Financial Aid Checklist For Incoming Graduate Students

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2011-2012 Financial Aid Checklist for Incoming Graduate/Professional Student

Use this checklist as a guide to help you apply for aid, review your awards, and pay your fees. We hope you find this list helpful, but it is intentionally brief and not meant to be all inclusive and provide you with every bit of information you may need to know. We encourage you to read our entire web site to gain a fuller understanding of the entire financial aid process.

Apply For Aid
	Apply for admission to the University of South Carolina through the Office of Graduate Admissions, and apply for non-university scholarships. Consult with your department of study to see if Academic Departmental Scholarships, Fellowships, and/or Graduate Assistantships are available.
	Complete the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This application is required for federal financial aid including student loans. When completing the FAFSA, you will need a Personal Identification Number (PIN). It is important to remember your PIN as you will use it frequently. USC-Columbia’s School Code is 003448. If you already have a FASFA on file with another school for the same school year, add the USC-Columbia school code to the school list on the FASFA. You should complete a new FAFSA each year to be considered for federal aid. The new FAFSA becomes available on January 1st each year.
	Check the status of your FAFSA on VIP. Federal aid will not be awarded until your application is complete. Remember that it could take 1 to 2 weeks for USC-Columbia to receive the results of your application from the FAFSA Processor. *Make sure your application is complete before April 1st.* This is USC-Columbia’s Priority Deadline. If your status is not complete by April 1st, then you may miss out on awards that have limited funding. However, you may continue to apply after that date to receive Federal Direct Loans. If you are a first-time user of VIP, set your VIP PIN.
	Check your awards. You will automatically be considered for Federal Direct Loans. After you have been awarded, you can decide if other aid is needed. Your actual bill will be available on VIP after the Board of Trustees has set tuition for the new year (usually mid-July) and you have signed up for classes. USC-Columbia begins awarding Federal Aid after April 1st.
	Apply for a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS loan if other aid is needed.
	Only as a last resort, you may consider applying for a Private Educational Loan.

Review and Finalize Your Awards

	Review and Accept, Decline, or Make Changes to your awards on VIP by clicking on the Financial tab and then Financial Aid Awards. If you wish to make any changes to your awards or assumed hours of enrollment, print your award letter, make the desired changes, and send the updated award letter to our office with your signature. We will make your desired changes within 48 hours of receipt.
	Complete Entrance Loan Counseling by signing in at http://www.studentloans.gov for your Federal Direct Loan and/or Federal Direct Grad PLUS if you have not already done so within the last ten years. Complete Perkins Loan Entrance Counseling if awarded a Federal Perkins Loan.
	Complete your Federal Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) with the US Department of Education by signing in at http://www.studentloans.gov if you have not already done so within the last ten years. If you are not sure whether you have completed an MPN, sign in to your account at http://www.studentloans.gov to check your completed loan documents. Complete the Federal Perkins Loan MPN if awarded a Federal Perkins Loan. *Your Loan Counseling and MPN must be completed before you can use your Direct Loans to pay your fees.*
	If you have been awarded Federal Work Study, you may click here to search for job postings. If you have not been awarded Federal Work Study and you wish to be considered for it, please contact us.
	Read all Award Terms and Conditions and our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) for detailed information about your awards and how to use them.
	Make sure any non-institutional scholarship checks are sent to: The Bursar’s Office; 516 S. Main St; Columbia, SC 29208. You may need to endorse a check if it is made co-payable to you and the University

Use Your Aid to Pay Your Fees

	Review Optional Fees and Pay Your Fees using VIP. You must authorize the use of your available financial aid towards the payment of your fees by using VIP. Failure to do this will result in the cancellation of your scheduled classes. Aid does not disburse automatically.* You must authorize through VIP.* *Note that once the fees are paid, your bill will no longer be available through VIP. If you wish to keep a copy for your records, print the bill before you pay.* You may also want to print a copy of the confirmation page for your records.

	Click Here to open checklist as a .pdf document
	Click Here to open checklist as a MS Word document

Helpful Terms

FAFSA: FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This application is required for most types of financial aid including student loans.

VIP: https://vip.sc.edu/ is the University’s student’s web connection to most academic and financial information, including Financial Aid. You must be an admitted (www.sc.edu/admissions) student to gain access to the site.

Entrance Counseling: Required for your first Stafford loan. Entrance counseling must be completed before funds can disburse.

Master Promissory Note (MPN): An MPN is an agreement that you sign with your lender promising that you will pay your loan back. It is required for your first Federal Direct Stafford loan and Federal Direct Grad PLUS loan. MPN’s are required every year for Federal Perkins loans. MPN’s must be completed before funds can disburse.

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