FINANCIAL AID

• Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen (i.e. permanent resident, refugee, asylee, parolee).
• Have a valid Social Security Number.
• Have a financial need as determined by your financial aid application (FAFSA), and reviewed or certified by Chabot Financial Aid Office.
• Have a high-school diploma or a GED certificate.
• Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student in an eligible certificate, associate or transfer degree program.
• Meet standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
• Not be in default on an educational loan nor owe a refund to any financial aid office. To track your federal student loans and grants, visit the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Student Access Web Site.
• Certify that all information you provide on Financial Aid application form is accurate and true, and that federal aid received will be used only for educational purposes.
• Be registered, or formerly registered, with the Selective Service System, if you are a U.S. citizen or immigrant alien male aged 18 through 26. If you have not yet registered, you can do so at http://www.sss.gov.

State and external scholarships/funding agencies may have their own eligibility requirements.  It is the responsibility of the student to learn and understand the eligibility requirements of the funds they apply for and/or receive.

It is also the student's responsibility to report all external grants and scholarships to the Financial Aid Office.

Step 1: Apply for Financial Aid

• The FAFSA Priority deadline is March 2nd for the incoming academic school year. However, students may always apply after the priority deadline.  Example: For the FAFSA 2011-2012, the priority deadline will be March 2, 2011.

• Make sure to include the Federal School Code (Chabot: 001162) and provide accurate income information.

• Make sure that you electronically sign your FAFSA by using your Federal FAFSA Pin.

• The FAFSA allows you up to 10 college/university Federal School Codes. Up to 10 schools that will receive your FAFSA information. 

• The Website is www.fafsa.gov and it looks like this:

To successfully complete a FAFSA you will need the following

• Email, Federal Tax Income Form (1040, 1040A or 1040EZ), Untaxed Income information, Social Security Number, Spouse or/parent's Social Security Numbers and Dates of Birth*.

*  They will require spouse information if married and parents information if you are considered a dependent in accordance to the Department of Education guidelines.

Step 2: If attending Chabot College, set up your Refund Preference

• It will take the Department of Education about 2-3 weeks to send us your financial aid information. We will only receive it, if you placed our Federal School Code in your FAFSA application.

• All new financial applicants who select Chabot College as a school, will be required to set their Refund Preference via the Chabot Debit Card.  Do not throw away the card! simply, visit www.chabotdebitcard.com  to activate your preference.

• Returning students at Chabot: your refund will be delivered according to the refund preference you set the previous year(s).

Step 2A: If attending another college or university

• Follow up with that college's Financial Aid Office within 3-4 weeks after your submission.
• Double check the financial aid deadline the institution sets for their applicants.  Some schools have early FAFSA deadlines for Financial Aid consideration.

Step 3: Submit Verification Documents/Forms to our Office

• After receiving your financial aid information from the Dept of Ed, we may require that you submit additional verification documents to complete your file.

• READ YOUR Student Aid Report!!!  Review for accuracy, and make corrections as needed on FAFSA website before you submit documents to our office.  You may check  pending documents via the Zone, logging in using your W# and your CLASSWeb PIN. Click on the "Financial Aid" tab to view your Financial Aid requirements for the appropriate Financial Aid year.

• Allow 4-6 weeks to have your verification documents to be processed.  This may take up to 6-10 weeks during our peak periods and all documents are processed in the order that they are received.

  • The best way to verify income is by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool that is part of FAFSA on the Web. If the student and/or parent(s) have not already used the tool, go to FAFSA.gov, log in to the student’s FAFSA record, select “Make FAFSA Corrections,â€� and navigate to the Financial Information section of the form. From there, follow the instructions to determine if the student and/or parent(s) are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer 2011 IRS income tax information into the student’s FAFSA. It takes up to two weeks for IRS income information to be available for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool for electronic IRS tax return filers, and up to eight weeks for paper IRS tax return filers.

    This retrieval process will save students a great deal of time, as FAO staff will not need to review taxes and make the often required corrections. 

Step 4: Check your Financial Aid Eligibility Online

• All students receive financial aid email alerts via Zonemail. These are non-student specific emails, directing students to log into the Zone to check outstanding requirements, holds, academic ineligibility, awards and any other changes.

• Students should alway check the Zone to view eligibility and award information rather than stand in line.

• ZoneHelp Guide if you are unfamiliar with the Zone

Step 5: Keep your Financial Aid

• Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress
• To learn more about Financial Aid check out Finaid TV!
• Reapply for Financial Aid every year during the priority application period of January 1st-March 2nd.