Glossary of Financial Aid Terms
and Acronyms

These definitions are expressed in common terms, and should not be considered "legal" definitions. Many are essentially shorthand for very complex programs or terms and are offered in order to provide a cursory level of understanding for terminology included in this Planning Guide.

Academic Year
The "year" between the first day of classes in Fall Semester and the last day of exams in Spring Semester.

Accounting Office
Comprises Student Accounts, Student Payroll and other financial entities. The Accounting Office generates student paychecks and the semester bills (invoices).

Appeals
If a financial aid package is not as helpful as you were hoping, you can appeal for a reconsideration of your aid eligibility. This often requires a written statement of appeal and extensive documentation.

Bill
Accounting generates your semester bills, generally mailed 6 weeks prior to each term. Also called an invoice.

Bonner Scholarship
This is a scholarship funded by the Bonner Foundation. There are several requirements which must be met during your college years, in order to keep this scholarship from year to year. Members of the Service Learning & Career Development Center and Admissions Office collaboratively select the recipients.

Carleton B. Edwards Chemistry Award
Merit-based scholarship renewable for four years at Earlham. The Chemistry faculty select the recipients.

Consumer Debt
Loans in your name, excluding your home (includes personal loans, credit card debt, and auto loans).

Cost of Attendance
A federal term. A school's "cost of attendance" includes the figures for tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, travel costs and personal expenses.

Credit (as in 'having a credit on your student account', not academic credits)
A 'credit' in your student account occurs when your semester charges have been paid and there is still funding left in your account. Credits are returned to the student unless you request that the Accounting Office hold any credits in the student account. This credit may be accessed by contacting the Accounting Office. Students sometimes use 'credit' monies to help pay for books or living expenses. Many request that credits are held in their account to help pay the next semester's charges.

Cunningham Cultural Scholarship
Merit-based funding renewable for four years at Earlham. The Admissions Office selects recipients.

Default
You will be placed in default status if you do not repay your student loans (i.e., skip your loan payments). There are several legal and economic ramifications of being in default.

Deferment
You can apply for deferment status, postponing your educational loan payments. Once you are granted deferment, you do not have to make loan payments until your deferment status (like graduate studies or active duty in the Peace Corps) has changed.

Dependency Status
A student may be dependent or independent, based on the student's age, marital status, etc. A student's dependency status can affect the aid available to him/her. For example, independent students are eligible for increased loan amounts.

Direct Loan
A Direct Loan is a Stafford Loan or PLUS Loan which is serviced through a college instead of through a bank. Banks are not involved in the application or servicing process. Funds from a Direct Loan are paid directly to a student's account at Earlham. It is federal policy that first-time student borrowers must complete Loan Entrance Counseling to receive their Direct Loan monies.

Disbursement
A fund is "disbursed" when it is paid to your student account at Earlham.

EFC (see Expected Family Contribution)

Earlham College Grant
Need-based funding provided by Earlham College to financially eligible students.

Eligibility
Determines whether or not a student will receive a certain type of funding. This is usually dictated by a student's EFC, although some funding uses other criteria.

Enhancement Award
Need-based funding provided by Earlham College to financially eligible students.

Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
The information you provide on the FAFSA is put through a federally designed computation. The end result is reported on your Student Aid Report as your EFC; this is the figure colleges will use to determine your eligibility for financial aid.

FAFSA (see Free Application for Federal Student Aid)

Federal College Work-Study (FCWS)
Awarded based on financial eligibility; eligible students are given priority for filling on-campus positions and is a must for Off Campus FCWS.

Federal Pell Grant
Need-based funding provided by the Department of Education.

Financial Need (see "A Word About Need")
"Financial need" is a federal term meaning the difference between a school's cost of attendance and a student's expected family contribution.

First-time Borrower
Any student who is borrowing through the Direct (Stafford) or Perkins Loan program for the first time.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) The application for all types of federal student aid. Both the parent and the student must provide information and signatures (unless the student meets the requirements to be considered independent). Available on line at: www.fafsa.ed.gov

Freedom of Choice Grant
Need-based funding from the State of Indiana, awarded to Indiana residents attending private colleges in Indiana.

Grant
Typically need-based funding which you don't have to pay back; grants can come from a variety of sources.

Higher Education Award
Need-based funding from the State of Indiana, awarded to Indiana residents.

Indebtedness
The total amount of loan debt you incur while paying for college expenses.

Interest
Lenders loan you money, and for providing the funding when you need it, they charge you interest. Interest is the cost of borrowing money. The lower the interest rate, the better.

Loan
Funding which you must pay back.

Loan Entrance Counseling
An information session for first-time borrowers required before the funds can be paid to the student's account. It is the Department of Education's method for ensuring that students know they are borrowing funds for their education, and that the student is expected to repay the loans. Earlham cannot disburse loan funds for first-time borrowers until they have completed Loan Entrance Counseling.

Loan Exit Counseling
An information session for students preparing to leave Earlham, before graduation, or prior to a student's withdrawal date. The student borrower receives information about their total indebtedness and repayment plans available to them.

Loan Origination Fee
A charge for processing your loan. Sometimes it is a flat rate, other times it is a percentage of the amount you borrow.

May Term A one-month term following Spring Semester.

Meeting Need (see "A Word About Need")

Merit Scholarship
Funds awarded based on a student's activities, involvement or credentials as expressed in the admissions application. Admissions staff select the recipients of all merit awards at Earlham.

National Merit Scholarship Funding awarded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, based on a student's status as a National Merit Finalist.

Need-based Aid Funding awarded based on financial factors. Earlham students are awarded the maximum need-based aid for which they are eligible, according to federal, state and Earlham policies. This type of funding is awarded by the Financial Aid staff.

Non Work-Study There are a few positions on campus which are sometimes called "non work-study" positions. This means that a student does not have to be awarded work-study to fill the position.

Off Campus FCWS
A Federal College Work-Study position in a not-for-profit agency in the greater Richmond community.

Origination Fee (see Loan Origination Fee)

Outside Scholarship
Funding from outside Earlham, federal or state resources. Typically, there is an application process which must be completed (separately from the Earlham aid application process).

Pell Grant (see Federal Pell Grant)

Perkins Loan
Student loan, awarded to students with the most financial need.

Presidential Honors Scholarship
Merit-based scholarship renewable for four years at Earlham. The Admissions Office selects the recipients.

Principal
The actual dollar amount you borrow through a loan program before any interest is calculated.

Promissory Note
A legally binding agreement stating that you understand that you are borrowing funds and that you promise to repay the principal with interest.

Repayment
Repayment status is when you are repaying your student loans. Repayment often begins after you graduate.

Room & Board
Housing and meals.

SAR (see Student Aid Report)

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
A student must maintain satisfactory academic status to receive financial aid funds. The definition of SAP can be found in the Earlham College Curriculum Guide.

SEOG (see Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant)

SSACI (see State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana)

Scholarship
Typically based on a student's ability or involvement in activities; does not have to be repaid; can come from a variety of sources.

Scholarship Searches
Companies or computer software which search large databases for scholarships for which you may be eligible.

Stafford Loan (see Direct Loan)

State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana (SSACI)
Indiana's source and processor of state funding for residents.

Student Aid Report (SAR) The results of the FAFSA.

Student Employment (see also Federal College Work-Study and/or Non Work-Study)
Students on campus may earn wages working in jobs on campus, in order to help with college expenses.

Summer Writing Intensive Program (formerly August Academic Term)
A three-week course for select first-year students, attended just prior to enrollment for the first semester at Earlham. The Admissions Office selects the participants.

Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
Need-based federal funding; does not need to be repaid.

Supplemental Loan
A non-federal loan available to a student or a parent above and beyond their federal loan eligibility.

Tuition & Fees
Charges for academic credits and other mandatory fees.

Tuition Remission
Employers offer to pay full or partial tuition charges for the children of their employees. The Great Lakes College Association offers such a program.

Twenty-first Century Scholar Award
Need-based funding provided by the state agency to Indiana residents who complete the requirements of the 21st Century Scholar program, beginning in seventh grade.

Unmet Need (see "A Word About Need")
A federal term indicating the amount of financial need remaining after financial aid.

Verification
A review process; requires schools to determine the accuracy of information reported on aid applications.

Wilderness
An optional 3½-week pre-enrollment outdoor experience. There is some aid available for needy participants. The Wilderness Program directors select recipients of this funding.

Wilkinson Award
Awarded to students who are members of The Society of Friends (Quakers).

Work Award (see also Federal College Work Study; Non Work-Study)
A generic term for student employment; or the type of work allotment an international student may be awarded by the Admissions Office funded by Earlham College.

Work-Study (see Federal College Work-Study)