Tennessee Education Lottery

ScholarshipNon-traditionalJackson State Community College

Jennifer ByrdFinancial Aid Officer

Fall 2013

TELS – Tennessee Education Lottery

Scholarship TSAC – Tennessee Student Assistance

Corporation (www.tn.gov/collegepays) FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student

Aid (www.fafsa.gov ) IRP – Institutional Review Panel AGI – Adjusted Gross Income from Federal

Tax Return SAP – Satisfactory Academic Progress

Common Acronyms

Student completes FAFSA or renewal FAFSA

by September 1st deadline (preferably by one of our other deadlines – listed on next slide)

TSAC receives FAFSA data Students are placed on the list of the FIRST

Tennessee school listed on their FAFSA The school has to check for possible eligibility.

There is a potential Non-traditional Student List – very unwieldy!! Word of mouth works much better and gets better results!

Application & Renewal Process

Priority processing deadline – March 15th

Processing deadline for returning/transfer students – June 15th

Processing deadline for new students – July 15th

Deadline for students to complete FAFSA for fall and receive Lottery funds for fall – September 1st

JSCC deadline dates

Hope – Base award – This award is given to

students that have a 21 ACT or 3.0 high school GPA (however, homeschool students can only qualify by ACT and have time restrictions on how long they MUST have been at the home school; GED students must have a 525 GED AND a 21 ACT)

Aspire – This is stacked on top of the Hope award if the AGI is < $36,001 (if the student is dependent, it will be based on the parent AGI). The AGI is verified each year. If the AGI goes over the $36,000, the student will only receive Hope that year.

Types of TELS awards

GAMS – This is also referred to as the Merit award. It

is stacked on top of the Hope award and is given to students who have a 29 ACT and 3.75 high school GPA.

Access Grant – This award is given to those students who have between an 18-20 ACT AND a 2.75 GPA AND an AGI < $36,001 (if they are dependent students, it goes by their parents’ AGI). At the end of 24 attempted hours, these students are checked for the 2.75 TELS GPA. If they have achieved this, they may begin receiving the Hope scholarship. The Access Grant is ONLY for the first 24 attempted hours.

Types of TELS Awards - continued

Non-Traditional Hope – This scholarship is for Non-

Traditional Students who meet the following criteria Age 25 or over Resident of TN for at least 1 year AGI < $36,001 (this will be checked each year) Incoming freshman or returning after 2 calendar year

break in enrollment Enrolled in eligible major (certificate majors are not

eligible) Attempt 12 credit hours with 2.75 (if student withdraws

while establishing this, they must start over with another two calendar year break)

Types of TELS Awards - continued

There are also a few other types of Lottery awards

Wilder-Naifeh Technical Skills Grant – This award is only for students attending the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) – previously known as the TTC’s.

Foster Child Grant – This award is based on a list provided by Department of Child Services and cannot go over the Cost of Attendance according to the student’s award budget

Helping Heroes Grant – This award is for veterans who meet certain criteria – found at www.tn.gov/collegepays

Disclaimer

All Lottery students must meet the following:

TN residents at least one year US citizen or permanent resident Graduate of TN high school or approved

surrounding high school Registered with Selective Service (male) Not in default on Federal loans or in overpayment

status for Federal or State grants Not incarcerated Degree-Seeking (our certificate programs are NOT

payable)

Important Notes

To begin receiving the Lottery as a Non-

traditional student, the student must first attempt 12 hours earning a 2.75 Lottery GPA

The Lottery GPA is determined only using those hours taken after beginning college as a first time freshman or after the two calendar year break in enrollment

Students must also meet JSCC’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy to begin receiving the Non-traditional Lottery scholarship

Receipt as a Non-Traditional Student

If a student trying to establish eligibility for

the Non-traditional Lottery scholarship is going withdraw from a semester, they will need to request PRIOR permission from the IRP so that they may still continue establishing eligibility; otherwise, they will have to begin again with another two year calendar break before they may be evaluated.

This must also be done to sit out a semester.

Changes in Enrollment

See the Financial Aid Office BEFORE you

make any changes to your enrollment status or degree

If you have questions about your future eligibility or your TELS GPA, please see us

ALL changes in enrollment brackets or sitting out a semester require PRIOR permission from the IRP

Forms to obtain said permission may be found at http://www.jscc.edu/financial-aid/getting-started/types-of-financial-aid/lottery.html

Refer to Financial Aid

Ways to have unsatisfactory standing - appeal

process for SAP is separate from Lottery appeal Not complete any credits in one semester Fail to meet minimum GPA standards (see chart

in policy) – NOT APPEALABLE Fail to meet Pace (only looks at college level

work) – must be 67% Reach Maximum time limit – 150% of program

length (for example for a 60 hour program this would be 90 hours)

SAP

Pace is a calculation of the cumulative college level

hours earned divided by the cumulative college level hours attempted

If a student takes 15 hours of college level work in the fall semester passes 9 hours, withdraws from 3 hours and fails 3 hours, their Pace would be 60% (9/15). This student would be unsatisfactory. This would cause them to lose federal and state aid (including lottery)

If this same student passed 12 hours and failed 3 hours, their Pace would be 80% (12/15).

Example of Pace

A student’s TELS GPA and JSCC GPA may

differ Reasons include

Classes taken in high school Transfer credits (included for TELS even

though grades are not included in JSCC GPA) Repeated courses For Non-traditional students – courses taken

prior to 2 year break and/or the 12 hours taken to establish eligibility are excluded (or if the student did not request to be evaluated until later they may have more hours)

TELS GPA vs. JSCC GPA

If a student was a first time freshman but was here for three

semester before they heard about the non-traditional scholarship, they may still ask to be evaluated. If they meet all the other eligibility criteria, we will evaluate their hours.

Say they have 36 attempted hours with a 3.0. We will look back at what they had at their 24 hour benchmark hours and see what they had then to determine eligibility. We will also look to ensure that they have been enrolled each fall and spring with no withdrawals.

If they are eligible, ALL 36 hours will be excluded once they start receiving the award and they will begin at zero. This is ONLY for the TELS GPA, not the JSCC GPA.

Example of Non Traditional Hours

Hours that count in attempted hours

Learning Support courses (also called DSP) W’s (after the census date) F’s I’s Repeated courses Passed courses Transfer hours (even if JSCC does not accept

them)

Attempted hours

Courses excluded from attempted hours

Audit (however, can cause you to lose eligibility if switched to audit during term)

Taken before high school graduation Continuing Education courses By examination (CLEP, AP, etc.) W’s (before census date) Military credit Any hours taken prior to the 2 year break for non-

traditional students AND the credit hours used to establish eligibility (once they begin receiving the scholarship)

Attempted hours - continued

IRP is responsible for hearing appeals from

students who have lost eligibility and petitions from students wanting to drop/withdraw/sit out

Grounds must be medical or personal (such as illness, death of immediate family member, extreme financial hardship, etc.) and MUST be documented

LOW GPA IS NOT APPEALABLE

IRP – Institutional Review Panel

Student completes appropriate form (found

on our website) and submits it along with a detailed, signed letter and documentation to the Financial Aid Office

IRP reviews and decides on appeal within 14 days

Student is notified in writing by Financial Aid of IRP’s decision

If appeal is denied by IRP, student may appeal this decision to TSAC’s Appeal Board (this information is provided to the student at that point)

Appeal Process

If you think you might be eligible (based on

the criteria from earlier) for the Non-traditional Lottery, you may contact the Financial Aid Office after you have attempted 12 credit hours with a 2.75 GPA and ask to be evaluated.

Contact information is on the last slide.

To request review

Get to know your teachers Seek help early – tutoring is available

AAC Math Lab Writing Center

Go to the Counseling Office if you are having personal issues and need assistance

We are here for you!! We want you to succeed!

Suggestions for your success

??????? Contact Information Jennifer Byrd – Financial Aid Officer jbyrd@jscc.edu 731-425-2605 Financial Aid Office

Questions