Receiving your Aid

You do not need to enroll full-time to receive financial aid. If you want to be a part-time student, your grant(s) will be reduced.

• Full-time (12 or more credits in your program of study) = full grant.
• Three-quarter (9, 10, or 11 credits) = 3/4 of the grant.
• One-half (6, 7, or 8 credits) = 1/2 of the grant.
• Less than half (5 or fewer credits) = partial Grant ONLY if eligible.

The award letter assumes that you will be a full-time student unless stated otherwise. Inform the Financial Aid Office if you will be part-time so that we can adjust your grant funds. If you do not adjust your enrollment level, your tuition won’t be paid automatically, and you may be dropped from your classes. You must enroll in at least six credits to qualify for loans or Federal Work-Study. Your financial aid payment level (full-time or part-time) will be based upon registered credits as of the 10th day of the quarter. However, for academic progress purposes we will look at all attempted credits throughout the quarter.

Your financial aid funds will pay your tuition upon receipt of your signed award letter, as long as your registered credits match the financial aid award level.

After your tuition has been paid, we will give you a check for the rest of your grant and loan funds for the quarter.

When: Checks are distributed starting the first day of each quarter.

Where: Starting on the first day of the quarter, financial aid checks will be available at a location to be announced.

How: You need to be enrolled and attending classes that are part of your degree or certificate program. You will always need to provide:

• Picture identification (driver’s license, passport, permanent resident card, etc.).
• Attendance form (signed by one instructor within 3 days of check pick up), required each time you pick up a check.

If you have a Federal Work-Study award, you will receive a payroll check for the hours worked twice each month.

Yes! You can lose your eligibility for financial aid during any quarter of enrollment if you do not keep a quarterly 2.0 grade point average OR do not finish all of your attempted credits during the quarter. Please refer to our Academic Requirements that explains our satisfactory academic policy for financial aid.

You must apply for financial aid every year, and we offer financial aid for one academic year at a time. When determining your financial aid eligibility, we examine all of your attempted credits (even though not all credits may show on your grade transcript if classes were dropped). Even if you have never received financial aid before, we are still required to count your prior work in considering the length of time that you can be considered for aid. When you have attempted the equivalent of nine full-time quarters of enrollment, we will no longer provide you with financial aid. Certificates allow less time.

No! Financial aid can only cover state-approved degrees or certificates, and the certificates need to be at least two quarters in length to be eligible. Financial aid will only pay for required classes in your program. Not all classes listed as electives in the catalog are eligible for funding.

You may take up to 45 credits of developmental course work (class numbers of less than 100) and still receive financial aid even though those classes are not required in your program of study.

Challenged courses and classes in Adult Basic Education, English as a Second Language and Continuing Education are not eligible for financial aid.

Financial aid funds are like job wages–going to class is your “work” and completing your classes with good grades “earns” the funding. If you drop all of your classes during a quarter (or stop attending all classes), you will lose your future financial aid eligibility. You may also be required to repay some of the grant funds you received to the government and the college. When this happens, you are reported to a national database and lose eligibility at all colleges until the grants are repaid.

When tuition is refunded, the money will go to the financial aid accounts, even if you paid your own tuition. The college’s tuition refund policy allows partial refunds for the first 20 calendar days of the quarter. However, if you receive federal financial aid, you and the college must return “unearned” funds to the federal government for the first 60% of the quarter. The college is required to pay back some of your tuition money to the government. When it has to return more tuition funds than the normal college refund policy, you will be asked to repay us.

Work-study is part of your financial aid and gives you a chance to work and earn money. Sign up for a required orientation session with Linda Nulle: (253) 833-9111 ext. 2453 before the quarter starts to receive job listings, payroll forms and general information at the orientation.

• Work-study positions are limited and provided on a first-come basis, so jobs are not guaranteed.
• You may work up to 19 hours per week until you have earned your quarterly work-study amount.
• You will be paid for actual hours worked at $8.67 per hour.
• Paychecks are available on the 10th and 25th of each month.

Your responsibilities are:

1. Reapply for financial aid each year. Your eligibility may change, and your award can vary from year to year.
2. Notify both the Financial Aid Office and Enrollment Services of any name or address changes.
3. Inform the Financial Aid Office if you receive other types of funding such as scholarships, agency funds, worker retraining, veteran’s benefits or others.
4. Your financial aid funds can only be used for educational purposes that include tuition, books, room and board, personal expenses, transportation costs (excluding the purchase of a vehicle) and childcare.
5. If you receive a Washington State Need Grant, you need to be a Washington resident as stated in RCW 28B.15.011-013; registered for three or more credits; and making satisfactory progress toward your degree or certificate. You can make voluntary future contributions to the Higher Education Coordinating Board in recognition of the State Need Grant to be used to provide assistance to other students.
6. If you deliberately falsify, misrepresent or fail to provide the needed information on your financial aid application, you can be excluded from receiving financial aid for a year. If you actually receive funds based upon misrepresented information, you will be required to repay the funds and may be reported to the U.S. Department of Education for possible fraud.

• Financial aid funds cannot be given to you before the quarter’s official starting date.
• Grants and scholarships are considered taxable income when they exceed the cost of your tuition and books. Keep all receipts for tuition payments and books and supplies, to determine what amount, if any, of your financial aid funds will be considered taxable income.
• If state or federal funding levels are cut during a year, the college has the right to reduce your grants or work-study.
• When in doubt, ask! The financial aid staff can help you complete your applications and forms. You are welcome to call, visit or e-mail us at finaid@greenriver.edu if you would like assistance.