Policy and Procedures

Book Voucher Policy

Camden County College offers students receiving financial aid the opportunity to use a portion of the excess funds to buy books and supplies at any campus bookstore (Blackwood, Camden or Cherry Hill).  In order to qualify for a book voucher, students must be awarded financial aid, registered for classes, and have a valid student ID card to present at the time of purchase. The book voucher program is available two weeks prior to the start of the 15-Week Semester.  Book vouchers expire October 1st for the Fall Semester and March 1st for the Spring Semester. Notification is sent via e-mail to student’s Camden County College e-mail address when the voucher is ready.

The amount of the book voucher is based on the student’s total credits registered for the term.  There is a maximum book voucher amount; students will be given a book voucher up to the amount they are eligibly registered for, or for the difference between their tuition and fees and their financial aid.

Students are advised to use these funds to purchase school related items like books and supplies; financial aid funds are not intended to cover non-educational expenses.  Students are encouraged to keep all receipts from the book store, in case they need to return any items.

CCC will refund, by check, any unused credit from the book voucher, along with any other financial aid refund that students are entitled to.  If financial aid is reduced or cancelled, students will remain personally responsible to pay for all outstanding tuition, fees, book and stipend amounts that incurred at CCC.

Conditions governing Financial Aid Awards 

This award is based upon information provided by the student’s financial aid application (FAFSA). The College reserves the right to revise or cancel this award if it discovers any errors or inconsistencies in the information submitted.

Federal and State guidelines frequently require that the College obtains certain information for the purpose of verifying the contents of a student’s financial aid application. For example, a student who indicates that he or she filed a tax return may need to request a tax transcript. In cases where students are requested to provide additional information and fail to do so, their award will be cancelled.

An estimated award is an approximate amount of what we anticipate students will receive from that source. Other actions may be necessary in order for the award to actually be received.

The Business Office has been notified of each student’s award. Amounts that have been received by the College will be credited to students’ accounts some time after the drop/add period for a semester. Tuition, fees, books, and other applicable costs will be deducted from awards. The remainder will be disbursed to students on specified dates throughout the academic year, in the form of stipend checks.

Aid from outside sources will not be credited if the College has not received the funds. Students are responsible for the amount of their bills in excess of the financial aid award.

Pell grants will not be recalculated after the add/drop date of a term (census date). If a student increases or decreases enrollment status after census, the student will be paid based on the financial aid calculation at the time of the census date.

If students have received, or subsequently receive, a scholarship or other form of financial aid from a source outside the College, they are required to report this to the Office of Financial Aid. In such cases, the College reserves the right to review its award. Failure to report aid received from an outside source may be cause for cancellation of college aid awarded.

Renewal of this award for ensuing years requires annual reapplication through the FAFSA, by published deadlines. The form and/or amount of financial aid may change in subsequent years to reflect changes of financial need and other circumstances.

Aid may be refused or cancelled for poor scholarship, disciplinary action, withdrawal, or failure to attend class.

If students have received a Federal Work Study award, they are eligible to continue their employment only until they have earned the indicated amount

If students should change their mailing address, they must complete an Address Change Form and submit it to the Records and Registration Office.

The College reserves the right to revise or cancel any student’s awards in compliance with federal and state regulations and the College’s policies and procedures. When a student’s award is either revised or cancelled, they will receive a Revised Award Letter. The most recent Revised Award Letter will take precedence over any previous ones.

Confidentiality, FERPA and Fraud Policy

Confidentiality and Privacy of Financial Aid Information FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974)

Under FERPA* (also called the Buckley Amendment) educational privacy and access rights accrue to the student when she/he turns 18 or enrolls in a postsecondary institution. Camden County College is a post-secondary institution. FERPA controls the institution’s ability to disclose student information. Individuals who have applied to, but who have not attended the College as an enrolled student, are not covered under FERPA. Under institutional policy, applicants are extended the same privacy rights to their financial aid information as students. Applicants, students and parents are governed by the following institutional Financial Aid Privacy Policies. The Financial Aid Staff is permitted to discuss or otherwise disclose a student’s financial aid information to the following parties:

1. The student
2. The student’s parent(s) whose information appears on the FAFSA
3. Other college officials having a legitimate educational reason to know the student’s financial aid information (i.e. staff in the billing office, so that they can manage the student’s account)
4. External agencies and organizations such as guarantors, lenders, state grant
5. Agencies and auditors that have a legitimate educational reason to know the student’s financial aid information (i.e. staff at such agencies authorized to process loans and grants for the student)
6. External, federal agencies granted such rights under FERPA

Under FERPA, institutions are required to disclose a student’s information (sometimes without notification to the student) in response to commands from the courts (typically subpoenas) and demands from specific federal agencies. The Office of Financial Aid must, and will, comply with all lawfully issued demands for information from the entities identified in the FERPA regulations, and will (or will not) notify the student as required. Students and parents should be aware that their signatures on the FAFSA and other financial aid documents (i.e. loan applications) authorize the release of their information to certain federal and state agencies. Please read the FAFSA and other financial aid documents for more information. Depending upon the scope of the information requested by the student or other authorized parties, the Office of Financial Aid may require time to present the records requested. When the information requested cannot be produced immediately, the Office of Financial Aid may require such time as is permitted under FERPA regulations to retrieve and present the records requested.

Social Security Number Policy

In compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-579): disclosure of an applicant’s Social Security number is required on applications for financial aid. The applicant’s Social Security number will be used to identify the student’s account, verify the student’s identity during the period of attendance, and to ascertain that there is no improper, simultaneous funding under other federal financial aid programs. As above, applicants are required by federal law to provide their Social Security numbers (SSN) on the FAFSA. Provision of the College’s Colleague Student ID or SSN (as specified on the individual document) is required on all supporting documents used to apply for financial aid. The SSN will be used for the College’s system of student records, for compliance with federal and state reporting requirements, as well as for debt collection. The College will not disclose the SSN to anyone outside the institution except as required by law, and will make every effort to protect the applicant’s privacy.

Fraud, Forgery and Other Criminal Misconduct

Students, parents, spouses, college staff and all others are responsible for accurately portraying information submitted on the FAFSA, and in all supporting documents to the financial aid application process. Such documents include, but are not limited to, the FAFSA, verification forms, time sheets, signature pages, appeal applications, correspondence, et cetera.

Falsification of financial aid documents is an extremely serious offense. Students and others who fraudulently complete financial aid documents will be subject to disciplinary action, which may include loss of eligibility for all financial assistance, termination from all College employment programs, and referral to the U. S. Department of Education for criminal prosecution. Students so identified will also be referred to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action, which may include expulsion from the College. All monies paid to a student that are determined to have been the result of fraud will be immediately due the College. If not repaid, this debt will be referred to a collection agency for collection and legal action, and may also be referred to the U. S. Department of Education. Debts that are referred to a collection agency are subject to fees for the costs associated with collecting the debt, including attorney fees and court costs. Students, or their paying agents, will be responsible for all collection costs and attorney fees. When the College has credible information that suggests that an individual has engaged in fraud or other criminal misconduct, the case will be reported to the Regional Office of the Inspector General and, if applicable, the state or local law enforcement agencies as specified by the U.S. Department of Education under section 668.14(g) of the General Provisions Regulations.

Any fraud that the College refers to the Department of Education may result in criminal prosecution. Criminal prosecution may result in a fine of up to $20,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

Cost of Attendance 2024-25

Estimated 9- Month Components in the Cost of Attendance

Return of Title IV Funds Policy

Students receiving financial aid who withdraw or stop attending will, in most cases, be required to return a portion of financial aid received. The Higher Education Act, as reauthorized and signed into law on October 7, 1998, established the Return of Title IV Funds Policy. Once the institution has determined that a student has completely withdrawn, a Return of Title IV Funds calculation will be performed within 45 days. The institution will notify the student of their revised eligibility after the Return of Title IV Funds calculation is completed. If the student owes unpaid tuition and fees, the student will receive an updated invoice from the institution.

A Return of Title IV Funds calculation determines the percentage of financial aid students have earned. This is based on the number of calendar days students attended, divided by the number of days in the enrollment period. For example, if a student completed 20% of the payment period, they earn 20% of the federal funds that they were originally scheduled to receive. A student who attends and completes at least one course that spans the entire term will have earned the aid for that term (as adjusted for dropped classes or classes never attended).

Students who wish to completely withdraw from their courses must officially withdraw at the Records and Registration Office. A student, who does completely withdraws at or before 60% of the term, may have to return a portion of their unearned, federal financial aid. They may owe tuition, fees or a repayment of federal funds.

In order to determine the amount of the semester a student completed, the Return of Title IV Funds calculation will use the student’s last date of attendance. For students who officially withdraw, the date of withdraw will be considered the student’s last date of attendance for calculation purposes. For students who do not officially withdraw, it is assumed that the student attended 50% of the enrollment period, unless otherwise documented by the instructor. Students who do not earn any passing grades, and have a combination of XA, NA, , RV, MP or FA grades, are considered to be “unofficial withdrawals”. Their federal aid eligibility will be recalculated as described in this policy. A grade of F is considered an earned grade and will not require the return calculation.

Funds must be returned based on the calculations, up to the total net amount from each source, in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan, Subsidized Federal Direct Loan, PLUS Loan, Pell Grant, Federal SEOG and any other Title IV programs. The return of funds must be completed no later than 45 days after the date the school determined the student withdrew.

The school will return the lesser amount of the aid to be returned, as compared to the institutional charges, multiplied by the percentage of unearned aid. The student will also be responsible for returning a percentage of unearned financial aid. This amount will be the difference between the amount of Title IV aid due from the school, and the amount of Title IV aid to be returned. Any federal grant funds that a student is required to repay will be returned to the Department of Education by the institution, on the student’s behalf. The student will return any unearned loan amounts in accordance with the terms of the promissory note.

Effective 7-1-2021, a student attend multiple session within a term and who withdraws from a course offered in modules is not considered to have withdrawn for R2T4 purposes if the student completes: One module that includes 49% or more of the number of days in the payment period; or a combination of modules that when combined contain 49% or more of the number of days in the payment period. A student who withdraws from a module within the term without completing a module or combined modules that include 49% or more of the days in the term must still be attending another class or is considered to be a withdrawal, even if registered for future classes starting within the term. In this scenario, the student must—at the time of withdrawal from a module must indicate on the Official Withdrawal Form provided by records and registration that any future class within the term will be attended , or the student is considered to be a withdrawal; and a Return to Title IV calculation must be completed. If the student doesn’t actually attend that future class, a Return to Title IV calculation is still required; withdrawal date/last date of attendance dates back to originally confirmed withdrawal date. The student will be responsible to pay any unpaid charges incurred by the institution having to return Title IV funds.

If the student did not receive all of the funds earned, they may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the institution must get the student’s permission before the funds can be disbursed. The student may choose to decline all, or part, of the loan funds, so they do not incur additional debt. Students who wish to have loan funds credited to their account will need to make the request in writing to the Financial Aid Office within 14 calendar days of receiving their notification letter.

There are some Title IV funds that a student may have been scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to a student once they have completely withdrawn because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if a student is a first-time, first year, undergraduate student and has not completed the first 30 days of their program before they withdraw, they will not receive any Federal Direct Loan funds that they would have received, if they had remained enrolled past the 30th day.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Federal and State regulations require all post-secondary institutions to establish policies and procedures for measuring the academic progress of their students, as one of the eligibility criteria for receiving financial aid. Camden County College's academic progress policy for financial aid students governs the receipt of funds under all federal and state financial aid programs (grants, loans, and work-study). Some state grant programs have their own criteria that grant recipients will need to meet additional criteria as well.

All students must make Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), towards the attainment of a degree or certificate, to receive and to remain eligible for financial aid. Students who are not making SAP are in Unsatisfactory Academic Progress status (USAP). Students who do not meet all criteria as listed, are deemed USAP and will have all subsequent aid awards TERMINATED for all relevant financial aid programs. This will remain in effect, until such time as they have met the criteria to be SAP. Academic progress will be evaluated once per year at the end of each Spring Semester, regardless of the number of semesters the student has been enrolled. The calculated status will determine the receipt of financial aid for the subsequent academic year, which begins with the Fall Semester. Students in USAP status may enroll and pay out of pocket during their periods of ineligibility; however, doing so does not guarantee that they will regain eligibility or they will have the right to submit an academic appeal.

SAP for financial aid is based on four criteria:

1. Maximum Timeframe: as measured by the number of attempted credits allowed.
2. Quantitative Measure: The cumulative number of credits satisfactorily completed in relation to cumulative credits attempted.
3. Qualitative Measure: The cumulative grade point average (GPA) in relation to credits attempted.
4. Remedial Credit Limitation: The maximum number of remedial credits attempted for which aid may be received.

The calculations used to evaluate academic progress include all periods of the student's enrollment. All credits attempted from the first day of the student's enrollment are included, even periods during which time the student did not receive financial aid funds.

Maximum Timeframe Measure
There is a maximum amount of time that a student can take to complete his/her program of study, which is, generally, 150% of the length of the program measured in credits. All credits are counted when calculating the maximum timeframe completion rate, including repeated courses, withdrawals, credits transferred in from another college or university, advanced placement credit, CLEP, credit by examination, college-level credits, remedial credits, and ESL credits. All terms of enrollment are also included, even those in which the student may not have been an aid recipient.

Quantitative Measure
All students must receive a passing grade in at least 67% of all credits attempted. Passing grades are A, B, C, D, or P. Grades of I (Incomplete), MP (Making Progress), RV (Math Review Recommended), NA (Not Attending), W (Withdrawal), and XA (Never Attended), as well as F (Failure) and FA (Failure for Attendance) are NON-passing, unsatisfactory grades. These count as credits attempted but do not count as credits completed. Non-passing grades will negatively impact the SAP calculation. The NC grade (only for Spring 2021 semester) is counted in a student’s quantitative measure.

Attempted credits are all credits for which a student receives a grade (including A, B, C, D, P, F, FA, I, NA, W, XA, RV, MP). Repeated courses are included in credits attempted. Credits by examination are counted as credits attempted and completed satisfactorily. Courses with grades of AU are neither counted as credits attempted nor completed. The NC grade (only for Spring 2021 semester) is counted in a student’s quantitative measure.

Qualitative Measure
After having attempted the first 12 credits, all students must have a cumulative GPA that falls at or above the following minimums:

The cumulative GPA under this SAP policy is the GPA based upon all credits (including remedial and ESL) the student has attempted at the College. This may differ from the GPA calculated for the student's transcript, which is based solely upon the college-level credits attempted. It also may differ from the GPA calculated for the College's Academic Probation and Suspension Policy.

Remedial Credit Limitation

Students may receive financial aid for up to 30 credits of remedial coursework taken at Camden County College. Remedial courses are defined as all courses under the 100 level, except ESL courses. Once a student has attempted 30 or more remedial credits, he /she will have only college level courses funded, assuming all other aspects of SAP are being met. The CTP (VOC.CPS) program is not required to adhere to the remedial credit limits based on the content provided by the program.

Repeating Courses
Students can only repeat completed courses one time and still have the course covered by Title IV funding. Students wanting to improve grade point averages, or obtain a better grade for transferability, may be required to pay for those courses out of pocket. The repeated classes may count against other portions of the SAP policy, and the student's eligibility is still constrained by all the requirements of the policy.

Notification
Students will be notified by e-mail and on the student portal that they are not making satisfactory academic progress and of the policy component(s) that they have not satisfied. That letter will include information about the appeal process, and how students can gain access to the form that they must complete to initiate the appeal process. Appeal forms will be available on the College's website and in the Financial Aid Office.

Appeal Process

Students not meeting the minimum standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress are permitted to appeal the loss of financial aid. USAP students may do this by completing an appeal application for the appropriate year and submitting it to the Office of Financial Aid. Verbal appeals will not be honored. Appeals will need to outline the mitigating circumstances that kept the student from progressing satisfactorily and what has changed to improve those circumstances. Students also will need to provide documentation when appropriate to support the circumstances in their appeal. Incomplete appeal applications will be denied. Retroactive appeals will not be granted. Students cannot regain financial aid eligibility simply by taking a period of time off from school or by paying for classes from their own resources.

The Financial Aid Appeal Committee (FAAC) will review cases on an individual basis to determine if mitigating circumstances are responsible for poor progress. Mitigating circumstances might include, but are not limited to: serious illness or injury of the student, death of an immediate family member, and extreme family upheaval. The FAAC requires approximately thirty days to review appeals. The committee's decision will be posted to the student’s financial aid self-service account on the college portal.

Students whose appeals are granted will be placed on probation for one term and will be re-evaluated at the end of the probationary period. If the student's appeal is not granted, the student will need to secure other funding sources in order to pay tuition and fees. Otherwise, students will need to drop any courses for which they have registered by published deadlines, in order to avoid incurring a bill. If a student is still not making Satisfactory Academic Progress at the conclusion of a semester, but has met the terms of their plan, they will continue on Financial Aid Probation.