Amy Mistric, assistant director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, will be on hand every Wednesday of October in the Skyhawk Dining Hall from 12-1 p.m. for students who have questions about financial aid.
āTheyāre getting ready right now to start looking at their schedule for next semester and we want to be sure we have every opportunity to talk to them to get questions answered,ā said Mistric.
During āMeet and Eat with Amy,ā students have the opportunity to address any concerns they may have about changes made to the 2017-2018 FAFSA, including the new October registration date and prior-prior tax information, or new eligibility regulations for Title IV aid.Ā Title IV assistance includes the Federal Direct Plus, Stafford and Perkins loans in addition to work study and the Pell, TEACH, and SEOG grants.
Changes made by the U.S. Department of Education concern student enrollment status.Ā In the previous years, students could take whatever courses they wanted, regardless of the relevancy to their path of study.Ā Now only credits that are part of a studentās field of study are accepted.
However, after registering for 12 hours as a full time student (as defined by the Department of Education), courses not part of studentsā curriculum may be added if taken to raise a grade for a previously passed course.
Additionally, regulations concerning retaking courses have been reshaped. Ā Courses passed but failed by department standards may only be retaken once and still counted in enrollment.
These changes will begin in the spring for the 2017-2018 school year and do not apply to privately awarded or state scholarships.
Mistric hopes the lunches will give students āa chance to talk to us.ā
āI know itās difficult to get out of their class room and class buildings and come over here and visit,ā said the assistant director.
To learn more about the new guidelines, stop by Mistricās table in the dining hall or visit utm.edu/fafsa.
Assistant Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, Amy Mistric (Photo Credit/UTM)
