end of the drop period of the term to earn these program funds. If you reduce your course load, you may be required to repay unearned program funds. For example, if you receive the SC-LTAP based on 12 credit hours and you withdraw from 6 credit hours before the end of the drop period of the term, you will be paid based only on 6 credit hours.

Students who do not use all of their financial aid for tuition and bookstore store charges will receive a refund several weeks after the first day of the start of the semester. If you do not receive your refund, you should look on Web Advisor to see if you have any “restrictions” placed on your account. All refunds are disbursed through BankMobile including paper checks. The College no longer issues paper checks.

Refund dates are listed on the important dates calendar, available on the MyATC Portal.

Yes, the Financial Aid Office may be able to make modifications to your FAFSA information due to (a) loss or reduction of income (b) non-recurring income (c) unusual medical/dental expenses and (d) elementary/secondary school, childcare or dependent care expenses. A student may complete a Special Circumstance – Financial Adjustment Form available on the MyATC Portal.