A student is independent if they meet any one of the following criteria from HEA Sec. 480(d):

• Is at least 24 years old.

• Is married as of the date they apply.

• Will be a graduate or professional student at the start of the award year.

• Is currently serving on active duty for purposes other than training.

• Is a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces.

• Has dependents other than a spouse.

• Was an orphan, foster child or ward/dependent of the court at any time since the age of 13.

• Is an emancipated minor.

• Is in legal guardianship or was determined at any time since July 1, 2008, to be an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or was self-supporting and at risk of being homeless.

More About Dependents

If you are the student applying and you have a child and one or both of your parents are directly or indirectly providing more than 50% support in cash or other assistance to the child/grandchild, then you would answer “no” to the FAFSA question about legal dependents. “Indirect support” to the child includes support that a parent gives to you on behalf of your child. If you are living with a parent who is paying for most of the household expenses, your parent would usually be considered the primary source of support to your child, and you would answer “no” to the question about legal dependents.

Need to change your status? Only in extreme circumstances does the school have the authority to change your status. The Higher Education Act allows a financial aid administrator (FAA) to make dependency overrides on a case-by-case basis for stu­dents with unusual circumstances.

However, none of the conditions listed below, singly or in combination, qualify as unusual circumstances meriting a depen­dency override: parents refuse to contribute to the student’s education; parents are unwilling to provide information on the FAFSA or for verification; parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes; or the student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.

If you have questions about changing your dependency status, you can reach our office at (225) 526-1714 to discuss your family circumstances with a counselor. Should you have a valid case for a dependency override, your counselor will give you all appropriate forms to complete the process.

Note: It has no bearing on being able to be considered as “independent” whether or not your parents claimed you on their tax return. The Higher Education Act of 1992 established requirements for establishing independence. More information can be found on the FAFSA website Dependency Status page.

When completing the FAFSA, you’ll be asked to indicate your marital status. You must indicate your marital status as of the date you are completing the FAFSA. You cannot update your marital status once you have filed your FAFSA.

A deferment is a period of time during which no payments are required, and interest does not accrue (accumulate) unless you have an unsubsidized direct loan. The most common loan deferment conditions are enrollment in school at least half time, inability to find full-time employment (for up to three years) and economic hardship (for up to three years).

Forbearance

If you temporarily can’t meet your repayment schedule, but you’re not eligible for a deferment, your lender might grant you forbearance for a limited and specific period of time.

Forbearance occurs when your lender or loan-servicing agency agrees to either temporarily reduce or postpone your student loan payments. Interest continues to accrue (accumulate), however, and you are responsible for paying it, no matter what kind of loan you have.

There are certain mandatory forbearances. Examples include borrowers who:

• Are in a medical or dental internship or residency;

• Have student loan payments that are 20 percent or more of their monthly income;

• Have payments being made for them by the Department of Defense.

Contact your lender or loan-servicing agent for more information on the mandatory forbearance benefit.

Discharge

Loan discharge refers to the cancellation of a loan, even one in default, due to school closure, false certification, your death or total and permanent disability.

Cancellation or sometimes “forgiveness” of a loan is based on the borrower performing certain types of service, such as teaching in a low-income school. A defaulted loan cannot be canceled based on qualifying service (e.g., teaching).

Student and parent borrowers can consolidate (combine) multiple federal student loans with various repayment schedules into one loan: either an FFEL Consolidation Loan or a Direct Consolidation Loan. The result is a single monthly payment instead of multiple monthly payments.

However, there could be downsides to loan consolidation. For example, consolidation may significantly increase the total cost of repaying your loans; because you may have a longer period of time to repay, you’ll pay more interest. You might also lose some borrower benefits such as interest discounts and rebates. Always talk to a financial aid professional for advice when deciding whether or not to consolidate.

Defaulting on a loan is the failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to when you signed a promissory note. The consequences of default are severe. If you return to school, you’re not entitled to receive any additional federal student financial aid.

The Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS, offers merit-based financial awards to Louisiana residents. Award amounts at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University are based on the weighted average of tuition at comparable public schools. The semester award amounts are listed below.

Opportunity Award: $2,859

Performance Award: $3,059 ($2,859 + $200 stipend)

Honors Award: $3,259 ($2,859 + $400 stipend)

To be eligible for TOPS, full-time enrollment is required (defined as 12 credit hours per semester at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University). Students planning to enroll less than full time as defined above should contact the Office of Financial Aid to discuss their reason for enrolling less than full time and how their TOPS eligibility will be affected.

If you’re a clinical student, you must enroll in nine hours each fall/spring semester to be considered eligible for TOPS. The Office of Financial Aid will automatically bill the state for TOPS-eligible clinical students enrolled in at least nine hours. Clinical students are not required to earn 24 hours in an academic year. TOPS will be prorated based on the number of hours enrolled in clinicals.

Per regulations, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University bills the state for TOPS payments on the 15th class day for eligible full-time students. The funds typically arrive mid-semester and are applied directly to students’ accounts in the Bursar’s Office. Because fee bill payments are due prior to the arrival of TOPS funds, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University places an anticipated TOPS credit on the fee bill for students who have been determined eligible by the state or, in some cases, who have indicated to the Office of Financial Aid that they expect to receive TOPS funding.

Some students who receive an anticipated TOPS credit may be determined ineligible for the TOPS program by the state. These students will be responsible for paying any charges to which the anticipated TOPS credit was applied. If you do not see an anticipated TOPS credit on your fee bill, but think you will be receiving TOPS, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.

Retention requirements for the TOPS program include:

• Continuous full-time enrollment, defined as full time enrollment each fall and spring semester.

• Full-time enrollment through the 14th class day of each fall and spring semester.

• Earning 24 hours each academic year, defined as the fall, spring and summer semesters.

  • Clinical students who enroll full time per institutional definition are not required to meet the 24 hour requirement.

TOPS students must also maintain academic progress, defined as:

• Opportunity Award 2.30 GPA, if the student has earned less than 48 hours.

  • 2.50 if the student has earned 48 hours or more.

• Performance Award** 3.00.

• Honors Award** 3.00.

Cumulative GPAs are checked at the end of each spring semester.

*Please note Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University awards +/- grades, but these are not recognized by the state TOPS office. Quality points are assigned to grades as follows.

• A 4 quality points per credit hour.

• B-, B, B+ 3 quality points per credit hour.

• C-, C, C+ 2 quality points per credit hour.

• D-, D, D+ 1 quality point per credit hour.

• F 0 quality points.

**Performance or Honors Award recipients who fail to maintain a 3.00 cumulative GPA at the end of an academic year will revert to the Opportunity Award provided they have maintained the GPA necessary for renewal at that level. Once the recipient reverts to the Opportunity Award, the Performance or Honors Award CANNOT be reinstated.

At the end of all other terms, steady academic progress, defined as a 2.00 cumulative GPA, must be maintained. Failure to meet one of the

The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You should submit your FAFSA as soon as possible to ensure that your application will be processed in time. The FAFSA becomes available each year on October 1. (The Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University school code for the FAFSA is 031062.)

By completing the FAFSA, you are applying for all Federal Title IV programs, including the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Fed Direct Loans (Subsidized and Unsubsidized), Parent Plus Loans (PLUS) and Graduate PLUS loans (GPLUS). The FAFSA is also the application for other aid, such as Louisiana’s Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) and certain scholarships that require financial need.

After submitting your FAFSA, a copy is provided electronically to the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University Office of Financial Aid. Our Office will notify you via email of the documentation you are required to provide.

If you have been selected by the U.S. Department of Education for a process called verification, you will be required to submit additional documentation to the FranU Office of Financial Aid. This may include but is not limited to copies of Federal tax returns, verification worksheets, W-2s, etc.

All students will be required to submit the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University Financial Aid Data Form. This form is to be submitted, upon request, to the Office of Financial Aid at FranU, not to the Federal processor. Your financial aid will not be complete until you have submitted the required documents.

YES! Each year you must refile either the FAFSA or the Renewal FAFSA for the appropriate academic year. You must also maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in order to qualify for aid each year. Please refer to the Satisfactory Academic Progress regulations for more information.

Use the Tuition and Fee Calculator to determine specific per-semester costs.

Tuition is charged by credit hour for all programs of study. The tuition rate is determined by course type. Fees are charged per credit hour or per semester, depending on the fee. Tuition and fees are assessed at the time a student registers for courses.

No, you may apply for financial aid any time after October 1. However, you must be admitted to receive a financial aid award and enrolled to receive disbursement.

Yes! We are more than happy to accept faxed documents at (225) 526-1632. Please make sure all faxed documents are signed and the student’s name is clearly indicated on all documents.

Yes — any changes in enrollment may affect your financial aid eligibility. If you have financial aid and are considering canceling registration, dropping courses or resigning, contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Student Aid before doing so. You will be advised as to how your aid will be affected, which will help you to make a wise decision.

Federal regulations require schools participating in Title IV programs to use specific refund policies when a student who receives Title IV aid ceases enrollment. When an official withdrawal occurs, federal aid awards (except Federal Work-study) may be prorated as follows: the number of calendar days completed during the semester divided by the number of days in the semester. An adjustment will not be made for a student that withdraws after 60% of the semester has passed. If funds are released to a student because of a credit balance on the student's account and the student later withdraws, then he/she may be required to repay some of the federal aid released. Students are encouraged to check with our office before resigning to determine how their aid would be affected.

Students who leave the University, whether officially or unofficially, and who plan to return, should contact the OFA to determine if they have financial aid eligibility for the semester they are planning to return. If students are planning to return in the next Fall semester, a new FAFSA must be completed before eligibility can be determined.

It is strongly suggested that all students who have financial aid and are considering withdrawing from the University speak with a OFA counselor before completing the withdrawal process so all options can be considered.

If your natural parents are separated or divorced, use the natural parent with whom you lived the most in the past 12 months. If you lived with neither parent, or lived with each parent an equal number of days, use the parent that provided the most financial support to you over the past 12 months. If that parent has remarried, you must also include the step-parent’s financial information on the application, and parent and step-parent should report themselves as married on the FAFSA.

If your parents are divorced but filed a joint Federal tax return, when completing the FAFSA, only provide the income information from the tax return for the parent who qualifies as your responsible parent; your parent should then report divorced/separated on the FAFSA.

For those with step-parents, prenuptial agreements are ignored by the federal need analysis process. After all, two individuals (parent and step-parent) cannot make an agreement between them that is binding on a third party (the federal government).

The federal government considers the step-parent a source of support regardless of any prenuptial agreements to the contrary. If a step-parent marries the parent, he or she is considered responsible for supporting the parent and children even if he or she is unwilling to do so.

No. The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), which reauthorized the Higher Education Act (HEA) and added new laws, removed veterans’ education benefits from estimated financial assistance, effective July 1, 2010.

The University offers an interest free payment plan. Please contact the Bursar’s Office for additional information.

Not immediately. The Direct loans have a grace period of 6 months before repayment begins. When you take a leave of absence you will not have to repay your loan until the grace period is used up. If you use up the grace period, however, when you graduate you will have to begin repaying your loan immediately.

YES. You are required to be enrolled on at least a ½ time basis to be eligible for student loans. Six hours is considered ½ time for a fall or spring term for an undergraduate student. Three hours are considered ½ time for the summer term.

Federal student loans offer borrowers many benefits not typically found in private loans. These include lower interest rates, income-based repayment plans, and loan forgiveness and deferment options, including deferment of loan payments when a student returns to school. For these reasons, students and parents should always exhaust federal student loan options before considering a private loan.

You can get it by logging on to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). NSLDS is a database for federal student financial aid, where you can find out about the aid you’ve received. If you’ve only just applied for aid, you won’t find any information on NSLDS yet.

NSLDS receives data from schools, guaranty agencies and U.S. Department of Education programs. The NSLDS website is generally available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. By using your student ID, you can get information on federal loan and Pell Grant amounts, outstanding balances, the status of your loans and disbursements made.