Financial Aid Resources & FAQ
Resources
- Award Comparison Tool
- Financial Aid Verification
- Financial Literacy and Debt Management
- Net Price Calculator
- Study Abroad/Off Campus Study
- Off-Campus Study FAQ
- Resources for Veterans, U.S. Service Members, and Their Families
- How To Keep Your Aid (For Students)
- How To Help Your Student Keep Financial Aid (for Parents and Family)
Policies
- Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for Financial Aid Purposes
- Satisfactory Academic Progress for Graduate Students
Forms
You may request for the financial aid office to adjust information on your FAFSA form due to special or unusual circumstances that impact your federal student aid eligibility. Professional judgement determinations are made on a case by case basis by financial aid staff and are only valid for the current academic year. The Department of Education distinguishes between 2 different categories of professional judgements:
Professional Judgements due to Special Circumstances:
Special Circumstances refer to the financial situations that justify an aid administrator adjusting data elements in the Cost of Attendance or in the SAI calculation.
Examples of special circumstances that may be considered include: change in employment status, income or assets; change in housing status (e.g. homelessness); medical, dental, or nursing home expenses not covered by insurance; child or dependent care expenses; death of a parent; and divorce or separation of a parent.
All students requesting a professional judgement due to special circumstances, as defined above, must first complete verification. You can learn more about Verification for Federal Financial Aid here.
Professional Judgements due to Unusual Circumstances:
Unusual Circumstances refer to the conditions that justify an aid administrator making an adjustment to a student’s dependency status based on a unique situation, more commonly referred to as a dependency override.
Examples of unusual circumstances that may be considered include: human trafficking; legally granted refugee or asylum status; parental abandonment or estrangement; or student or parental incarceration.
Unusual circumstances do NOT include parents refusing to contribute to the student’s education; parents who will not provide information for the FAFSA or verification; parents who do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes; or students who demonstrate total self-sufficiency.
A student may have both a special circumstance AND an unusual circumstance.
Documentation of the special or unusual circumstances are required. Please note that for cases of separation and divorce, if the parents are filing taxes “Married Filing Jointly,” an adjustment will only be made once. Subsequent years will not be reviewed or considered for adjustment.
To request a professional judgement, please contact the financial aid office at [email protected].
Financial Aid FAQs
Students who receive financial aid have a special obligation to complete their contracts, courses, tutorials and ISPs satisfactorily and on time. Incomplete or Unsatisfactory work puts aid at risk. If students have any questions regarding the financial aid implications for any aspects of their contract, they should speak with the Office of Financial Aid, contact listed below.
Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid Purposes (SAP) is checked in December and June as a part of the college’s participation in Federal Financial Aid programs. The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid checks the following aspects of SAP:
- Satisfactory completion of academic contracts, ISPs, and 12 credit hours per term or all course/tutorial attempts if there is no contract.
- Satisfactory completion of at least 2/3 of all credit hours attempted (cumulative, including transfer credit).
- Maximum time frame for federal aid: 186 credit hours (cumulative, including transfer credit).
- Maximum time frame for institutional aid: through the 8th contract (including contracts earned through transfer credit, unless the student enters NCF directly from high school).
- For the NCF record as of Fall 2025, at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA.
Yes.
Office staff check in June, after evaluations are due, to ensure that students who receive Bright Futures have met the Florida Department of Education’s renewal requirements for this scholarship. More information about Bright Futures renewal criteria can be found in the Bright Futures Student Handbook.
Perhaps the most common problem is that contract assessments, courses, tutorials and ISPs that are “Incomplete” or “Unsatisfactory” may prevent renewal or Bright Futures and/or prevent a student from meeting SAP requirements. In order to help avoid this, students should make sure to submit their work satisfactorily and on time.
Students with multiple Unsatisfactory contracts should ask about appealing for financial aid; permission to enroll does not automatically guarantee eligibility for aid.
With the exception of Bright Futures, most financial aid will not be adjusted for course(s) added after the last day of the Reinstatement Period for the semester, as published on the NCF Academic Calendar. This policy applies to any Module 2 courses added after this deadline.
If a student adds/drops a course at any point during the semester, their Bright Futures Scholarship will be adjusted. Per Florida state guidelines, students must repay institutions for the total Bright Futures awarded for any course(s) dropped or withdrawn after the initial drop/add period. Students will not be able to renew their Bright Futures scholarship until this repayment is made.
Most forms of financial aid at New College require full-time attendance. Full-time attendance at New College is defined as enrollment in at least 12 credit hours/3 units per semester (not including the January Independent Study Project). If you drop below full-time enrollment at any point in the semester, your financial aid may be adjusted and/or cancelled.
If (at any point during the semester) a course you are registered for is cancelled, if you drop and/or never attend a course that you are registered for, and/or you are fully refunded for a course you were previously registered for, your financial aid may need to be adjusted or cancelled.
Questions? Contact Us
Financial Aid
Phone Number
Email Address
Location
Palmer D – Second Floor
Working Hours
M – F
8 – 5