Financial Aid Resources

1. Take and complete 15-16 credits each semester. Tuition cost is the same for 12-16 credit hours. If you only take 12 credits each semester, it will take 5 years to earn a 4 -year degree.
2. If you receive grants from the State of Indiana, they limit the amount of money you will receive if you do not complete at least 30 credits each year and they will increase your grant if you complete at least 39 credits per year (the increase for 39 credits does not apply to 21st Century Scholars).
3. Complete all courses that you begin. Once you have paid for the course (after drop/add period is over), take advantage of the opportunity and be sure you complete the coursework and earn your credit.
4. If you took dual enrollment or AP (Advanced Placement) courses in high school, be sure you have those credits transferred to Indiana Wesleyan - if you've paid for credits once, there is no need to pay for them again.
5. Indiana Wesleyan offers summer courses both on campus and online. Many of our students take advantage of these courses to earn needed credits and to earn their degree as quickly as possible. The online summer courses are also significantly discounted.
6. Financial aid may be available if you take at least six hours during the summer. Check with your financial aid counselor before committing to summer coursework that you will not be able to afford without financial aid assistance.
7. After enrolling, talk to your academic advisor about CLEP (College Level Examination Placement). Some students find this is an inexpensive way to earn general education or elective credits.
8. Be willing to make some personal sacrifices. Anything you can do to eliminate or reduce the amount of student loans you take as an undergraduate will save you significant money once you enter repayment. If you find a way to put $25 extra dollars toward your tuition every month, that will become $300 in a year and $1,200 over the course of your four years. Paying that $1,200 as a student rather than in a loan will save you over $200 in interest on a 10-year repayment. Consider what you can live without to put more money towards your tuition.

Imagine if you combined many of these recommendations and graduated in three and half years instead of four. You would potentially save over $15,000 - not to mention you could enter the job market six months before your classmates.

Education is not a race, but there is value in being efficient.

1. Research entry-level jobs in your chosen field and expected location:
   • Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
   • Google job postings in the area you plan to live.

Loan Repayment Plans and Calculators

1. Federal Loan Repayment
   • Compare your budget and your estimated federal loan payment.
   • Choose standard payment if you can afford it.
   • If you can’t afford standard payment, recalculate and choose Income Based/Contingent or Graduated repayment options to lower your monthly payments.
2. Private Loan Repayment
   • Compare your budget and your estimated private loan payment.
   • Look at areas in your budget that you can reduce to afford your private loans.
   • If you can’t cut your budget, contact your private loan servicer and ask them what reduced payment options exist.
3. Consider Consolidation
4. Worst Case Scenario (if you still can’t afford your payments) 
   • Don't Panic: Contact Your Lender About
     • Reduced Payments
     • Deferment
     • Forbearance

1. Postponing graduate school for 1-2 years can allow for paying down debts and exploring details about your field.
2. However, going to graduate school right away allows you to defer your loan payments until after you are done with graduate school.

1. If you work in certain fields, such as teaching, nursing, healthcare, or for a non-profit institution, you may be eligible to have any remaining federal loan debt canceled after 120 on time payments. See these pages for additional information:
   • http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service
   • http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness
2. Some employers will pay a portion of your debt, so do not be afraid to ask potential employers about whether or not they offer this benefit.
3. If you have any interest in military or peace corps, there are additional loan forgiveness options available. Contact the branch you are considering directly, but thoroughly research requirements/lifestyle before deciding on this path. It's a huge commitment.

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
• Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program

The Federal Stafford Loan (formerly GSL) grace period begins the day after you leave school ("leaving school" means graduating, withdrawing or dropping to less than half-time enrollment status).

The grace period for most Federal Stafford Loans is six months.

During this period, no payments are due and interest on the loan continues to be paid by the federal government. There is no grace period for the Supplemental Loan (SLS)/PLUS.

With a Subsidized Federal Direct Loan, interest begins to accrue on the day after your grace period ends. Approximately 30-45 days later, your first payment will be due. Thereafter, payments will be due once a month until the loan is paid. You will receive a repayment schedule and disclosure statement for each of your student loans from your lender/servicer. This schedule will tell you how much your payments will be, when they are due and over what period of time you will be paying.

For Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans, students are responsible for paying interest during the period of time that the principal is deferred. Because most lenders will permit students to defer interest repayment during school enrollment, the interest accrues during this deferment period. This is called capitalization.

Payments on the Federal Supplemental Loan (SLS) begin on the principal and interest approximately 60 days after the disbursement of funds, unless a deferment is granted by the lender/servicer.

A deferment is a period of time (varying in length) when you will not be required to make payments on your loans because you temporarily cannot afford the scheduled payments. If you think you are eligible for a deferment, contact your servicer. A deferment is not in force and you are not excused from making loan payments until the documentation is complete.

For most loans, there are three main types of deferments:

• In school at least half time or in a graduate fellowship
• Rehabilitative training for disablement or unemployment up to three years
• Economic hardship

The types of deferments for the Federal Direct and SLS programs are:

• Unemployment.
• Full-time enrollment at an eligible school.
• Half-time enrollment at an eligible school under the Federal Stafford or SLS programs during the enrollment period.
• Participation in a rehabilitation program.
• Study under an approved graduate fellowship program.
• Serving an internship necessary for professional practice or service.
• Temporary or total disability, or the inability to work because of caring for a temporarily or totally disabled spouse or dependent.
• Parental leave to care for a newborn, if you attend school in the six months prior to the leave.
• Mothers who have preschool-age children and are entering or re-entering the work force at less than $1 above minimum wage.
• Service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps (NOAA).
• Active-duty service in the U.S. Armed Forces or service as an officer in the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service.
• Full-time teaching in a private, nonprofit or public elementary or secondary school shortage area.

You should contact your servicer for details on deferment questions.

As a student, you have the right to know:

• What financial assistance is available, including information on all federal and state programs.
• The deadlines for submitting applications for each of the student financial aid programs available.
• The cost of attending the school's programs and the school's refund policy.
• The criteria used by the institution to select financial aid recipients.
• How the school determines your financial need. This process includes how costs for tuition, fees, books, and living expenses are considered in your budget.
• What resources (such as employer reimbursement, other financial aid, etc.) are considered in the calculation of your need.
• How much of your financial need, as determined by the institution, has been met.
• An explanation of the various programs in your student financial aid package. If you believe you have been treated unfairly, you may request reconsideration of the award that was made to you.
• What portion of the financial aid you received must be repaid, and what portion is grant aid. If the aid is a loan, you have the right to know the loan interest rate, the total amount that must be repaid, the payback procedures, the length of time you have to repay the loan, and when the repayment is to begin.

As a student, you are responsible to:

• Review and consider all information about the school's program before you enroll.
• Complete all required forms accurately and submit them in a timely manner and to send them to the correct address.
• Pay special attention to, and accurately complete, your FAFSA. Errors can result in delay of receipt of your student financial aid. Intentional misreporting of information on application forms for federal student financial aid is a violation of law and is considered a criminal offense subject to penalties under the U.S. Criminal Code.
• Return all additional information, verification, corrections, and/or new information requested by either the Financial Aid Office or the FAFSA central processor.
• Read and understand all the forms that you are asked to sign and keep copies of them.
• Accept responsibility for all agreements you sign.
• If you have a loan, notify the lender of changes in your name, address, or school status.
• Know and comply with the deadline for application or reapplication for aid.
• Know and comply with the school's leave of absence or withdrawal policy/procedures.
• Repay student loans in agreement with the loan promissory note.

Financial aid recipients are required to attend the necessary class sessions as per the Academic Attendance and Tardy Policy.

Please see the University Catalog for more information.

The law specifies how we must determine the amount of federal Title IV student aid program assistance that you earn if you withdraw from school. The federal Title IV student aid programs that are covered by this law are: Federal Pell Grants, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants, TEACH Grants, Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs), and Federal Perkins Loans.

Though your aid is usually posted to your account early in each payment period, you earn the funds as you complete class time. If you withdraw during your payment period or term, the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. The withdraw date used in the formula is the last date of attendance for courses for which attendance taking is required.  For courses for which attendance is not required, the date of official notification of intent to withdraw or, if later, the last date of academically related activity as determined by IWU is used as your withdrawal date.  If you withdraw without officially notifying IWU, the last date of academically related activity will be used if it can be determined.  If such a date cannot be established, the midpoint date of the payment period will be used in the calculation.

If you received (or your school or parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by IWU and/or you.

The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your payment period or term, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the payment period or term, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.

If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement.  If your post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, we must get your permission before we can disburse it to you. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. We encourage this.  We may automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and board charges (as applicable). We need your permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow us to keep the funds to reduce your debt at IWU.

There are some Title IV funds that you may have been scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw because of other eligibility requirements. For example, we are prohibited from disbursing a second or subsequent disbursement of direct loan funds unless you have graduated or completed the loan period.

If you receive (or your school or parent receive on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, we must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

1. your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
2. the entire amount of excess funds.

We must return this amount even if part of it was issued to you as a credit balance.  This may result in you owing IWU even if your account was paid in full before you withdrew.  If we are not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount.

Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a Direct PLUS Loan) repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time.

Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with IWU or the U.S. Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.

The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that IWU has. Therefore, you may still owe funds to IWU to cover unpaid institutional charges.  We may also charge you for any Title IV program funds that we are required to return. You can read the IWU refund policy in the IWU academic catalog. We also describe the process for officially withdrawing from school in the catalog.

If you have questions about your Title IV program funds, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). TTY users may call 1-800-730-8913.

Information is also available on Student Aid on the Web.

Title IV Financial Aid Regulations require that Indiana Wesleyan University offer a Drug Abuse Prevention Program to its employees and students as a part of the eligibility criteria for financial aid.

Drug abuse in the United States has become a major problem, and students at Indiana Wesleyan University are not immune. If you need assistance with a drug abuse problem, we encourage you to seek help at your local community drug abuse prevention center. To talk to someone in a strictly confidential atmosphere, feel free to contact the Center for Student Success at our Marion campus. All conversations are private and will not affect your attendance at the University.

If you would like to talk to someone outside Indiana Wesleyan University, you can call one of the following numbers, or a hospital or treatment center in your area:

The National Cocaine Hotline
800-COCAINE (800-262-2463)

National Institute on Drug Abuse
56000 Fishers Lane, Room 10A-30
Rockville, MD 20857
800-662-HELP (800-662-4357)