All paperwork should be mailed directly to:

Financial Aid Office
Montreat College
P.O. Box 1267
Montreat, NC 28757

1. Apply for admission. Financial aid cannot be awarded until you have been accepted.

2. Complete the Free Application for Federal Aid (FAFSA). If you want to receive loans or federal grants, you must complete the FAFSA. Montreat College can electronically transmit the FAFSA directly to the Department of Education (see Tips on Completing the FAFSA below).

3. Complete the Montreat College Financial Aid Application and the Montreat College Verification Worksheet. For assistance contact Kimberly.

4. If your file is chosen for verification, you will be asked to submit a signed copy of your federal taxes including W2 forms with your paperwork. (We do not need schedules or attachments.) We will contact you if this is needed. 

5. Make a backup copy of all paperwork before mailing to the above address. 

6. Please be aware that you will not be awarded for PLUS courses, online courses, or overlapping courses. 

PAPERWORK CHECKLIST

If you are interested in applying for need-based grants, and/or loans, you will need to complete:

• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) (See tips)

• Montreat College Verification Worksheet

• Montreat College Financial Aid Application

• Stafford Loan Application

• Student Loan Entrance Counseling (for first-time Montreat students only) or go to http://www.mapping-your-future.org or http://www.studentloan.com

• Signed copy of federal taxes and W2 forms (see FAFSA for correct tax year) if selected for verification.

If you are interested in the North Carolina Legislative Tuition Grant ONLY, you will need to complete the Montreat College Financial Aid Application. 

AWARDING PROCESS

1. Once the Montreat Financial Aid Office receives your paperwork, we will process it and contact you if any other information is needed.

2. A few days after processing your FAFSA, the government will send the results (ISIR) to the Financial Aid Office.

3. If your ISIR is chosen for verification, we will verify it for you. It is possible that we might need additional information from you to complete this process.

4. Once we have received all your paperwork from your packet, a correct ISIR, notification from the Montreat Student Services Office that you have been accepted into the program (first time students only), and have a correct calendar of classes that you will be taking, you will be ready to award. You will receive an award letter detailing the courses you have been awarded for and the total financial aid you are eligible for to help cover those courses. If you do not take a course that has been included in your award, your financial aid will be affected!

5. You will need to review the award letter and return the Understanding Your Financial Aid Package form with the amount you want to borrow. This form can be faxed to us at 828-669-0120.

6. If you are eligible for the North Carolina Legislative Tuition Grant, you will need to complete the North Carolina Legislative Tuition Grant Form. A form will be included in your award letter if you are eligible.

7. We will process your loan application a few days after your cohort starts. You will receive a notice from the lender stating the amounts and estimated disbursement dates of your loan. If you would like to check on the progress of your loan, you may access the USA Group website one week after your cohort starts (unless you have chosen CFI as your lender) at www.usagroup.com.

8. All Financial Aid proceeds come to Montreat and are sent to Charlotte to be posted to your student account.

9. Financial Aid forms do have to be completed every year, so we will send you new information when it is time to complete the forms again. All forms for Financial Aid re-award should be returned at least 4 weeks prior to the end of your current award year.

If you have questions about the paperwork, please contact Kimberly.

If you have questions about a first time award, please contact Cindy.

If you have questions about a re-award, please contact Glenda.

TIPS ON COMPLETING THE FAFSA:

To complete the FAFSA, you will need a copy of your tax information including your W2’s for the corresponding FAFSA year. To complete the 2003-2004 FAFSA, you will use 2002 taxes. If you are a dependent student (see definition below), you will need your parents' tax information. If you are married, you will need your spouse’s tax information as well.

If the student does not meet one of the above requirements, the student is considered DEPENDENT by the federal government for financial aid purposes.

The FAFSA is always completed using your current circumstances. If you are…
…married, you must include your spouse’s tax information, even if you filed separately.
…separated, you must include only your tax information, even if you filed jointly.
…dependent, you must complete the parent information.

Please complete ALL questions, even if the answer is 0.

Make sure to answer all questions about your income from the correct line of your taxes, the FAFSA actually lists which line of your taxes to use.

The FAFSA asks for Adjusted Gross Income and then asks for a breakdown of how much each person made of the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). To get this figure you can add up the wages, tips and salary from each person’s W2 forms. These figures do not need to add up to the AGI.

If you have any questions, please contact Kimberly.