Your Financial Aid Award

Once your financial aid award has been finalized, you will be sent an email listing the financial aid program(s) you may access to help pay for college. You are strongly encouraged to read all of the award notification and complete any remaining steps listed.

Your Right to Decline or Reduce Your Financial Aid Award

You have the right to decline or reduce any part of your award. To do so, email cmccsfs@mainecc.edu and include your CMCC Student ID number. This can be found on the top corner of your award letter. Please include the award you wish to decline or reduce. If reducing an award, include the amount you would like it reduced. If you are offered student loans as part of your eligibility and wish to borrow all or a portion of those loans, review the information listed in your award notification about the steps needed to finalize your student loans.

Disbursement of Financial Aid

Financial aid is disbursed to students’ CMCC billing accounts after the add-drop period is over each semester.  The Business Office then reviews the information. If you have aid in excess of charges, the Business Office will issue you a refund check, mailed to your permanent address on file, approximately five weeks after the start of the semester.

Checking your Financial Aid Status

To check the status of your financial aid, please log into CMConnect and click on the “Students” tab.

• Check if we have received your FAFSA
• Review if CMCC needs additional documents to support your FAFSA
• Review your financial aid awards

Changes to Financial Aid Awards

Financial aid awards may need to be recalculated after the original awards have been determined. Examples include:

• Changes to the student’s FAFSA
• The student receives additional financial aid from external sources. If your award letter does not list all external funding sources, please contact the Office of Financial Aid. All external aid must be reported. Students who do not report all external aid are responsible for returning excess financial aid awarded caused by the nondisclosure of external funding.
• The student’s anticipated enrollment status changes. A student’s financial aid is initially based on full time status (12 or more credits per semester). Enrollment is verified after the add/drop period each semester. Changes are made to the student’s financial aid if enrollment is less than full time. Most forms of financial aid, including the State of Maine Grant, Federal Work Study, Federal SEOG, Federal Stafford Loans and Federal PLUS Loans, require the student to be enrolled at least a half time (6 credits or more) each semester. The Federal Pell Grant is available in limited circumstances to students who are enrolled less than half time.
• The student withdraws from the College prior to the end of the semester, requiring the College to perform a federal recalculation of the student’s financial aid.
• The student fails to maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined by the College:
  • Grade Point Average – students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA based on the number of total credits that they have attempted.
    

    Total Credit Hours Attempted	Minimum Cumulative GPA
    1-23	1.5
    24-35	1.75
    36-47	1.9
    48 and above	2.0

  • Pursuit of Program / Completion Rate – students must successfully complete and pass a minimum of 67% of the total credits that they have attempted.
  • Maximum Time Frame – students must complete their academic program in a period not exceeding 150% of the normal length of the program, as measured in credit hours attempted.
• Special Circumstances. Changes sometimes occur during the academic year affecting the family’s ability to contribute financially toward the student’s education. A review of the family’s special circumstances can be requested by contacting the Financial Aid Office. You must document the circumstances you feel deserve consideration. Examples of these conditions include: medical bills, unemployment, divorce/separation, death of a spouse or parent, disability of family members, an unplanned change in employment earnings, loss of income or benefits.

Effect of Withdrawing from Classes

Any student who is a financial aid recipient and who is considering withdrawing from the College is strongly encouraged to first meet with a Financial Aid Office representative to discuss their options. If a student stops attending classes after receiving their student refund check, and financial aid is reduced due to withdrawal, the student is responsible for repaying CMCC the excess amount of aid they are no longer entitled to receive.

Students who are financial aid recipients and who officially or unofficially withdraw from all semester courses are required to have financial aid recalculated.  The Office of Financial Aid uses a federal formula to determine the amount of aid the student is eligible to still receive, based on the number of days the student completed for the semester before withdrawing.