Contacting Financial Aid during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Need help? Have a question? We are here for you. Financial Aid is available by:

Email

  • at financialaid@otc.edu
  • In your email, in addition to your questions, include the best times to reach you and the phone number you would like us to use. Phone calls will be made using google voice, as needed should email not be sufficient.

Online Chat

  • click on Live Chat and select the Financial Aid department

Document Submission during the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Email,
  • Fax, or
  • Postal mail

OTC may only accept and process financial aid documents when the documents are submitted by secure means as determined by the U.S. Department of Education.

The web page below provides instructions on how to submit documents with a non OTC email. How to take a picture or scan your documents using your phone. Staff are currently going into the office twice a week to process postal mail.

Submission of Financial Aid Documents.

Information on Financial Aid during the COVID-19 Pandemic

What happens to my Institutional Scholarship if I drop a class or withdraw from all classes during spring 2020 term as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?

If you have an Institutional Scholarship and drop a class or withdraw from all classes during the spring 2020 term as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dropped classes will not:

  • Require you to return scholarship funds you have received towards your OTC charges.
  • Impact your Satisfactory Academic Progress for renewal. However, students must still meet the cumulative GPA renewal requirement of 2.75 to be eligible for an award during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What happens to my A+ Scholarship if I drop a class, or withdraw from all classes, during spring 2020 term as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Students must meet BOTH the full-time completion requirement AND the cumulative GPA requirement for the spring 2020 semester in order to maintain eligibility for the A+ scholarship in their following semester.

Full-Time Requirement: If you are receiving A+ funding or and were enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours, or in all available hours, on the date the institution closed or moved to an alternative delivery method, you will have met the full-time enrollment and completion requirement for the spring 2020 term.

  • For OTC, that date has been determined to be March 12, 2020 which was the last regularly enrolled day prior to the extended spring break and a change to modality of instruction.
  • You will not be required to return funds you have received toward your OTC charges.

Cumulative GPA requirement: If you were eligible for A+ during at least one semester (fall and/or spring) during the 2019-2020 academic year and your cumulative grade point average (CGPA) is 2.0, you will have met the A+ CGPA requirement for A+ renewal in the 2020-2021 academic year.

    • If the spring 2020 semester is your first semester receiving an A+ award, you must complete a minimum of 1 credit hour and earn a GPA of 2.0 to maintain eligibility for the spring 2020 term.
    • If you received A+ for the first time in the fall semester but lost eligibility because your GPA was less than 2.0, you will be eligible for reinstatement of A+ for the 2020-2021 academic year if your cumulative GPA at the end of the spring term is 2.0.
    • For more information, click on A+: COVID-19 Temporary Guidance – OTC Financial Aid.

What happens to my State Aid if I drop a class or withdraw from all classes during spring term?

If you are receiving grant funds provided by the Missouri Department of Higher Education and drop a class or withdraw from all classes during the spring 2020 term as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dropped classes will not Impact your Satisfactory Academic Progress for renewal. Click on links below for eligibility criteria:

What happens to my Federal Pell Grant or Federal Direct Loan if I drop a class, or withdraw from all classes, during spring 2020 term as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?

A student who was enrolled on 3/13/20 in at least one class and drops or withdraws as a result of COVID-19, and has their last dates of attendance in their classes reported as 3/13/20 or later, will not:

  • Be required to return financial aid they have received towards their OTC charges or as a refund to the student.
  • See an Impact to their Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) or their current approved appeal status.

Note:  The College will contact the student through their OTC email and will send a text to the contact number provided by the student.  This outreach will assist us in validating your drop or withdraw was related to COVID-19 which is required by the Department of Education.

What happens to my Federal Veteran Benefits if I drop a class or withdraw from all classes during spring 2020 term?

You must contact the OTC Veteran’s Office at veterans@otc.edu.

What happens to my Federal Work Study if I drop a class or withdraw from all classes during spring 2020 term?

Active federal work study employees are not reporting to work but continue to be paid through the Federal CARES Act pandemic provisions. A drop of a class will not impact you; however, a total withdraw means you are no longer an active student, your employment will end, and payroll provisions with the CARES Act will stop.

Will Federal Work Study be available this summer 2020 term?

Due to the social distancing restrictions we will not have summer 2020 federal work study; however, we will see it offered for fall 2020.

Is the spring semester still using some of our Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility or Subsidized Loan Lifetime Eligibility or will that revert back to the percentage it was at after the fall semester?

The guidance provided by the Department of Higher Education, at this time, and is subject to additional clarification, indicates if a student who was enrolled on 3/13/20 in at least one seated class and withdraws on 3/13/20 or later as a result of COVID-19, the Federal Lifetime Usage for the spring term will be excluded.

My loans are currently in the in-school deferment status or my loans are in repayment. What do I need to do at this time?

At this time, and as a directive from the Trump Administration, all student loans are currently in a forbearance status if the student is not in school.  If the student is in school but just delayed in completing the term, those too remain in deferment.  Both are in this status until September 30, 2020.  Your servicer will, or should, have this information on their website for reference.

Am I eligible for a Federal Emergency Grant?

There will be federal stimulus money set aside as emergency grants for eligible students who had expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to COVID-19. Details on how students may apply for those funds will be made available in the coming days. At this time, we are reviewing the guidance delivered to us from the U.S Department of Education as to the eligibility of students for the funds.

Why are online students excluded from the CARES funding?

With regards to the CARES funding, we are following the guidelines published by the US Department of Education which were established under Secretary Devos.  Within the guidelines, we were given specific criteria on how to establish student eligibility.  A student had to be enrolled, as of the Trump Emergency Declaration on 3/13/20, and the student must be Title IV eligible; therefore, OTC is looking for a FAFSA on file to award.  With regards to online enrollment and the guidelines provided at this time, if a student was online only as of 3/13/20, they are not eligible. The college continues to monitor all guidance for changes to the criteria as it is provided to us by Secretary Devos’ Office.

How will the Pass / No Pass impact my Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)?

Please stay in close contact with your instructor with all of the changes surrounding the COVID-19.  The instructor is there to assist you and to help you finish the term.  When you receive your final grade, you may choose to change to the Pass /No Pass option within two weeks of your final grade posting.  We will review your Satisfactory Academic Progress when your initial grade posts.  You will receive a notice about the final decision.  If you change your final grade to the Pass / No Pass, we will review the SAP again, and notify you of the change to your status.

 

Pass / NO Pass will not have an impact to your cumulative GPA but a regular grade and the Pass / No Pass grade will impact both completed and attempted credit hours.  Without knowing what you expect your final grade in the class to be, it will be best, when you receive your first Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) status and if you have questions, reach out so we can guide you at that time.

What happens to my local or state agency authorization, which pays for my college, if I drop a class or withdraw from all classes during spring 2020 term?

You must contact your agency advocate or agency counselor.