Federal Pell Grants
All undergraduate students are eligible to apply for a Federal Pell Grant before any other source of Title IV aid. The University disburses a Pell Grant based upon an annual award for the academic year according to the student’s academic pace.
The student’s official Expected Family Contribution (EFC) from a valid Institutional Student Information Report (ISIR) is used in conjunction with the student’s cost of attendance to determine the amount of the scheduled award.
There is a Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) limit for students eligible for a Pell Grant. If the sum of all Pell Grants received for multiple years equals or exceeds 600% of Pell eligibility for that award year, the student may no longer receive Pell Grant funding. Similarly, a student whose LEU is greater than 500% but less than 600% remains eligible for Pell but will not receive a full award the following year. The amount of Federal Pell Grant funds a student may receive over his lifetime is limited to the equivalent of six years of Pell Grant funding. Since the maximum amount of Pell Grant funding a student can receive each year is equal to 100 percent, the six-year equivalent is 600 %.
Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU):
The U.S. Department of Education keeps track of a student’s LEU by adding together the percentages of the student’s Pell Grant scheduled awards received for each award year. When a student is close to the LEU or exceeds the LEU, a comment code will be noted on the SAR.
For NCU undergraduate students, an academic year consists of a minimum of 24 credits and 30 instructional weeks. Within each academic year, there are two payment periods. The student’s award for each payment period is calculated as follows:
| Scheduled Award X |
Credits in Payment Period |
| Credits in the student’s Borrower-Based Academic Year |
When a payment period falls into two different award years, it is referred to as a crossover payment period. The student can be paid from either award year as long as he has a valid ISIR from that award year. If more than six months of a payment period fall within an award year, the payment should be made from that award year. The decision about which award year to use is usually based on the student’s remaining eligibility in the earlier award year.
Eligibility for a Pell Grant award is determined using the following calculation:
Cost of attendance - EFC = student’s financial need
Stafford Loans
Students may receive subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans, depending on need and eligibility, to meet educational costs at NCU.
Eligibility for a subsidized Stafford loan is based on need. Graduate students are not eligible for subsidized Stafford loans. A student’s need is calculated as follows.
Cost of attendance - EFC - Pell award - estimated financial assistance = student’s need
Eligibility for an unsubsidized Stafford loan is based on the cost of attendance. Eligibility is calculated as follows:
Cost of attendance - Pell award - estimated financial assistance - subsidized Stafford loan = student’s eligibility for unsubsidized Stafford loan
Based on the student’s grade level, he or she may borrow up to the annual maximum loan amounts available. If a student does not qualify for a subsidized Stafford loan, he may qualify to borrow an unsubsidized Stafford loan. For undergraduate programs greater than an academic year in length with a final period of enrollment shorter than an academic year, loan award amounts are prorated according to the following formula:
| Annual loan limit X |
Credits in Payment Period |
| Credits in student’s Borrower-Based Academic Year |
A graduate student’s academic year must be a minimum of 18 credits and 30 instructional weeks. Graduate loan awards are not prorated for less than an Award Year.
Note that an unsubsidized Stafford loan can be used to offset all or part of the EFC.
First-time borrower’s eligibility for Direct Subsidized Stafford loans may not exceed 150% of the length of the borrower’s educational program. Under certain circumstances, first-time borrowers who exceed the 150% limit lose the interest subsidy on their subsidized loans.
PLUS Loans
A parent of a dependent student may request up to the student’s cost of attendance less any estimated financial assistance in the form of a PLUS loan.
A student or parent who owes a repayment on a Federal Student Aid award or is in default on a federal student loan is not eligible for additional federal student aid.
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