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Announcements

FAFSA Day 2012

Need help filing the FAFSA? Join us on Saturday February 18, 2012 at the McKimmon Center for FAFSA Day. Financial Aid counselors will be available to answer your questions and help you complete your application for financial aid.

Disbursements & Refunds

• Disbursements for spring semester begin on January 9, 2012 - the first day of classes. If all of your classes begin on a later schedule due to study abroad or a module-based program, your disbursement will be delayed until the start of your program.
• If you are expecting a refund, you should expect those funds to be available 2-3 days after disbursement. Most spring semester refunds should be deposited on or after January 10th.
• Students who have not signed up for Direct Deposit will receive a paper check in 1-2 weeks. Please consider signing up for direct deposit to expedite your refund.

Financial Aid Availability

The current economic downturn has wide-reaching impacts, and the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid is no exception. We want our families to understand the changes you may see to financial aid packages and why those changes are occurring.

A student's financial aid award comes from 3 primary sources: the federal government, the state of North Carolina, and institutional aid from our office. Unfortunately, we are seeing reductions to two of 3 of those sources - federal and state aid. Two significant federal aid programs, the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and the Science & Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant have been eliminated for 2011-12 and we do not expect those will be reinstated by the federal government. At the same time, funding for the largest of our state programs, the UNC Need-based Grant has also been reduced, and the Student Incentive Grant has been eliminated.

Unfortunately, these reductions to outside funding come at the same time that our students and families have the greatest need for support. We have a record number of students applying for aid, and those families are demonstrating increased financial need. That means our institutional ald dollars have to be spread across even more needy students, and the result is grant aid packages may not be as high as in prior years and some students - particularly late applicants - may miss out entirely on grant funding.

We understand how difficult this is for families, and we want to be a resource to help you understand your options. We are happy to discuss borrowing and the types of loans that are available, as well as direct you to outside scholarship resources you may wish to pursue. While the weeks prior to the start of the semester are our busiest time, we invite you to contact your financial aid counselor if you have questions. We appreciate your patience as we work to help the record number of you who are seeking financial assistance.

Disbursement of Aid

Questions about when you will receive the aid you've been offered? Trying to determine how much you owe? Please visit our Billing Basics site for all you need to know to understand how your financial aid works to pay your charges.

Our Mission

NC State’s mission is to deliver a quality, affordable education to all students, regardless of their financial circumstances. Maintaining affordability and quality are particularly important in difficult economic times, but we will continue to provide as much financial aid as possible to meet each student’s financial need.

During these especially challenging budgetary times, we encourage all students and their families to talk about their financial realities. We can help you with your questions.  We look forward to helping make your dream of obtaining an NC State degree a reality.