Attendance and Aid Payment

Learn everything you need to know about attendance and aid payment.

Attendance

Once you have registered for classes, you are responsible for any tuition, fees and books charged to your account. Your financial aid cannot pay for any portion of the tuition, fees and/or books unless you attend class or officially withdraw from classes. If you do not attend class or plan to withdraw for the semester, you must contact Student Services. Failure to do so may result in you receiving failing grade(s).

Fall/Spring/Summer Semesters Enrolled Hours Pell Calculation

  • 12 or more hours 100%
  • 9-11 hours 75%
  • 6-8 hours 50%
  • 1-5 hours 25%

You can estimate your Federal Pell Grant for the term by following these steps:

  • In your MyOTC account under the Financial Aid link, find the amount shown for your Federal Pell Grant.
  • Multiply our total award for the semester from MyOTC x percentage (%) on above chart.

If your term Federal Pell Grant amount is $1373 or less, there may be a certain number of credit hours you must be enrolled in order to receive a Federal Pell Grant.  You may speak with a representative in Student Account Services for an exact amount.

For Example:

  • The Federal Pell Grant amount shown in MyOTC for the term is $3098.
  • You are enrolled and attending 6 hours.  $3098 x 50% = $1549 (your pell award)

The Federal Repeat Policy could affect your overall Federal Pell Grant adjustment.  You may read the policy below under ‘Repeat Coursework Policy’.

Summer Federal Pell Grant Eligibility

If you received a federal pell grant in the fall and spring terms and were enrolled 12 or more hours each term, you may be eligible for additional federal pell grant in the summer. However, you must be registered in six or more eligible credit hours. Eligible credit hours means your classes meet the Repeat Coursework Policy for potential disbursement.

If you received a federal pell grant in the fall and spring and enrolled in less than 12 hours in one or more of the terms, you may be eligible for a remaining pell award for the summer. Minimum registration hours may not be required.

If your term federal pell grant amount is $1373 or less, there may be a certain number of credit hours you must be enrolled in order to receive a federal pell grant.

For both instances, you may visit My Awards in MyOTC for potential eligibility. After you have registered, visit Registration Charges in MyOTC for the anticipated award. Awards are updated weekly and the Financial Aid Office will continue to update eligibility as you add or drop classes. As you adjust your summer registration, please refer back to your Registration Charges in MyOTC to see impacts. If you have further questions, you may reach out to us on Live Chat or email us at financialaid@otc.edu.

Federal Direct Student Loan – Required Hours

For fall or spring semester, OTC requires at least half-time for student loans. Not meeting this criteria could result in a loss of your Federal Direct Student Loan.

How Your Student Loan Will Disburse

Student loan disbursements are made in two equal payments.

See this chart to determine how your student loan will disburse.

First Time Students Receiving Direct Loans

In accordance with Federal Student Aid regulations, if you are a first time student at OTC, the Department of Education will delay your student loan disbursement for a minimum of 30 days after the semester begins.  Therefore, OTC will not include your student loan disbursement with the initial or first group of disbursements for the semester.  A first time borrower is a student who has never received a disbursement of a Federal Student Loan or a student who previously borrowed a Federal Student Loan and successfully repaid the balance to zero.

2nd Five-Week Block, 2nd Eight-Week Block & 14-Week Block

If you enroll in 5-week block, 8-week block or 14-week block courses, you may not receive a portion of your award until you are attending those classes. Direct any questions regarding eight-week block courses to the Financial Aid office.

Repeat Coursework Policy

There are limitations on the number of times Federal Student Aid will pay for repeat coursework.  Those limitations are:  1) A student may repeat a previously passed course once.  2) A student may repeat a failed or withdrawn course until they pass it.  Therefore, repeat courses may impact the amount of aid a student receives from Federal Student Aid.

-Attendance and Aid Payment