Community College Promise Grant [CCPG] Changes 

Students who have not met the college’s Satisfactory Academic Progress standards for two consecutive terms will no longer qualify for a CCPG the following term. This is based on State regulations. 

You must earn at least 50% of units attempted with a minimum 2.0 GPA to meet minimum standards to retain your CCPG.

Feds Move to Prior-Prior Year Income   Now FAFSA income information from one tax year earlier (“prior-prior year”) will be collected. This means that the 2019-2020 FAFSA will collect 2017 tax year income information. As a result of this change most students will be able to complete their FAFSA using information from an already completed tax return. This in turn, will provide most of them with the ability to electronically transfer their income tax return information from the IRS into the FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT).

For more information please view this video.

Financial Aid and Technical Programs

Direct Student Loan Changes

Direct Subsidized Loans are not eligible for an interest subsidy during the six-month grace period.

  • Subsidized loans are loans for which the borrower is not responsible for the interest while the student is enrolled in college on at least a half-time basis. This provision eliminated the interest subsidy provided during the six-month grace period for subsidized loans. If you receive a subsidized loan, you are responsible for the interest that accrues while your loan is in the grace period. You do not have to make payments during the grace period (unless you choose to), but the interest will be capitalized (added to the principal amount of your loan) when the grace period ends. This provision does not eliminate the interest subsidy while the borrower is in school or during eligible periods of deferment.

Federal Subsidized Student Loan Borrowing Limitations

As of July 1, 2013, a first-time Federal Subsidized Student Loan borrower is no longer eligible for the Subsidized Student Loan program if he or she exceeds 150% of the published length necessary to graduate.

In addition, a borrower reaching the 150% limit becomes ineligible for the interest subsidy benefits on all Federal Subsidized Loans disbursed to the borrower on or after July 1, 2013.

Congress wants to encourage students to obtain undergraduate degrees within in a reasonable time frame. Students who change majors multiple times or, drop classes excessively or retake classes excessively are most likely to be affected by Public Law 121-141.

Congress no longer wants to provide interest rate deferments for students taking an exceptional amount of time to obtain an undergraduate degree. The interest rate expense is now passed to the student in such cases.

Based upon available information from the U.S. Department of Education, the interpretation of the 150% rule is actual credit hours completed versus credit hours attempted. 

Student loan FAQS

Unusual Enrollment History (UEH)

Effective with the 2013-2014 school year, the U.S. Department of Education has established new regulations   to prevent fraud and abuse in the Federal Pell Grant Program by identifying students with unusual enrollment histories. What this means for you:

  • If you received the Federal Pell Grant and/or Student Loans at multiple institutions in recent academic years, your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) may be flagged (see next bullet for flag indicators) for unusual enrollment history (UEH).
  • The flags “2” and “3” will be indicated on your Student Aid Report (SAR) and our Financial Aid Department will be required to review your enrollment history to determine whether or not you are enrolling only long enough to receive cash refunds of Federal student aid.
  • If you received the Federal Pell Grant and credit hours (passing grades: A-D) were not earned at each institution attended during these award years, you may be determined ineligible for Federal financial aid.
  • The Financial Aid Department will determine if you had a legitimate (valid) reason for having unusual enrollment at multiple institutions.
  • You may be asked to provide valid documentation explaining the reason behind your unusual enrollment history.
  • If documentation is needed, the Financial Aid Department will contact you by email or letter detailing the appropriate documentation needed.
  • NOTE: Unusual Enrollment History (UEH) must be resolved before you will receive Federal financial aid.

Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Notice

The federal Department of Education recently established new regulations which reduce the duration of a student’s eligibility to receive a federal Pell Grant from 18 full-time semesters (or its equivalent) to 12 full-time semesters (or its equivalent).

What does this mean to you?

A student has 6 years (12 full-time semesters) of total Pell Grant lifetime eligibility. All the years each student has received federal Pell grant will be counted toward the 6 years, regardless of when the student began receiving aid.

The Moorpark College Financial Aid office will continue processing each student’s Pell grant unless he or she notifies the financial aid office not to do so. If a student is close to the 12-semester limit and does not want to utilize their Pell Grant at Moorpark College, they must notify the financial aid office. The Community College Promise Grant will continue waiving enrollment fees if the student is eligible.

Tracking Your Lifetime Eligibility Used on NSLDS

You can find your Lifetime Eligibility Used for the federal Pell Grant by going to the Web site www.nslds.ed.gov and creating a student account. NSLDS, the National Student Loan Data System, tracks your lifetime Pell Grants, loan usage and overpayment status. If you have loans, you may view how much you owe and to whom.

The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)

  • Step 1:  Obtain a FSA ID from the U.S. Department of Education
    Your FSA ID serves as your electronic signature and provides access to your personal records with the U.S. Department of Education systems. You can request a FSA ID via the U.S. Department of Education’s web site at StudentAid.gov/login
  • Step 2:  Access NSLDS by going to www.nslds.ed.gov. On the NSLDS screen, click on Financial Aid Review
  • Step 3:  Read the privacy statement on this screen. If you agree, click Accept to find your Lifetime Eligibility Used. A security configuration question may or may not prompt, depending on your browser’s current security configuration. If you are comfortable with your browser’s current security configuration, click Accept to continue. The Confirming Your Identity screen will appear after you click Accept.
  • Step 4:  Enter your Social Security number (SSN), the first two letters of your last name, your date of birth, and your FSA ID to confirm your identity. Keep your FSA ID safe and secure.
  • Step 5:  View the Financial Aid Review screen listing your total Lifetime Eligibility Used

ATB Notice

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-74) eliminated the provisions under §484(d) (1), (2), and (4) of the HEA. Under those provisions, a student who did not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent could establish eligibility for Title IV student financial assistance by passing an independently administered examination approved by the U. S. Department of Education (an “approved Ability-To-Benefit (ATB) test”) or by successfully completing six college degree units.

Students who do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent and are beyond the age of compulsory education (18 in California) are not eligible to receive financial aid.

Please contact our office if you were enrolled in a program of study prior to July 1, 2012 and took and passed an approved Ability to Benefit Examination or successfully completed a minimum of 6 college degree-applicable units.

Repeated Courses

The Department of Education recently published new regulations which affect students who repeat courses. These regulations may impact your financial aid eligibility and awards, including Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Direct Loans, Federal Work-Study. Regulations prevent the Financial Aid Office from paying for a course that has been passed and repeated more than one time.  In order for a repeated course to be counted towards your enrollment status for financial aid purposes, you may only repeat a previously passed course once (a total of two attempts).  If you enroll in a previously repeated and passed course for a third time, this course will not count towards your enrollment for financial aid purposes.  Examples of repeated courses: 

  1. Allowable: Repeated courses may be included if the student received an unsatisfactory or failing grade. There is no limit on the number of attempts allowable if the student does not receive a passing grade.  Grades of A, B, C, D, P, CR (Credit), or CRE (Credit by exam) are considered passing grades. 
  2. Allowable: Student is enrolled in 15 credit hours which includes 3 credits repeating a previously passed course. Because the student is enrolled in a minimum of 12 credits which are not repeats, the student's financial aid eligibility is not impacted by the repeat.
  3. Not permissible: Student receives a D in a course and decides to repeat the course to improve his/her GPA. The student may repeat this passed course one time, but if the student wants to repeat it a second time, the second repeat would not count for financial aid eligibility.

In this example, the student is enrolled in 12 credits, including the 3 credit second repeat, so only 9 credits will count for financial aid eligibility.  

Details of the regulations 

  • Repeated enrollment that is not aid eligible will be excluded from the student's enrollment status for the term.
  • Federal Title IV financial aid will be recalculated based on the student's adjusted enrollment status.
  • This recalculation will be applied regardless of whether a student received aid for previous course enrollments.
  • Some courses are repeatable per college policy and are not restricted by these regulations.
  • Waitlisted courses do not count toward official enrollment status for financial aid purposes.
  • All repeated courses do affect financial aid satisfactory academic progress calculations. A repeated course along with the original attempt must be counted as attempted credits.
  • Suspension and Extension Appeals cannot override this federal regulation.  If you are in a class that is not eligible for payment, but the class is part of your approved educational plan, you will not be penalized for repeating the class, but you cannot receive financial aid for that class.