WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens may apply for financial aid. Aid recipients must enroll in a course of study leading to a degree or certificate or in a program preparing for transfer to a four-year institution. They must also have a high school diploma or GED OR be over the age of compulsory education in Oregon. In addition, they must achieve a minimum ASSET placement test scores of 35 in reading, 35 in writing, and 33 in math or have a minimum COMPASS scores of 62 in reading, 32 in writing, and 25 in math.

HOW IS ELIGIBILITY DETERMINED?
A family's financial ability to contribute is determined by the federal processor according to the method approved by the U.S. Department of Education. This is called your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Students are considered to have financial need if their EFC is less than budgetary school-year expenses.

RCC's standard school-year (9-months) budgetary expenses for full-time attendance:

*In-state tuition available to Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, or Washington residents. Other out-of-state residents add $360.

Standard budgets do not always reflect the needs of all students. If you have dependent care expenses or additional expenses due to a disability, let us know.

HOW TO STAY ELIGIBLE:
To continue to receive financial aid, RCC requires aid recipients to complete a certificate, degree, or transfer program within a maximum credit allowance as determined by the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy, maintain a 2.0 or higher cumulative GPA , and successfully complete at least three credits. Financial Aid staff review your academic progress at the completion of each term. See the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy brochure for further detail.

When a student does not demonstrate satisfactory academic progress (SAP) by meeting the minimum requirements to maintain good standing for financial aid purposes, he/she is either placed on automatic probation for one term or their eligibility is revoked. A good standing student who does not successfully complete the minimum number of attempted credits to maintain a good standing, but who does successfully complete at least three credits will qualify for one term on automatic probation where he or she will have continued access to financial aid. Future financial aid is revoked if no credits were successfully completed or a cumulative GPA drops below 2.0.

To reinstate aid eligibility after it has been revoked, a student must successfully complete, without financial aid, at least one term representing the number of credits lacking to meet minimum requirements and bring his/her cumulative GPA back to a 2.0+ level. When there are documented, extenuating circumstances that were unforeseen, occurred during the term, and had a direct effect on the student's ability to successfully complete the term, a student may submit a written appeal of the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy requirements. A complete description of SAP requirements of financial aid students is available at the Financial Aid service counters and is included with the first Financial Aid Award Notification.

Financial aid recipients CANNOT BE IN DEFAULT on any Federal Title IV loan or owe a repayment on Federal Title IV funds previously disbursed for attendance at any institution.

PAYMENT TO STUDENTS:
Tuition, fees, and book charges are deducted from the financial aid award before proceeds are mailed to the student. Financial aid checks are mailed from the Business Office generally every business day starting with the 14th day of the term and excluding finals week or the week following. First-time borrowers of a Federal Stafford Loan may not receive loan funds until at least 30 days into the term.

REFUND AND REPAYMENT POLICY:
You must attend classes. Nonattendance may result in an overpayment which you are required to repay. If you stop attending classes, you must officially withdraw at the Registration Office. RCC may require repayment of federal and state aid paid to you (PELL, ONG, SEOG, FWS, FSL, etc.) if you stop attending classes prior to the third week of each term. All tuition refunds are returned to the program through which funding was received. When a student withdraws from or never attends classes, one of the following refund calculations is performed:

Institutional Refund: 100% refund for an official withdrawal during the first 2 weeks of the term.

RETURN OF TITLE IV FUNDS POLICY:  In general, new Federal regulations assume that you "earn" federal financial aid in direct proportion to the percentage of the term you complete (number of term calendar days before a student withdraws divided by the number of calendar days in the term).  If you completely withdraw during a term, the College must calculate, according to a federally-mandated formula, the portion of the total scheduled financial assistance earned, and therefore entitled to receive up to the time of withdraw.  If you or RCC receive more assistance than is earned, the unearned excess funds must be returned to the U.S. Department of Education.  On the other hand, if less financial assistance was received than the amount earned, additional funds may be applied toward institutional charges. 

The portion of your Federal student aid you are entitled to receive is calculated on a percentage basis by comparing the total number o days in the term to the number of days you complete before withdrawing.  For example, if you complete 30% of the term, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive.  This means that 70% of your scheduled award(s) remain unearned and must be returned to the U.S. Department of Education.

Once you have completed more than 60% of the term, you have earned all (100%) of your financial assistance.  If you withdraw from RCC before completing 60% of the term, you may have to repay any unearned financial aid funds that were already disbursed.