Financial Aid Checklist

Know the Priority Deadlines

Your financial aid file must be complete by the priority deadline to be reviewed for any applicable financial aid offers before the semester begins.

Know the Financial Aid Priority Deadlines.

Electronically submit the FAFSA at studentaid.gov before the priority deadline. This will start the financial aid process and once it is complete, your financial aid amounts will be determined. Be sure to include the GHC School Code of 009507 on your FAFSA.

Submit the FAFSA

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) determines your eligibility for federal aid such as the Pell Grant, FSEOG (Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant), Subsidized Loans, Unsubsidized Loans, and the Parent PLUS loan.

Remember that you will never be charged for filling out this free application. If a website requests payment, you are on the wrong site. Leave the site immediately and go to fafsa.gov.

Go to studentaid.gov and create an FSA ID/password (for dependent students who have to include parents on the FAFSA, a parent will also have to create an FSA ID/password).
Once you submit the FAFSA, you will receive a confirmation email from the Department of Education at the email address you provided on the FAFSA indicating that it has been received and it is being processed.

This does not mean GHC has received your FAFSA. You will need to follow up at finaid@highlands.edu within five to seven days after submitting the FAFSA to check the status.

Click here for detailed instructions on filling out the FAFSA.

Click here for common mistakes students make on the FAFSA.

To monitor the status of your FAFSA:

Monitor your Charger Portal on the Check Financial Aid Status link to see if the FAFSA has been received. Don’t forget to select the appropriate aid year (an aid year encompasses fall/spring/summer).
Monitor your Schedule/Bill for any applicable financial aid offers.
You can also email finaid@highlands.edu for updates.

Check for Verification

Sometimes a FAFSA will pull into our system from the Department of Education with a Verification requirement attached. There are two ways to check for this requirement:

Check your SAR (Student Aid Report) by logging into studentaid.gov.

Another way to retrieve your SAR report is to check the email you provided on the FAFSA which will have a link to the SAR report. This email will be sent to you within 5-7 business days after submitting your FAFSA. If your EFC has an asterisk (*) next to it on that report, you have been selected for Verification.

Monitor your Charger Portal on the Check Financial Aid Status link to see if there is a Verification requirement. Don’t forget to select the appropriate aid year (an aid year encompasses fall/spring/summer).

Verification will no longer be temporarily suspended starting with the 2324 aid year (encompasses Fall 23/Spring 24/Summer 24-goes by 2021 taxes). This means normal Verification procedures will be back in place starting with Fall 2023 and regardless of the type of Verification (V1, V4, or V5), it will have to be completed before any financial aid offers can be made.

Go to highlands.verifymyfafsa.com and log in with your GHC student email and password.
Create an account (make sure to provide the first and last name you used on the FAFSA and remember when filling out the FAFSA that you should use the name which appears on your Social Security card).
Fill out the electronic worksheet and upload any requested documentation at the link in step one.
Monitor the link in step one for any further requests for documents and/or information.

Once all required documents and information are received, Verification can take from two to four weeks to complete.

Click here for a detailed explanation of Verification.

Click here for detailed instructions on completing Verification.

Click here for detailed information on Acceptable Tax Documents for Verification.

To monitor the progress of your Verification:

Monitor highlands.verifymyfafsa.com for any further requests for documents and/or information.
Monitor your Charger Portal on the Check Financial Aid Status link to check for Verification completion and any applicable financial aid offers. Don’t forget to select the appropriate aid year (an aid year encompasses fall/spring/summer).
Monitor your Schedule/Bill for any applicable financial aid offers.
You can also email finaid@highlands.edu for updates.

Applying for HOPE Scholarship

The HOPE Scholarship is a State Merit Award and is not based on financial need. In most instances, students will need to fill out the following applications to apply for the HOPE Scholarship:

GSFAPPS (HOPE Scholarship application which is valid for ten years after date of completion)

FAFSA (valid for one aid year-fall/spring/summer)

AND

GHC HOPE Review Form(select the HOPE Review form for the appropriate aid year)

Once all required applications, documents and information are received, the HOPE Review can take up to two weeks to complete.

Click here for a detailed explanation of HOPE requirements, applications required, and processing timeframes.

To monitor progress of a HOPE Review or HOPE Scholarship award:

Monitor your GHC student email account for notifications and/or requests for further information.
Monitor your Charger Portal on the Check Financial Aid Status link. Don’t forget to select the appropriate aid year (an aid year encompasses fall/spring/summer).
Monitor your Schedule/Bill for any applicable financial aid offers.
You can also email finaid@highlands.edu for updates.

Applying for GHC Institutional Scholarships

The Georgia Highlands College Foundation contributes over half a million dollars to scholarships and programs each year.

The GHC Office of Financial Aid encourages incoming and current students to apply for these scholarship opportunities that can help to finance their education. Let the scholarship search engine do the work for you. By creating an AwardSpring scholarship account, the search engine will provide a list of potential scholarships you might be eligible to apply for.

**In order to qualify to apply for GHC Institutional Scholarships:**

Must have a current year FAFSA on file with Verification complete (the current aid year for FAFSA encompasses fall/spring/summer).
Must have a completed AwardSpring Scholarship application on file
Cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above (cumulative means all classes taken at GHC and any transfers we accepted all calculated together)
Georgia Resident
US Citizen or equivalent

Upon completion of the AwardSpring Scholarship application, the system will suggest scholarships to apply for based on answers to questions on the application.

Applicants who are selected for GHC Institutional Scholarships will be notified through their GHC student email account (you will not be notified if you are not selected for a scholarship).

Click here to apply for GHC Institutional Scholarships.

To monitor your account for a GHC Institutional Scholarship award:

Monitor your GHC student email account for notifications and/or requests for further information.
Monitor your Charger Portal on the Check Financial Aid Status link. Don’t forget to select the appropriate aid year (an aid year encompasses fall/spring/summer).
Monitor your Schedule/Bill for any applicable financial aid offers.
You can also email finaid@highlands.edu for updates.

Applying for Private Loans

Sometimes, students are not eligible for federal or state aid, or they need more funding than what they’re offered. In other cases, they may be on financial aid suspension and are unable to receive federal or state aid (or institutional scholarships). There are alternate funding options available.

The GHC Office of Financial Aid cannot recommend a particular lender to you. Information on applying for and securing a private student loan is available by searching for information online about lenders who certify student loans.

Transferring financial aid from one school to another

Financial Aid does not automatically transfer from one school to another.

Transferring financial aid from another college TO GHC:

If you are a transfer student to GHC, you will need to cancel any pending financial aid offers for the upcoming semester(s) at the school where you last attended.
The GHC Office of Financial Aid will not be able to disburse any financial aid to you until/unless any pending financial aid offers for the upcoming semester(s) are canceled at the school where you last attended.
After requesting cancellation of any pending financial aid offers at your previous school, please notify the GHC Office of Financial Aid at finaid@highlands.edu that all pending financial aid offers have been canceled.

The process can take up to 48 hours for financial aid offers to show as cancelled in the federal system once your previous school completes the cancellation. This means that the GHC Office of Financial Aid won’t be able to view this cancellation until up to 48 hours after completion.

Transferring financial aid from GHC TO another college:

If you are a transfer student FROM GHC TO another college, you will need to cancel any pending financial aid offers for the upcoming semester(s) at GHC.
The Office of Financial Aid at the college you will be attending will not be able to disburse any financial aid to you until/unless any pending financial aid offers for the upcoming semester(s) are canceled at GHC.
Go to the FORMS link on our GHC website, print out the FA Cancellation Request form, fill it out, provide a handwritten signature, and email it back to finaid@highlands.edu (form processing timeframe up to two weeks).

The process can take up to 48 hours for financial aid offers to show as cancelled in the federal system once GHC completes the cancellation. This means that the Office of Financial Aid at your new school won’t be able to view this cancellation until up to 48 hours after completion.