Financial Aid

Polk State College has established its financial aid program with two goals in mind:

• To assist students in financing their post-secondary education.
• To attract to the College students with a variety of abilities and skills.

To accomplish this, Polk State College offers a variety of financial aid programs, including grants, scholarships, and loans.

When to Apply?

The following table provides a summary of key dates for the early FAFSA submission timeframe and reporting of earlier tax information.

Note: Polk State College’s FAFSA school code is 001514

Who Can Apply?

Students or prospective students who have a high school diploma or GED may apply. Additional requirements are outlined in the video below.

How to Apply?

Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This form is required for all federal, state and some institutional aid. The FAFSA form can also be filled out online at studentaid.gov.

Your student and parent (if dependent) FSA ID will be required to sign electronically. 

Forgot your FSA ID? See improved FSA ID enhancements.

Users can now:

• • Request that a secure code be texted to their verified mobile phone number to reset their password, retrieve their username, or unlock their account.
  • Still use the existing account recovery methods (i.e., requesting that a secure code be emailed or providing answers to the challenge questions). In addition, the “significant date” challenge question is now optional.

We recommend that students and parents create their own FSA ID. Try this resource: Creating and Using the FSA ID fact sheet—it explains what an FSA ID is, how to get one, and where it can be used. Plus, it includes tips for using an FSA ID.

After you Apply:

1. Review your Student Aid Report (SAR)

• • After you submit your FAFSA, you will get a Student Aid Report (SAR) within three days if you signed online or within three weeks if you mailed a signature page. Your SAR is a summary of the FAFSA data you submitted. Once you receive your SAR, make sure all the information is correct! Tax information will not appear for security protection.

2. Review your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC)

• • When reviewing your SAR, look for the expected family contribution (EFC) number. You can find your EFC in the box at the top of the first page of your SAR, under your SSN.
  • Schools use your EFC to determine your federal student aid eligibility and your financial aid award. However, it is important to remember that your EFC is not the amount of money your family must pay for college nor is it the amount of federal student aid you will receive. It is a number used by your school to calculate how much financial aid you are eligible to receive.

3. Make corrections if needed

You must wait for your most recent FAFSA submission to process before you can update or make corrections to your FAFSA. That usually takes about three business days.

• • Log in with your FSA ID.
  • Click “Make FAFSA Corrections.”
  • Corrections should be processed in three days, and you should receive a revised SAR.
  • After you click “SUBMIT,” you cannot make another correction until your correction has been processed successfully.

4. Review your financial aid history

• • The last page of your SAR includes information about your financial aid history, specifically the student loans you have taken out. It is important to keep track of how much you are borrowing and to understand the terms and conditions of any loans.

5. Be prepared for verification

• • Verification is the process your school uses to confirm that the data reported on your FAFSA is accurate.
  • If you are selected for verification, provide the requested documentation your school asks for by the school’s deadline to prevent a delay in receiving aid.
  • If you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) and do not change any of the retrieved information in your FAFSA, you will not need to provide income tax transcripts if you are selected for verification.
  • If you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) and if you change any retrieved information, your school may require you to submit an income tax transcript from the IRS as part of the verification process.
  • All verification documentation requested by the College must be submitted by the established deadlines on the Polk State College Academic Calendar.

Hours of Operation and Campus Locations Serviced

Phone:  863.297.1004 (Call Center)
Fax: 863.298.6850
Email – General Financial Aid Questions: financialaid@bianlifan.com