Summer 2011 Financial Aid
Thinking about attending summer school? To receive summer financial aid, you must have a 2010-11 FAFSA on file. However, if you are planning to use the CVO Program you will also need to have an 2011-12 FAFSA on file to receive those benefits during the summer. In addition, students need to submit any additional documents requested by the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. Summer aid will not be processed for files that are incomplete as of July 1.
Since funds are limited, summer awards consist primarily of loans. The Federal Direct Stafford Loan Program requires at least half-time enrollment (6 hours undergraduate, 5 hours graduate). If you are requesting a Stafford Loan, you must submit a summer loan request form. The form will be available online or in the OSFA after spring break.
Visit our "Summer Financial Aid Information" webpage or contact the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid for more information.
Financial Aid Award Letters
- Award letters for returning students, graduate students, and transfer students were mailed in June 22.
- Award letters for incoming freshmen were mailed on April 12.
Included with the award letter are loan forms (if eligible) for the Federal Direct Stafford Loan, the Federal Direct Parent (PLUS) Loan, and the Federal Perkins Loan Acceptance Confirmation Form. The loan forms should be returned to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid as soon as possible if the student and/or parent are interested in borrowing from these programs.
If you received an award letter marked "estimated," that means our office has not been able to process an actual award for you. Additional information was requested from you but has not been received yet, or if it was received, it was not processed at the time the award letter was printed. If you have returned the requested information, an actual award letter will be sent to you in the near future. If you have not returned the information, please do so as soon as possible. No actual award can be made for you until we have received the requested information.
Verification
Federal verification regulations require institutions to check the accuracy of information supplied by students applying for federal financial aid. As a result, students and families may be asked to supply additional information in order to verify original data supplied in applying for financial aid. This may include submission of U.S. income tax forms or other documents.
Verification procedures must be completed or the student will not be eligible to receive any federal funds, including Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Perkins Loans, Work-Study, Direct Stafford Loans, ACG, and SMART Grants.
The State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana (SSACI) also requires that all students selected for federal verification meet those requirements before receiving funds from the Frank O’Bannon Grant, Indiana 21st Century Scholars Award, Indiana part-time grant, Indiana National Guard Supplement or CVO. Verification requirements also apply to the Fees Assistance Grant and the Ball State Grant.
Letters will be mailed to those students selected for the verification process. Please respond to this request as soon as possible. Failure to respond to requests for verification or other additional information requests will jeopardize current and future receipt of financial aid awards.
Scholarships
Scholarships are a source of financial aid that are of interest to all students and their families. However, students should use caution when seeking these sources of assistance. Do not pay an organization to “find” scholarships for you. Many free scholarship search services are available via the Internet. A number of them can be accessed from our Free Scholarship Searches Web page.
Continuing students should contact the department(s) in which they are enrolled to inquire about scholarship possibilities. You can access a number of these through our Departmental Scholarships Web page.
My Education Gateway (MEG) and Parent Education Gateway (PEG)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 is a federal law that protects the privacy of students’ education records. Recent amendments to this act require schools to implement procedures to further protect student educational records. In order to comply, Ball State has created My Education Gateway (MEG) and Parent Education Gateway (PEG) to authorize release of educational information/records to specified individuals.
MEG allows students to have access to their university records and be able to speak to university departments about their records. Students can also grant permission for other individuals to receive information from their educational records. This can be completed at www.bsu.edu/meg.
PEG allows parents to request permission for access to certain university records and to correspond with specified departments on campus. To request this permission, the parent will need to go to www.bsu.edu/peg to set up a passport account.
No information will be released to parents unless authorization has been given by the student in the MEG/PEG system.