Financial Aid

Financial Aid Policy

Rockingham Community College (RCC) is committed to assisting students in preparing for the cost of higher education. Education is a big investment of time, money and effort for students and families. RCC makes every effort within the limitations of its available financial resources, to assure that no qualified student will be denied the opportunity to attend the college because of a lack of adequate funds to meet expenses. Financial assistance is available in a variety of forms including grants, work-study, and scholarships that may be used singularly or in combination to meet the student’s total need.

Financial aid is awarded without regard to the applicant’s race, religion, color, national origin, political affiliation, age, handicap, or gender. However, students must demonstrate financial need and maintain satisfactory academic progress as described by the college policy as found in the college catalog.

Student eligibility requirements for receiving grants and work-study funds are as follows:

A student must be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen.
A student must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) after which the results are received and processed by the RCC Financial Aid Office.
A student must be enrolled in an approved program of study at RCC.
A student must maintain Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress while enrolled at RCC to continue to receive financial aid.
A student receiving federal financial aid must not be in default on any student federal loan or owe a refund on any Title IV grant at any educational institution (individual situations may require supporting documentation).
Students may apply for financial aid, but aid will not be processed until they have first been accepted for admission by the Admissions Office. Any student wishing to use financial aid funds to pay for tuition and fees at time of registration should have completed all documentation for their financial aid file no later than June 18 for Fall registration, November 15 for Spring registration, and April 15 for Summer registration. Availability of eligible funds at registration is not guaranteed if these dates are not met; however, the financial aid office will make every effort to process all files in a timely manner for late submissions.
Students must keep in mind that they are eligible for financial aid only for courses that are in their prescribed course of study and for remedial courses taken as a result of placement test scores. Audit courses and courses taken as Credit by Examination (CE) are not eligible for financial aid enrollment status. Elective courses taken outside a student’s program of study will affect a student’s financial aid award.

Rights and Responsibilities of Financial Aid Students

Students who receive federal financial aid have certain rights and responsibilities and must also be aware of certain facts. An awareness of these will enable students to make informed decisions about their educational goals and how best to pursue them from a financial perspective.

Rights of Financial Aid Students

Financial aid students have the right to know:

the financial aid programs that are available at the college;
the deadlines for submitting applications for each of the financial aid programs that are available;
how financial aid will be distributed and how decisions on that distribution are reached;
how financial aid was determined, including the way costs for tuition and fees, travel, books and supplies, and other expenses are considered in the student’s budget;
what resources (such as parental contribution, other financial aid, a student’s assets, and so forth) were considered in the calculation of financial need;
how much of financial need (as determined by the institution) has been met;
how to obtain an explanation of the various programs in the student’s financial aid package;
the college’s refund policy;
how the college determines whether a student is achieving satisfactory academic progress and what happens if this progress is not being achieved;
appeal procedures that may be applicable to a student who is not qualified to receive aid.

Responsibilities of Financial Aid Students

Students receiving financial aid are responsible for:

completing all application forms accurately and submitting them on time to the appropriate office;
providing correct information, with the understanding that failure to report accurate information on financial aid applications is a violation of law and may be considered a criminal offense which could result in indictment under the U.S. Criminal Code;
supplying all additional documentation, verification, corrections, and/or new information requested by either the Financial Aid Office or the agency to which an application is submitted;
reading and understanding all forms, letters and other correspondence (that are either sent by U.S. Mail to the student’s most recent address on file with the college, or emailed to the student’s college email account), or updated on the student’s Self-Service account regarding their financial aid status;
understanding all documents that they are required to sign and for keeping copies of those documents;
accepting responsibility to abide by all agreements that they sign.