The first thing you should do if you’re transferring to Georgia Highlands College is log into your current-year FAFSA (encompasses fall, spring, and summer) and make sure you’ve listed GHC as a recipient of your FAFSA information. Our school code for this purpose is 009507 (or you can just look us up by name)! After submitting your FAFSA with our school code, please allow up to seven business days for the Department of Education to process your financial aid application and send it to GHC.

Monitor your Charger Portal:

• Log into your Charger Portal
• In the Financial Aid section, click on the Financial Aid link.
• Select the appropriate aid year (encompasses fall, spring, and summer).
• Click on the Offers link.

and if your FAFSA has not been received after seven business days, follow up to the GHC Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid to check the status:

• Email  finaid@highlands.edu
• Visit us in the Virtual HUB
• Call us at 706-802-5000 (click prompts for Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid)

Need to make an appointment?  Utilize one of the above methods to schedule an appointment with a Financial Aid Counselor.

Cancel Your Aid

Once you are sure that you will be attending GHC, be sure to contact the Office of Financial Aid at your current school to decline any financial aid that you are scheduled to receive during the semester in which you plan to attend GHC. You will want to do so before July 1 for the fall semester, before November 1 for the spring semester, and before March 1 for the summer semester. Federal regulations only allow you to receive financial aid from one college per semester. If you plan to take a class or classes at another  college while you’re attending GHC, please refer to our Transient Student information page.

Confirm Admission Status

You must be fully accepted to GHC before the GHC Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid can offer any type of aid to your account (Federal, State, Institutional, or otherwise). You can check your admission status by clicking here.

Verification

If you have been selected for Verification by the Department of Education, we will have to request proper documentation and perform the Verification even if this process has already been done by your previous college.  This process can take up to two weeks to complete once all final documents and/or information are received.

State Scholarships and Programs

If you’re a transfer student who wants to apply for the HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship, you may do so by submitting an electronic HOPE Review form to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (processing timeframe is up to two weeks once all final documents and transcripts are received).  To learn more about State Scholarships and Programs at GHC and how to apply, click HERE.

Institutional Scholarships

As a Transfer Student, you may also apply for GHC Institutional Scholarships at GHC.  To learn more about these scholarships and how to apply, click HERE.

Outside Loans

GHC also certifies loans from outside lenders.

• External (outside) loans are usually credit-based and may need a co-signer.  Once approved for the loan by the lender, they will notify the GHC Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid that a certification request is pending for the student.
• Then our Office will verify eligible amounts prior to certifying the loan (these amounts may be different than what the student has requested).
• If the loan is certified at GHC and the certified amount covers all charges for the semester, our office will place a hold on the student’s account to secure their schedule through any pending fee payment deadlines.
• After classes start, the lender will send a check to the GHC Business Office, and they will apply it to the student’s account.

The GHC Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid cannot recommend a particular lender.  You can search for information online (Google Student Loans), and you can research which lenders certify student loans.