Financial Aid Terms and Conditions

This page contains the terms and conditions of your federal student aid, as well as specific information on how to accept, reduce or decline your aid. The following information is very important, so please make sure you understand each item.

How We Communicate

Ozarks Tech email is the official way the college communicates with students. With your permission, we may text you information we think is relevant to you.

Aid Changes

Your financial aid may be adjusted or cancelled due to changes in regulations, expected federal or state appropriations or funds, financial situations, living arrangements and/or discovery of data or processing error. It may change after it disburses to your account.

Verification and Other Requirements

Ozarks Tech may ask you for more information about your FAFSA to determine your aid eligibility. If so, those documents must be processed before you can receive financial aid. The deadline to submit documents depends on why you are required to provide more information.

Your financial aid must be applied to your account by September 30th following the end of the academic year.

Example: If you attended in Summer 2025, we cannot disburse financial aid after September 30, 2025. If you attended in Summer 2026, we cannot disburse financial aid after September 30, 2026.

Enrollment

Ozarks Tech bases your financial aid offer on 12 credit hours for each semester (or 6 in the summer). After classes start and your attendance is verified in each class, the college adjusts your aid based confirmed attendance. The amount of Federal Pell Grant you receive is based on your enrollment on a certain day of the semester (“financial aid census”). The amount of Federal student loan you may receive is based on your enrollment at the time the loan is applied to your student account.

Classes that do not count toward your degree or certificate cannot count in your enrollment for federal or state financial aid. Be sure to only take classes that you need to graduate.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

If you receive federal financial aid, you must meet specific academic success requirements, known as Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). These requirements are detailed in the college’s policy (5.10). If you do not meet these requirements, you may lose the ability to receive federal financial aid.

Limitations

You may receive federal student aid such as Pell Grants or Student Loans from only one college at a time. If you received federal student aid from any other college during the academic year, contact your college navigator immediately. Not doing so may result in owing money back to one of the schools you attended.

Repeating Classes

Your financial aid depends on how many credit hours you take each semester. There are limits on the number of times Federal financial aid will pay for the courses you take. In general, the rules are:

1. You can receive federal aid for a class as many times as needed in order to successfully complete it with a grade of D or higher.
2. Once a course is passed with a grade of D or higher, you can receive federal aid for only one more attempt of that course. If you withdraw from that course, that attempt does not count as a repeat.

This includes classes taken at another college or university. Therefore, if you are retaking a class you have already passed, your financial aid may not be paying for it.

Visiting and High School Students

If Ozarks Tech classifies you as a visiting student, or you are taking classes as a high school student, you are not eligible for federal financial aid.

Aid Information and Updates

Now that you have read the terms and conditions of your financial aid, learn how you can accept, adjust, reduce or cancel the aid you are offered. We also provide information regarding cost of attendance and other student aid programs.

Accepting Federal Student Aid

Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), and state aid is accepted automatically. There is no action required to accept these if they are awarded.

Federal student loans must be accepted in your MyOTC account before you can receive the money. You must also complete Entrance Counseling and sign and Master Promissory Note, both at StudentAid.gov.

If receiving Federal Work Study, you must complete a student employee contract before you begin working.

Other scholarships or grants may require you to accept these. Consult the scholarship or grant provider for more information, or check your aid offer in your MyOTC profile.

Reducing or Cancelling Your Loans

You can reduce your federal loans or cancel them entirely if you do not need all that you were offered. For each loan, you may choose the terms you plan to attend and then enter a lower amount to reduce the loan amount and click accept.  To decline the loan, which means you wish to cancel the whole amount, click decline for that loan.

Financial Aid Refunds

If you are receiving more financial aid than your bill is for, you will receive the extra money as a “refund.” This refund is generally sent to you 1 week after the aid applies to your Ozarks Tech account. Some financial aid, like foundation scholarships, cannot be refund to you, and you simply would not receive the amount in excess of your student bill.

Cost of Attendance

You cannot receive more financial aid than we estimate you will need to attend Ozarks Tech. This estimate is your Cost of Attendance (COA). Ozarks Tech attempts to be as accurate as possible when estimating your COA, and a detailed explanation can be found online. If you feel that your COA is not accurate, contact your college navigator to discuss the errors.

Description of Federal Student Aid Programs

Visit StudentAid.gov to learn about the different types of federal financial aid you might see in your award offer.

If you have any questions, concerns or need further information regarding financial aid you may contact your Student Success Team Member at any Ozarks Tech campus site,  or call (417) 447-6900.