There has been a change in the law that affects Federal Pell Grant eligibility for the 2012-2013 financial aid year and beyond. This change limits the total number of years a student may receive a Pell Grant to the equivalent of six years* of full-time enrollment or 12 semesters.

*For information on how the “equivalent of six years” is calculated, click on the following link:www.studentaid.ed.gov/pell-limit

Hofstra University has made changes to its Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy for students who are receiving federal financial aid to reflect the University's academic standing policies that can be found online in the Hofstra University Undergraduate Bulletin and/or Graduate Studies Bulletin.

Federal student aid includes the following: Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Federal Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH), Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Direct Stafford Loan for Students, Federal Direct PLUS Loan for Parents (PLUS), and Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan for Graduate Students (Grad PLUS).

er federal regulations, the new SAP requirements will be implemented effective with the annual review in June 2012.

For more information regarding the new SAP requirements, click here.

The Budget Control Act of 2011 was signed into law on August 2, 2011. This Act makes two changes to the Federal Direct Stafford Loan Program:

1. Loss of Subsidized Loan Eligibility for Graduate/Professional Students:
   Effective for loan periods beginning on or after July 1, 2012, graduate and professional students will no longer receive the Federal Direct Subsidized Loan. As a result, graduate and professional students will be awarded Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan. The annual limit, however, does not change.
2. Termination of Direct Loan Borrower Repayment Incentives:
   Effective, July 1, 2012, the up-front rebate that has been provided to Direct Loan borrowers at the time of their loan disbursement will no longer be offered. As a result, the 0.5% origination fee for the Direct Stafford Loans will be 1.0% and the 2.5% origination fee for the Direct PLUS Loans will be 4.0%.

Interest Rates:

Effective July 1, 2012, the subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loan interest rate for the 2012-13 academic year will be fixed at 6.8%; the interest rate for the Federal Direct PLUS/GPLUS Loan is fixed at 7.9%. 

Each year a percentage of all FAFSA applications are selected by the Dept. of Education to verify income reported. Beginning with 2012-2013, FAFSAs selected will require the student’s (and parent(s) if the student is dependent) 2011 federal “Tax Return Transcript”; photocopies of tax returns are no longer acceptable.

The process to request the transcript takes up to 10 business days which will delay federal financial aid processing and therefore we encourage you to request the 2011 transcript in advance (after you file your income tax returns with the I.R.S.). If your FAFSA application is selected, the Financial Aid Office at Hofstra will notify you via your Hofstra Pride email. To request the free copy of your/your parent’s 2011 “Tax Return Transcript” (not the Tax Account Transcript), visit www.irs.gov or call 1-800-908-9946.

Effective, July 2011, Perkins loans disbursed by Hofstra are now serviced by Education Computer System (ECSI). The change in servicer does not impact students who are currently enrolled at Hofstra. However, you can now view all your Perkins loans on their website. To view your loan(s) please visit http;//borrower.ecsi.net

The US Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011. The continuing resolution preserves the $5,550 maximum Pell Grant for the 2011-12 award year. They also voted to eliminate the second scheduled Pell grant award and crossover Pell for summer terms.

What this means to Hofstra students:

• Students will no longer be eligible to receive Pell grant funds in the Summer terms unless they are graduating in August or December. Students are only eligible to receive one award of Pell in the aid year and it is awarded in the fall and spring semesters.
• Prior to this resolution, students could receive a Pell grant in the summer session 1 term from either the prior financial aid year or in the upcoming aid year – whichever year provided the student with the higher level of funding. This was referred to as Crossover Pell awarding. Effective this summer, students may not receive this crossover funding since Pell will now be awarded in the fall and spring semesters only.

The regulations have changed pertaining to the Parent PLUS loan for the 2011-2012 award year. Students are now required to file a Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order for a parent to borrow in the Parent PLUS program. The 2011-2012 Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available at FAFSA . If you wish to apply for federal financial aid for summer 2011, fall 2011 and/or spring 2012, the FAFSA must be filed. The Hofstra University school code is 002732. If you have questions about the FAFSA, online help is available at FAFSA . You can also contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) and a customer service representative will assist you.

Please note that due to recent changes in Federal regulation, the SMART and ACG Grant programs will be discontinued after the Spring 2011 semester. These programs will no longer be funded by the federal government after June 30, 2011.

Student Financial Services now has a website with instructions to assist you with Portal navigation in the following areas: Billing, Financial Aid, Registrar and Email Communication. Check it out!

THE IMPACT OF THE CLASS STANDING CHANGES ON FINANCIAL AID
(EFFECTIVE FALL 2011)

Student loan eligibility is determined by a student’s class standing. Below is the chart of loan eligibility based on class standing: