TESC and FAFSA

[Nine]

So I qualify for pell grants and according to the studentaid.ed.gov website, any leftover money after being paid directly to institution towards tuition, or other expensive, would be deposited directly to me (which I want to use towards the cost of the exams). With TESC, I feel like I fall within grey lines. I need to be a part time or a full time student, which I believe is determined by the amount of credits earned. However, when I initially enroll without actually being enrolled in any classes, since I'm planning on testing out and transferring my credits, would that make me ineligible? Or I just need to transfer my credits within a deadline and would determine my part time or full time student status? Or would I just be ineligible overall if I choose the Per Credit Tuition Plan route? I qualify for the maximum pell grant award of $5730, but it will be adjusted according to...

• your financial need,
  
• your cost of attendance,
  
• your status as a full-time or part-time student, and
  
• your plans to attend school for a full academic year or less. <- I don't really understand what this means.
  

I don't know if I will receive anything at all if I go the Credit Per Tuition Plan Route due to the cost of tuition, and may apply for Enrolled Option Tuition Plan, but I'm afraid that because the tuition is so "affordable", that I the amount I receive will be less than $3,183...

· Comprehensive Tuition Plan ($8,395 yearly fee + $0 per credit earned)
· Enrolled Option Tuition Plan ($3,183 yearly fee + $229 per credit earned)
· Per Credit Tuition Plan ($0 yearly fee + $476 per credit earned)

Just thought I would consult with anyone here if they experienced the same issue, but I will probably end up e-mailing FAFSA and TESC about the situation.

[sanantone]

In order to receive financial aid you need to take at least 6 credits per semester or 6 months for schools that do not have semesters. This will be considered half-time, so you will receive half of your award. In order to be considered full-time, you have to take 12 credits per semester or 6 months. The Comprehensive Tuition Plan is cheapest for those who are taking 24 or more credits per year. A year at TESC will almost be a rolling 12 months since there are 4 times a year you can start. The Enrolled Options Plan is cheapest for those who are taking less than 24 credits per year. The Per Credit Tuition Plan is cheapest for those taking 6 or less credits per year (it's $491 per credit hour for non-residents) unless you are using TECEPs to meet the residency requirements ($111 per test for non-residents). Only credits taken through online and guided study courses count for financial aid.

The Per Credit Tuition Plan is not a good idea if you want to receive financial aid because you would have to take at least 12 credits per year at $491 per credit hour, and that is only to receive half of your award. The Comprehensive Tuition Plan will give you the most bang for the buck, but will require at least 24 credits per year in order to be worth it. It does cover up to 36 credits in online and guided study courses, e-Packs, TECEPs, and prior learning assessments per year. You will need to take 24 credits in online and guided study courses in order to receive your full award, but since it's a flat rate, you can take TECEPs and other credit-earning options at no additional cost to earn up to 36 credits.

If you attend school for a quarter of a year, you will receive a quarter of your award. If you attend school for a half a year, you will receive half of your award. If you attend school for 3 quarters of the year, you will receive 75% of your award. If you attend a whole year, you will receive your whole award. This is all assuming you take a full course load each term (at TESC, this will be 6 credits per 12-week term). If you only take a half a course load, all of those figures will be cut in half.

[UptonSinclair]

Your grant will be based on the number of actual course credits you take. The amount is based on actual credits with a minimum of 6 credits in a semester for half of the eligible amount. If you are looking to get money back after tuition, you should be looking at lower cost colleges. You won't be eligible for grant money for non-traditional credits. The best way to use this approach is to take actual courses at your local community college. In a case like that, you should work toward an Associate's degree at your local community college and then transfer the credits to TESC. Some here have worked out cooperative agreements between TESC and other schools, but I am not familiar with that approach.

[sanantone]

I don't think TESC does consortium agreements, but COSC does.

[UptonSinclair]

Thanks Sanatone. I hoped someone would jump in who was familiar.

[EI2HCB]

Take a breath, you qualify based on your financial need to complete half time 6 credits per semester or full time 12 credits per semester you chose to actually enroll in 2 different classes to qualify for half time or 6 actual classes per semester for full time. This is a Pell grant requirement so regardless of what type of plan you enroll in you must take either six or 12 to qualify for grant money. You of course can enroll for more classes but the government won't pay for them and so you'll end up paying out of pocket. So consider how much you want to work at getting your degree and be able to attain good grades. The issue with TESC or any college is that fees eat up your grant and usually 6.8% interest loans make up the difference. This is a road to economic slavery so don't do that.
You can enroll and take some courses and use the government money to pay the courses in full. ie six credits at $476 and do so until you no longer qualify for grant money. Or if you know that you aren't getting married ( I lost my grant but got a great wife ) and aren't going to earn significant wages in the next year you could test out of some classes and use your grant money in the future. I don't attend TESC so I'm not sure how it works with the different plans but I enrolled at Excelsior under a 12 credit program so I didn't have to pay any enrollment fees and the grant money covered the cost of the four classes I've taken there so far. FAFSA isn't going to answer many of your questions but TESC financial aid office may be able to answer some. This issue is that the majority of students aren't planning on testing out and so Financial aid staff assume you'll be taking the full 120 credits with them and will give you answers based on their experience in this area.

[sanantone]

Take a breath, you qualify based on your financial need to complete half time 6 credits per semester or full time 12 credits per semester you chose to actually enroll in 2 different classes to qualify for half time or 6 actual classes per semester for full time. This is a Pell grant requirement so regardless of what type of plan you enroll in you must take either six or 12 to qualify for grant money. You of course can enroll for more classes but the government won't pay for them and so you'll end up paying out of pocket. So consider how much you want to work at getting your degree and be able to attain good grades. The issue with TESC or any college is that fees eat up your grant and usually 6.8% interest loans make up the difference. This is a road to economic slavery so don't do that.

This is not quite right. You either qualify for your full award or you don't. How many credits it covers depends on the cost of the school. For example, if you qualify for a grant of $5,000, you will receive $2,500 per semester if you take at least 12 credits per semester. If those 12 credits are less than $2,500, then you will receive a refund. If those 12 credits are more than $2,500, then you will have to take out a loan or pay out of pocket to cover the rest. If your school is so cheap that you can take 15 or 18 credits and still be under $2,500, then all of those credits will be covered.

[Nine]

Thanks sanantone, I sort of got the gist of it, but some parts made me feel a bit lost. I will probably enroll full time, but are you saying to take the Comprehension Tuition Route due to the tuition cost to receive the full grant, or because of the per credit cost? I do plan on taking TECEP’s and other exams (or do credits earned through other exams, such as CLEP, not count towards my student status?) to earn credits, preferably everything. So a Per Credit Tuition plan seems to be more financially beneficial, but if I go that route, I won't get a grant? Just to double check, I just need to take 24 credits within 12 months to be considered a full time student and enrolled a whole year?

[sanantone]

Thanks sanantone, I sort of got the gist of it, but some parts made me feel a bit lost. I will probably enroll full time, but are you saying to take the Comprehension Tuition Route due to the tuition cost to receive the full grant, or because of the per credit cost? I do plan on taking TECEP’s and other exams (or do credits earned through other exams, such as CLEP, not count towards my student status?) to earn credits, preferably everything. Just to double check, I just need to take 24 credits within 12 months to be considered a full time student and enrolled a whole year?

The Comprehensive Tuition Plan is the cheapest option if you want to receive your whole award, but your grant will not be enough to cover the over $8,300 in tuition. You will still need to take out almost $3,000 in loans to cover the rest. Only credits earned through online and guided study courses count toward your half-time or full-time status. TECEPs, e-Packs, prior learning assessments, CLEP, Straighterline, etc. will not count toward your status.

Like UptonSinclair said, the best way to maximize your aid is to attend the cheapest school you can find. Find a local community college or look at New Mexico Junior College or Clovis Community College. Your average CC is around $3,000 per year. You could use your leftover financial aid to take tests including TECEPs to meet the residency requirements under the Per Credit Tuition Plan. This is probably the cheapest way to go.

[Nine]

Ah, I see. I will look into it. Thank you!