Frequently Asked Questions

Please be aware that the Financial Aid Office may use electronic means to communicate with you. It is your responsibility to keep your Rollins email address current and to read messages that are sent. It is also important that you keep your mailing address and phone number current with Student Services. You may also review your financial aid information via MyRollins.

The Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) determines your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC determines your eligibility for need-based aid. Items that will affect need-based aid eligibility from year to year include dramatic changes to income and/or assets, changes to the number of family members in college, changes to the number of family members residing in the household, etc.

Need-based financial aid is awarded based on uniformly applied policies designed to distribute available resources in an equitable manner. These awards are not negotiable.

Step three of the FAFSA poses a series of questions used to determine whether you are dependent for financial aid purposes. If you answer no to all, you are dependent. The questions address your age, marital status, degree level, whether you have dependent children, and military veteran status as well as collect information regarding students in foster care, students who are a dependent or ward of the court, emancipated minors or students in a legal guardianship and unaccompanied youth who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. Official documentation may be required to support your dependency status.

We recognize that the need analysis process does not always consider every family situation. If your family has experienced an unusual change in financial circumstances not considered on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, you may wish to request consideration. To do this you should request a Need Analysis Review Form from our office. Complete the form and return it with the appropriate documentation. We will make every effort to incorporate these circumstances into the need analysis calculation. A review may only be conducted for circumstances that can be documented.

Florida Residency Affidavit: Required for all undergraduate applicants to establish eligibility for all Florida aid programs

Student Loan Master Promissory Notes: Required for all applicants when accepting federal Direct and/or Graduate PLUS loans

Student Loan Entrance Counseling: Required for all applicants when accepting federal Direct and Graduate PLUS loans

IRS Data Retrieval Tool: This is a link from your FAFSA to the IRS. Required only for applicants (and parents of dependent students) selected for verification. Note: We will advise you if tax documentation is necessary for the processing of your FAFSA application. Please refer to your Student Aid Report for further information regarding verification status or to MyRollins. You may also submit an IRS Tax Transcript in lieu of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.

When a financial aid recipient withdraws from a semester or unofficially withdraws by ceasing to attend classes, federal regulation requires a Return of Title IV Aid (R2T4) calculation to determine if any federal Title IV aid must be repaid. Federal Title IV aid includes Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), Direct Loans, and PLUS loans.

The amount of federal Title IV aid to be repaid is calculated based on the percentage of time completed within a semester, which involves calculating the amount of Title IV aid earned by the student and the amount of institutional charges for that semester. Please contact us at finaid@rollins.edu prior to withdrawing in order to determine the impact on your financial aid.

When unearned federal Title IV funds are repaid, they are returned by the program and up to the disbursed amount for each program. Unearned federal Title IV aid will result in a reduction to each aid program in the following order:

• Unsubsidized Direct Loan
• Subsidized Direct Loan
• PLUS Loan
• Pell Grant
• SEOG

Additional reductions may be made to the Florida Student Assistance Grant, Effective Access to Education Grant (EASE), and Bright Futures according to state regulations.

You will be notified by mail no later than 45 days after the determination that you withdrew during the semester. Your notification will provide detailed information on the aid programs which were repaid. If the notification includes eligibility for a post-withdrawal disbursement, you will have fourteen days to respond to accept or decline the award. The return of these funds typically results in additional charges to your student account that is the student's responsibility to pay.

Withdrawing from the semester may impact future eligibility for federal, state, and institutional financial aid. See the section on Satisfactory Academic Progress for specific information.

Federal, state, and institutional aid is awarded to students based on projected or actual enrollment. Subsequent monitoring is required to determine if the student remains eligible. If you drop courses after receiving federal, state, or institutional aid, you may be required to repay those funds and/or you may jeopardize your future financial aid eligibility. Prior to dropping any classes, please contact us at finaid@rollins.edu to request information on the impact to your financial aid.

In general, your Federal Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Effective Access to Education Grant, Florida Student Assistance Grant, and Rollins awards are based on your enrollment level at the end of the last day to drop a class without penalty (approximately two weeks after classes begin). If your enrollment level drops below full-time (at least 12 credit hours) on this date, your awards will be reduced and may be removed depending upon the requirements for the specific financial aid program. Please contact our office if your enrollment will be less than 12 credit hours.

Note to Bright Futures recipients: Your Bright Futures award will adjust all semester if you drop any course. The amount of your Bright Futures Award is dependent upon the number of credit hours you complete. If you drop any courses and are a Bright Futures recipient, please review your student account for your balance due as a result of the reduction to your Bright Futures award.

No matter what the immediate impact to your financial aid is, please keep in mind that dropping courses now may have an impact on your future financial aid eligibility. See the section on Satisfactory Academic Progress for specific information.

Rollins College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Please contact the Financial Aid Office for specific information relating to the cost of attendance, available financial aid programs, or financial aid policies for study abroad programs.

Graduation/Retention rates and information relating to the athletic program may be obtained by contacting the Director of Institutional Research at 407-646-2573.

Information on campus crime statistics may be obtained by contacting Campus Safety at 407-646-2999.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) assures the confidentiality of your educational record. This Act also allows you access to the information contained in your educational record. Please contact the appropriate office if you would like access to any information held. Rollins College's policy regarding confidentiality can be found in the College Catalogue. The policy permits the release of directory information without the student's consent unless specifically requested in writing not to disclose. Students who wish to have their directory information withheld must make this request no later than September 1st of each year. If a request is received, all directory information will be withheld since the College cannot release selected information. Requests for withholding of directory information should be made to Student Services.

If you must withdraw from class you may be required to repay a portion of your financial aid. Eligibility for financial aid is based on the costs involved with attending for an entire semester. Please read the following Return of Title IV Aid policy carefully.

Federal regulations governing financial aid programs require students to maintain satisfactory academic progress. A minimum of a 2.0 GPA is required at all times. GPAs are checked once a year at the end of the spring term. Aid recipients must also complete at least 67 percent of the courses for which they are enrolled. A student who does not meet either the GPA or completion rate requirement will be placed on Financial Aid Termination for the next year. A withdrawal from a class constitutes a class that was not completed and will affect a student’s completion standard. An “F” grade constitutes a class that was not completed and will affect the GPA and the completion standard. Incompletes will not be treated as a completed course until a grade has been recorded for the class and will affect the completion standard. Repeated courses may be used to improve the GPA and will be counted for the GPA and completion standard in a given year. Transfer courses will not affect the Rollins GPA and will be used simply to determine the grade level of the student.