Financial Aid for Returning Students

Financial aid is available for students who are returning to Albright College for their sophomore, junior or senior years.

Students who are returning to Albright and wish to receive financial aid must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) annually. This is a requirement for all sources of aid, including state, federal and institutional funds. The FAFSA can be found at studentaid.gov. When applying, you will need both your FSA ID and your parents’ FSA ID. The Albright College Federal school code for your FAFSA is 003229.

The filing deadline for completing the FAFSA is April 1st. Form completion by this deadline allows you to stay in-step with the financial aid processes. If the form is not completed by April 1st, you risk losing state, federal, and/or institutional aid.

Determining Your Status

All students accepted by Albright College as degree-seeking candidates are eligible to apply for financial aid using the FAFSA. Funds provided to Albright College from federal and state sources are awarded to United States citizens and permanent resident aliens. When determining your eligibility for Federal, State and Albright College financial aid, your enrollment status is defined as follows:

Full-Time enrollment status applies to students taking three or more courses per semester (Traditional and Accelerated Degree Programs). Full-time status is required for the awarding of all institutional funds.
Half-Time enrollment status (in both the day and evening programs) applies to students taking two courses per semester. At least half-time status is required for some grant programs, federal loan programs, and federal work study.
Less than Half-Time enrollment status applies to students taking one class each semester. This may entitle a student to a modest Federal Pell Grant, but other aid programs are not applicable to this status.

Payment Options

Federal Loans

Federal Direct Student Loans
A Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling must be completed to receive Federal Direct Student Loan funds. You may complete these steps online.

There are two types of Federal Direct Student Loans

A Direct Subsidized Loan is awarded on the basis of financial need. You will not be charged interest before you enter into repayment. The federal government will pay the interest while you are in school at least half-time or during periods of deferment.
A Direct Unsubsidized Loan is not awarded on the basis of need. You will be charged interest from the time the loan is disbursed until it is paid in full. If you allow the interest to accumulate, it will be added to the principal amount of your loan and additional interest will be based upon the higher amount. If you are a dependent student whose parents do not qualify for a Federal PLUS Loan, or you are an independent student, you may qualify for an additional Direct Unsubsidized Loan.

Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans
Application for this parent loan is a two-step process after the student's FAFSA has been submitted. It requires the biological parent to complete a loan request (credit check) and the Master Promissory Note (MPN). These two steps must be completed before the loan can be certified by Albright College. We recommend submitting this application after July 1 - and applying for a full-year loan rather than one semester, as the loan amount will be split into two equal disbursements.

A parent can apply for this loan by logging into Studentaid.gov, using their own FSA account information. Once logged in, click on 'I'm a parent' and then 'Apply for a Parent PLUS Loan,' and complete all required information for the credit check. Once that is approved, the parent must complete the Master Promissory Note information and submit the loan application.

All loan funds will be credited to the student's account in two equal disbursements, one for each semester.

Private Student Loans

Before applying for private student loans, undergraduate and graduate students should have filed a FAFSA at www.fafsa.gov. Make sure to maximize your federal and state aid options before applying for additional loans. Borrowers and co-signers should review and compare information about interest rates, fees, loan terms and repayment terms. Interest rates are often determined by the credit history of borrower and/or co-signer. During the application process, selecting options such as in-school deferment and repayment schedule can directly affect interest rates. For specific questions, please contact the lenders directly.

A list of lenders can be found at Elm Select.

** New Jersey residents – you may be eligible for a NJ Class Loan. More information can be viewed at HESAA.

Payment Plans

Employment

The Federal Work-Study Program is designed to help students earn money during the academic year for books, supplies, and other expenses. You can find and apply for student jobs through the employment search portal and selecting ‘student’ as the job type. Students with questions should contact HR Coordinator Erin Treitl at etreitl@albright.edu or call 610-921-7868.

Students must have a FAFSA on file to be reviewed for Federal Work-Study eligibility. Students who are not eligible for Federal Work Study can still obtain an on-campus position and can apply at the above link.

Verification

Verification is the process in which a financial aid office is required to test the accuracy of information reported by parents and students on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

At minimum, required documentation will include the most recent Federal IRS Tax Transcript, copies of immediate past year W-2 forms, and a completed Federal Verification Worksheet. Important Note: the verification process cannot accept signed copies of 1040 federal tax forms. All families selected for verification must request a tax transcript from the IRS or choose to use IRS data retrieval on their FAFSA to meet the verification requirements.

In addition to minimum requirements, the Albright College Office of Financial Aid may require you to provide proof of citizenship, copies of Social Security benefit statements, 1099 forms, corporate earnings statements or other information related to your income or assets. Financial aid applications are randomly selected by the federal FAFSA processor for verification. On a ongoing basis schools will verify at least 30% of all FAFSA applicants. If you are selected, the verification process is required for you to receive financial aid.

Awarding Process and Declining Aid

Upper-class awarding for the full academic year begins in June of any given year. Financial aid award letters will be sent to your Albright College student email account. If your file is selected for federal verification, no aid will be processed until verification is complete.

Students have the right to decline any awarded financial aid per academic year. If a student wishes to decline any financial aid, they must email us at finaid@albright.edu. We will make the requested adjustments and send a revised award letter to the Albright College student email account.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for Title IV Federal Student Assistance (SAP)

Federal regulations (General Provision CRF 668.1) require that Albright College review the academic progress of a student before awarding Federal financial aid to assure the student has met and continues to meet the basic academic progress standards set forth by the College.

The Federal government requires a student receiving Federal aid to complete their degree within 150% of the published length of the academic program. Albright College also expects a full-time student to complete degree requirements within a maximum of 10 semesters and summer school (five years). The traditional academic programs at Albright College are four years in length. The requirement for a bachelor’s degree is 120 credits. To graduate within the traditional four years, a student must enroll for a minimum of 15 credits per semester. Enrolling in 12 credits per semester (minimum for a full-time status) extends graduation one full academic year. NOTE: Most aid programs only offer aid assistance for a total of 8 semesters. Therefore, extending past 8 semesters will make financing of the fifth year difficult.

All students enrolled at Albright College are subject to the academic standards of the college. As a participant in the federal financial aid programs (Title IV), students are also required to make satisfactory academic progress toward their degree using both qualitative and quantitative measures as defined below:

Qualitatively, your progress is defined as academic good standing at the College, or grade attainment of a cumulative GPA of 1.7 after your first year of attempted credits, and a cumulative GPA of a 2.0 thereafter. Graduate students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Quantitatively, you are required to complete 67% progress toward your graduation requirements. The measurement is the relationship between the cumulative credits you have attempted to complete and those credits you actually completed.

An aid recipient must display progress in both the qualitative and quantitative measures. If either test fails, the student is not making acceptable academic progress for the receipt of financial aid. Students are evaluated for progress at the end of the spring semester after final grades are submitted to Registrar. Students will be notified in June of any given year if they have not met the SAP guidelines for financial aid.

Students not making progress may appeal the results. A financial aid appeal form can be found on the financial aid website. Student must submit their appeal to the Financial Aid Office no later than the first scheduled day of the fall semester and the first scheduled day of the spring semester. If approved, the student will be placed on financial aid probation for a period of one academic year and will be required to establish an approved academic plan designed in coordination with the Albright Student Success Center.

Change of Financial Circumstances/ Financial Aid Appeals

You have the ability to appeal your financial aid awards based on circumstances beyond the control of your family. Some examples of valid reasons for an appeal for additional federal, state and institutional grant aid include: significant out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses, catastrophic financial losses associated with a designated natural disaster, death of a parent, change in marital status, and loss of employment.