Glossary: Financial Aid Terms | University Student Initiatives

Academic Competitiveness Grant

March 1—The ASU priority date for filing the FAFSA for the upcoming academic year. If you file your FAFSA by this date, you will increase your opportunity for grants, Federal Work-Study and Federal Perkins loans. The FAFSA becomes available every January 1st for the next academic year.

With certain loans, such as subsidized Stafford Loans, the U.S. Department of Education pays the interest that accrues on these loans while the student is enrolled at least half-time and during periods of deferment. However, with subsidized loans in forbearance, unsubsidized loans or PLUS Loans, the student or the student’s parents and graduate or professional degree students are responsible for paying interest as it accrues on these loans. When the interest is not paid, it is capitalized or added to the principal balance, which increases the outstanding principal amount due on this loan. Interest that is capitalized and, therefore, has been added to the original amount of the loan subsequently accrues interest, adding an additional expense to the loan.

Census is the point in time that Student Financial Assistance evaluates your official enrollment status for financial aid purposes. The actual time that Census occurs is at 11:59PM [Arizona Time] on the 21^st calendar day of each semester. See Census Policy for details.

Cost of Attendance

The process of combining one or more eligible educational loans into a single new loan.

Failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to when you signed a promissory note. For the FFEL and Direct Loan programs, default is more specific—it occurs if you fail to make a payment for 270 days, if you repay monthly (or 330 days if your payments are due less frequently). The consequences of default are severe. Your school, the lender or agency that holds your loan, the state and the federal government may all take action to recover the money, including notifying national credit bureaus of your default. This may affect your credit rating for as long as seven years. For example, you might find it difficult to borrow money from a bank to buy a car or a house. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service can withhold your U.S. individual income tax refund and apply it to the amount you owe, or the agency holding your loan might ask your employer to deduct payments from your paycheck. Also, you may be liable for loan collection expenses. If you return to school, you're not entitled to receive additional federal student financial aid. Legal action also might be taken against you. In many cases, default can be avoided by submitting a request for a deferment, forbearance, discharge or cancellation and by providing the required documentation.

The Federal government has specific criteria on determining whether a student is considered dependent or independent for financial aid (see dependency defined by the Dept. of Ed.). If extenuating circumstances exist between you and your parents (i.e., abuse, abandonment), you can request a review of your dependency status by submitting a Dependency Review form. A parent's unwillingness or refusal to contribute to educational costs or provide income information is not, by itself, a basis for review.

Costs directly associated with ASU, which includes tuition, fees, room, board, and books/supplies.

Expected Family Contribution—A measurement of your family's financial strength, and is used to determine your eligibility for need based aid aid during one academic year. You receive an EFC based on the processing results of your FAFSA. Your EFC can be found on the first page of you paper SAR, or online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Electronic Funds Transfer

ELM Resources provides automated Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and alternative loan data exchange, updates, and loan information through the Internet. ELM is a not-for-profit company supported by the lenders, guarantors and servicers who are its members. (www.elmresources.com)

Free Application for Federal Student Aid—www.fafsa.ed.gov

Financial Aid Notification—An award letter sent to you by the SFAO letting you know what financial aid ASU is able to offer you.

Financial Aid Trust

Federal Family Education Loan Program

The total amount of financial aid (federal and non-federal) a student is offered. Student Financial Assistance combines various forms of aid into a "package" to help meet a student's education costs. Using available resources to give each student the best possible package of aid is one of Student Financial Assistance's major responsibilities. Because funds are often limited, an aid package might fall short of the amount a student needs to cover the full cost of attendance. Also, the amount of federal student aid in a package is affected by other sources of aid received (scholarships, state aid, etc.).

A review process in which Student Financial Assistance requests documentation to verify the accuracy of information you submitted on your FAFSA. If we request documentation from you, you must submit it to be eligible for financial aid.

The difference between the student's COA and EFC.

The approved temporary suspension or reduction of loan payments due to a financial hardship during which interest continues to accrue.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

Federal Work-Study

The period after a student either graduates, leaves school (unofficially or officially), or drops below half-time enrollment before loan payments must begin. During the grace period, subsidized Stafford Loans do not accrue interest while unsubsidized Stafford Loans do. Borrowers may either pay this interest as it accrues or have it capitalized. A borrower's payment period begins the day after the grace period ends. The first payment will be due within 60 days after the repayment period begins.

Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership

Master Promissory Note

A promissory note is a binding legal document you sign when you get a student loan. It lists the conditions under which you're borrowing and the terms under which you agree to pay back the loan. It will include information on how interest is calculated and what deferment and cancellation provisions are available to the borrower. It is very important to read and save this document because you will need to refer to it later when you begin repaying your loan or at other times when you need information about provisions of the loan, such as deferments or forbearances.

To make a proportional distribution of funds based on a student's lower enrollment status. Student are awarded aid based on full-time enrollment. Less than full-time enrollment may result in a reduction or cancellation of a student's awards. See Census Policy for details.

Federal financial aid program that exempts schools from collecting certain documents from students to verify the accuracy of information reported on the FAFSA. The Quality Assurance Program allows participating schools to collect data from a smaller number of students. Data collected from the sample is used the following year to address and correct errors in the FAFSA application process.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Student Aid Report—Summarizes the information included in the FAFSA and contains your EFC. When you receive your SAR, check it for any mistakes. If you find a mistake, make the correction(s) on Part 2 of the form and return it to the Dept. of Education in the envelope provided.

Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

Student Financial Assistance Office—The financial aid administrator for ASU students. See Student Financial Assistance for more details.

Student Financial Aid Trust

Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent

Short-term Loan

Having partial financial support from public funds. In regards to Stafford loans, the U.S. Department of Education pays the interest:

While you're in school at least half-time.
For six months after you leave school (referred to as a "grace period").
During a period of deferment (a postponement of loan payments).

Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant

Funds governed under Title IV of the Higher Education Act.

Title IV Funds	Non-Title IV Funds
Federal Pell Grants Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants LEAP Grants Academic Competitiveness Grants SMART Grants Federal Stafford Loans Federal Perkins Loan Federal PLUS Loan Federal Work-Study	Student Financial Aid Trust Grants University Grants ASU Grants ASU Advantage Grants Scholarships
Please Note: Although scholarships are non-Title IV aid, the impact to this type of assistance when a student completely withdraws from the university varies depending on the type of scholarship. Contact the scholarship office if you are completely withdrawing and want to know the impact this will have on your scholarships.