INVER HILLS SCHOOL CODE: 006935
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Email finaid@inverhills.edu
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Financial aid has three categories:
The financial aid process begins when you complete and submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Learn more by visiting Apply for Financial Aid.
You need to file a FAFSA every year you are in school to receive financial aid funds. File your FAFSA as soon as you consider attending college, even if you ultimately decide not to attend. Remember the financial aid year starts July 1 and ends June 30.
To take out a Federal Direct Loan you need to complete Student Loan Entrance Counseling and Master Promissory Note (MPN) before your loan application will be processed. Learn more by visiting Types of Aid.
Once your FAFSA and enrollment paperwork are complete, The Office of Financial Aid begins processing. This generally takes two-four weeks, depending on the time of year and the volume of applications.
We will email you if we have additional questions, so please check your email frequently.
When processing is complete, you will receive an email stating that your financial aid offer is available. See the offer by logging into your e-Services account.
All financial aid is first applied to your student account. Excess funding will be refunded to you via your BankMobile card. Refunds begin arriving during week three of the semester.
Financial Aid funds are provided assuming you will complete the semester. If a you withdraw, federal regulations require Inver Hills to administer a Return of Title IV Funds Calculation, which adjusts your award based on last day of attendance.
Unearned aid must be returned and you will be billed for this amount.
You must be enrolled in an eligible program and make satisfactory academic progress to receive financial aid. If you are classified as Audit, Limited Enrollment, PSEO or non-PSEO, you are not eligible for financial aid.
To meet SAP, you must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above and complete 67 percent of classes enrolled. Learn more by referring to the Academic Progress policy.
The maximum time of enrollment you may receive financial aid while completing a program of study is 150 percent of the total credits needed to graduate from that program.
For example, if a program requires 60 credits to graduate, you cannot receive financial aid for more than 90 attempted credits (60 X 1.5 = 90).
A book voucher allows you to obtain textbooks and apply those charges to your student account with Inver Hills. If you receive federal financial aid, you agree that the aid will first apply to the bookstore charges, and then apply to required tuition and fees. Any charges that remain outstanding after financial aid has been applied are still your responsibility.
If you withdraw, drop credits, or makes changes that reduce the amount of financial aid you are eligible for, you remain responsible for any unpaid balance.
There are resources to help you get the books you need beyond using a book voucher.
You can receive financial aid for summer sessions. Depending on eligibility, you may be eligible for grants, loans and work-study. If you are interested in summer financial aid, you should check with The Office of Financial Aid for details.
Minnesota has developed an estimator for financial aid eligibility: Financial Aid Estimator (Minnesota Office of Higher Education).
The U.S. Department of Education uses family income, asset value, and household sized information from the FAFSA to determine the student’s eligibility for financial aid. The Office of Financial Aid uses this information to determine the Financial Aid Offer for the student.
Generally, you are an eligible noncitizen if you are (1) a permanent U.S. resident with a Permanent Resident Card (I-551); (2) a conditional permanent resident with a Conditional Green Card (I-551C); (3) the holder of an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the Department of Homeland Security showing any one of the following designations: “Refugee,” “Asylum Granted,” “Parolee” (I-94 confirms that you were paroled for a minimum of one year and status has not expired), T-Visa holder (T-1, T-2, T-3, etc.) or “Cuban-Haitian Entrant;” or (4) the holder of a valid certification or eligibility letter from the Department of Health and Human Services showing a designation of “Victim of human trafficking.” If you are in the U.S. and have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an F1 or F2 student visa, a J1 or J2 exchange visitor visa, or a G series visa (pertaining to international organizations), select “No, I am not a citizen or eligible noncitizen.” You will not be eligible for federal student aid. If you have a Social Security Number but are not a citizen or an eligible noncitizen, including if you have been granted DACA, you should still complete the FAFSA form because you may be eligible for state or college aid.
Please use the information below as a guide for parental information:
To be considered for federal aid, you must be in an eligible program and enrolled at least half time, six or more credits, to receive loans. Some grants may be available for less-than half-time students. You must also be a U.S. Citizen or an eligible non-citizen. Additionally, students having defaulted loans or have unpaid Pell grant overpayments are not eligible for federal and state financial aid funds.
Learn more by visiting Types of Aid.
See our scholarship page for assistance offered by the Inver Hills Foundation.
See our Outside Scholarship page for resources outside of Inver Hills.
Talk to our counselors to determine if local scholarships exist.
You cannot receive financial aid from two schools at the same time. Inver Hills does have consortium agreements with many colleges and universities in the area. Please check with our Financial Aid Office for agreements and required documentation. You are responsible for tuition and fees at visiting schools. Inver Hills will not send payment for consortium courses to the visiting school. Learn more by reading the Metro Alliance Financial Aid Consortium Agreement.
A consolidation loan can help you simplify loan repayments by allowing you to combine several types of federal student loans with various repayment schedules into one loan with a fixed interest rate. In most cases, you must be out of school to consolidate your loans. You can consolidate your loans only one time. Consolidating your loans may have disadvantages. Do your research.
The monthly repayment amounts will differ based on the amount you borrowed and your repayment terms. Learn more by visiting Money Management.
There are limits to the amount of financial assistance a student can receive. Any student who receives student financial aid from any source, regardless of payment method, is held to the Office of Financial Aid-determined Cost of Attendance (COA) budget for the given Award Year.
The COA budget is determined by an estimate of tuition and fees amount, plus allowances for housing, food, books and supplies, and other education related expenses for a 9-month period including the fall and spring semesters. Factors such as your living situation, dependency status, full or part-time enrollment, what you spend to cover your non-tuition, education related expenses may differ from the average amounts used by the Office of Financial Aid.
COA Budget Inclusions
Your financial aid budget is defined by various costs you will assume when going to college, the first being tuition and fees.
The next cost included in your financial aid budget is room and board. Since all students live off campus, an allocation is included for room and board costs.
Books are another expense students incur while going to school. Inver Hills determines an average cost for books when defining the COA budget. Your individual costs may differ depending on availability of used or new textbooks or your course requirements for any given semester.
Finally, there are items we include in your financial aid budget that you may not think of as college costs or expenses to consider. Transportation, as well as miscellaneous costs including everything from medical insurance to clothing and toiletries are included as miscellaneous expenses. As with book costs, what you spend on these items may differ from the average amounts budgeted.
Aid Limitations
The total financial aid package – to include all types of aid received – must remain within the COA budget as determined by the Office of Financial Aid. It is therefore important that you notify the Office of Financial Aid of any scholarship, grant, assistance, or loan funding that does not appear as part of your Financial Aid Award Offer from the college. By keeping the Office of Financial Aid informed of these types of awards, a student reduces the risk of having financial aid adjusted mid-year or after funds have been received by the student.
Students receiving multiple or large scholarship offers from Inver Hills should also be aware that, in rare cases, their scholarship awards may be limited. Work closely with awarding offices to understand your scholarship package and terms of individual awards.
Overawards & Financial Aid Reductions
The Office of Financial Aid packages students based on their eligibility as determined at the time of financial aid awarding. Unfortunately, eligibility can change even after the year or term has begun.
Financial assistance from any Inver Hills department or outside source previously unknown to the Office of Financial Aid may surface. When total aid exceeds the revised COA budget, an overaward exists.
Adjustments to the make up or total sum of the aid package are required if any federal aid is present when an overaward occurs. Similarly, scholarship adjustments may be necessary due to any scholarship limit policy. The Office of Financial Aid routinely reviews all financial aid awards throughout the school year to ensure they remain in compliance and meet eligibility requirements.
The college wants to limit post-award changes and avoid post-disbursement adjustments to aid packages. Adjustments, when necessary, most often reduce loan or work study portions of an aid package, and posting of new aid sources may replace loan or work-study portions of an aid package.
Though every effort is made to maintain compliance with federal, state, institutional, and external agency policies prior to award disbursement, some adjustments to funding may be required following the payment to a student account or a refund made to the student.
You can receive financial aid for up to 30 development credits.
Student loans are awarded evenly between fall and spring semester, between spring and summer semester or during summer semester.
Loan Proration Requirement (undergraduate students only):
If you will complete your degree program by attending only one semester of the academic year, we are required to prorate your student loan amount. Your loan must be prorated according to a required formula.
If your loan offer is subject to the proration requirement, then the ceiling on your loan eligibility is the product of the annual maximum limit multiplied by the number of credit you have remaining, and divided by the number of credits in an academic year (24).
For example, if the annual loan limit is $10,500 and you have eight credits remaining to graduate, the most you may receive from the Federal Direct Loan program for your final semester of study is ($10,500 x 8)/24 or $3,500. Proration calculations are done at the time we certify your loan, based on information you provide through the loan request process.
To be eligible for Minnesota programs, you must meet one of the following conditions:
INVER HILLS SCHOOL CODE: 006935
Watch this video, less than five minutes long, for helpful tips on filling out the FAFSA.