Financial Aid
Financial Aid Essentials
Terms & Conditions of Receiving Financial Aid
Frequently Asked Questions
Online Financial Aid Resources
Important Information
There are many factors that impact your education benefits. Please read through the following to familiarize yourself with these rules and procedures.
- ALL admissions requirements MUST be completed for continued certification by the Rowan-Cabarrus VA School Certifying Official. (i.e. Rowan-Cabarrus Admissions Application, Residency Determination (RDS), transcripts, placement test(s), and evaluation of courses)
- Students who submit a Certificate of Eligibility from the VA to the school for Chapter 33/Post-9/11 GI BILL® will have their applicable portion of in-state tuition & fees paid to the school by the VA, provided they have remaining entitlement. Veterans Readiness & Employment (Chapter 31). All other GI BILL® chapters & veteran’s programs are responsible for their tuition cost on the school’s payment due date. You cannot charge your tuition and fees to the school. Please allow 30-45 days for VA benefits to start. VA will not pay out-of-state tuition, unless you meet certain requirements as a “Covered Individual“.
- You are required to notify the Rowan-Cabarrus VA SCO once you are registered each semester that you want your enrollment hours reported to the VA.
- The Rowan-Cabarrus course catalog is the official guide for your program of study. Any courses taken outside of the ones listed under your program of study in the catalog are your financial responsibility. VA will not pay for non-credit course, courses previously passed with a “D” or better (unless a better grade is required by your program for graduation), courses for which transfer credit has been granted, courses taken for audit purposes, or courses passed by a proficiency exam.
- If a course substitution is being granted, it must be approved by the Program Chair. A copy of the course substitution must be provided to the Rowan-Cabarrus VA SCO. There will be NO certification for course substitutions without a copy of the written, signed approval.
- Students whose GPA (Grade Point Average) falls below the required 2.0, will be placed on academic probation after one semester. If, after the 2nd semester of study, your GPA is still below 2.0, you will be placed on academic suspension from Veteran’s Educational Benefits. The suspension will remain in effect until the required 2.0 GPA has been achieved. (Please note that if you are utilizing financial aid in conjunction with your veteran’s benefits, there are separate policies for satisfactory academic progress and for maintaining eligibility for those programs.) If you have extenuating circumstances, you may have the option to appeal.
- Fall and Spring Semesters – 12 hours is Full-time, 9-11 hours is 3/4 time, and 6-8 hours is 1/2 time. Summer Semester – 6 hours is Full-time, 5 hours is 3/4 time, and 4-3 hours is 1/2 time. (VA only). Minimesters can affect this, check with the Rowan-Cabarrus VA SCO if you have any questions.
- You must notify the Rowan-Cabarrus VA SCO of ANY and all changes to your schedule or semester hours. This includes dropping a course, withdrawing from school, unofficially withdrawing from coursework when you stop attending in person or participating online, or a change in your program of study. Failure to follow proper procedures could result in a debt to the VA or Rowan-Cabarrus.
- Veterans must ensure all contact information is up-to-date with Rowan-Cabarrus. You will also need to notify the Regional Processing Office of any address or phone number changes as well. You may contact them by phone at 1-888-442-4551.
- Incomplete grades (“I”) must be completed during the first 14 weeks of the semester following the receipt of the “I”. Students cannot register for any classes in which they received an “I”; until that “I” has become a grade that is below the program requirement. Please note that failure to complete an “I” which is a pre-requisite for a current class will cause you to be dropped from that class and the “I” will convert to an “F” and will be factored in to your GPA.
- Chapters 30 and 1606 must verify their credit hours the last calendar day of each month. If the last day falls on Saturday or Sunday, verify the hours on Friday before the last day of the month. You may do this via phone by calling 1-877-823-2378 or online at W.A.V.E. It is important to note that you should not call and try to verify enrollment online during the same month. The computer system will not process the verification.
- Chapter 33 (Post 9/11 GI Bill®) recipients MUST verify their enrollment each month, verify your enrollment by responding to a monthly text message from the VA or by email. If neither of these options works for you, please call us at 888-442-4551 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET. Find out how to opt into text message verification.
- Rowan-Cabarrus certifies students using the beginning and ending dates of the terms stated in the catalog, including minimesters. Students certified for at least six credit hours will automatically be paid for breaks of less than 30 days between semesters. If you do not wish to be paid for breaks, you must notify the Rowan-Cabarrus VA SCO. This notification must be in writing.
- Veterans taking minimester classes should note that these classes affect your certification status. Your benefit payments will be prorated based on how many hours you will be taking at any one time. For example, you enroll for fall in a class that begins in August and ends in December. You also enroll for fall in a class that begins in October and ends in December. You will not be considered enrolled for both classes for VA payment purposes until October, when the second class begins. Check with the Rowan-Cabarrus VA SCO if you have any questions.
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website.