Types of Financial Aid

A Federal Pell Grant is gift assistance that does not have to be repaid. It is awarded only to undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need and who have not earned a bachelor’s or professional degree (a professional degree is usually earned after earning a bachelor’s degree in a field such as medicine, law, or dentistry). As of Fall 2012, students can only receive Pell Grants for the equivalent of 12 full time semesters.

Additional Pell Grant Funds for Summer Enrollment

Century College is proud to offer qualified students the option to finish college by giving additional Pell grants to those who want to catch up on or accelerate their studies by attempting additional course work - such as taking summer courses! Please feel free to contact the Century College Financial Aid office to learn how you can use a Pell grant for summer semester.

For more information about federal grants, visit the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Financial Assistance website.

Lock Dates

Federal regulations require colleges to establish a Pell Grant lock date to determine the courses that are counted toward a student’s Pell Grant eligibility. Century College has established the 10th day of class as the lock date. Financial aid disbursements then begin on the 11th day of class based on your lock date enrollment.

Your class schedule MUST BE FIRM at the beginning of each term. Your Pell Grant cannot be increased if you decide to add a course after the 10th day of the term. If you drop a late start course, your Pell Grant may be adjusted to reflect the reduction in the total credit load EVEN IF you add another course of the same credit number.

To honor the college’s rolling start initiatives, a student admitted to the college after the 10th day of the term will have a new Pell Grant lock date. To determine the courses that are counted toward a student’s Pell Grant eligibility:

• Session 2: the date will be the first day of Session 2 for students admitted between day 10 and the first day of Session 2.
• Session 3: the date will be the first day of Session 3 for students admitted between the first day of Session 2 and the first day of Session 3.

Dropped Classes

Courses that are dropped and eligible for a tuition refund will have their Pell Grant eligibility reduced to the new credit level. This is because dropped courses do not show on a transcript, carry no tuition charges, and are not counted toward satisfactory academic progress. Therefore, dropped courses do not count towards Pell Grant eligibility.

A Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG) is gift aid for undergraduate students enrolled at least half time who have exceptional financial need and have not earned a bachelor’s or a professional degree. Additionally:

• Pell Grant recipients with the lowest expected family contribution will be the first to receive the SEOG
• These funds do not have to be repaid
• The amount awarded is based on the date of the application, financial need and availability of funds.

For more information, refer to Student Aid on the Web.

The Minnesota State Grant Program (MNSG) is need-based gift assistance that does not have to be repaid. The grant is available for the equivalent of eight full-time semesters. To be eligible for this grant, you cannot have a bachelor’s degree and must:

• Meet the Minnesota residency requirement (as defined by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education)
• Be a graduate of a secondary school or equivalent
• Be at least 17 years old
• Attend at least three credits per semester and maintain satisfactory academic progress
• Submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online within 30 days of the school’s semester start date

If you are in default on a student loan or are more than 30 days behind in child support payments, you are not eligible for a Minnesota State Grant (unless satisfactory payment arrangements have been made with the appropriate agency).

For more information, refer to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.

• Child Care Grant Information
• Child Care Grant Application

The Minnesota Dream Act provides certain benefits to undocumented students who meet the following criteria:

• Attended a Minnesota high school for at least 3 years
• Graduated from a Minnesota high school or earned a GED in Minnesota
• Complied with Selective Service registration requirements (applies only to male students born after 1960)

Provide documentation to show they have applied for lawful immigration status but only if a federal process exists for a student to do so (does not include applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). There is currently not a federal process in place, so this documentation is not currently required.

Students who meet the criteria in the Minnesota Dream Act will be eligible to apply for the following benefits, regardless of immigration status :

• In-state resident tuition rates at Minnesota public colleges and universities
• Minnesota state financial aid available to students who meet state residency requirements
• Privately funded financial aid through Minnesota public colleges and universities

For more information, refer to the Minnesota Dream Act.

An applicant must be:

• A veteran who is serving or has served honorably in any branch of the US Armed Forces at any time on or after September 11, 2001, or
• A non-veteran who has served honorably for a total of five years or more cumulatively as a member of the MN National Guard or any other active or reserve component of the US Armed Forces, and any part of that service occurred on or after September 11, 2001, or
• A surviving spouse or dependent of a person who has served in the military at any time on or after September 11, 2001, and who has died or has a total and permanent disability as a direct result of that military service.

The student must also:

• Be a Minnesota resident
• Apply for the MN GI Bill benefits before the last day of the term for which benefits are requested
• Be less than 62 years old before the beginning of the term for which benefits are requested
• Be current on child support obligations, if applicable
• Be enrolled in an eligible MN postsecondary institution in a certificate, diploma, or degree program
• Be making satisfactory academic progress in his or her academic program.

For more information, refer to the Minnesota GI Bill.

This program is designed to provide eligible Minnesota residents a tuition-fee pathway for earning a certificate, diploma, associate’s degree and bachelor’s degree in high-need careers. Funding comes from the State of Minnesota and is awarded to eligible students after grants and scholarships have been paid.

Eligible majors at can be found here.

Income Eligibility:

• Have a Family AGI reported on FAFSA or State Aid Application less than $50,000
• Have a Family Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) reported on FAFSA or State Aid Application of less than $100,000 and have worked in a critical industry listed in Executive Order 20-74 at least part-time between March 1, 2020 - December 31, 2021; OR received unemployment benefits between March 1, 2020 - December 31, 2021

Other Eligibility Factors:

• You first enrolled during the 2021-22 or 2022-23 school year OR you are returning to college and have not been enrolled at any college in the last three semesters
• Meet the Minnesota residency criteria
• Not have already earned a baccalaureate degree
• Not in default on a state or federal student loan
• Not on a SAP/FA suspension
• Student eligibility for the grant will be determined every semester. You will need to fill out the FAFSA or financial aid application each year. A student who receives a grant one semester is not guaranteed to receive funding for the next semester. Eligibility is subject to the availability of funds and any changes in your enrollment, FAFSA, or other financial aid may change the amount you receive each semester.
• Details can be found at http://www.ohe.state.mn.us/sPages/FTG.cfm

If you receive a Minnesota Future Together Grant, the financial aid office will contact you at your college email account. They may also follow up with additional questions to determine your eligibility or fill out the application to see if you are eligible.

Student Debt Relief

Federal Student Aid and the Biden-Harris Administration have announced loan forgiveness plans of up to $20,000 for prior Pell-Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for all other loan borrowers. To be eligible borrower’s annual income must be below $125,000 (individuals) and $250,000 (married couples/head of households). If the U.S. Department of Education doesn’t have your income data – or if you don’t know if the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, the Administration has launched a simple application.

Borrowers can view their loan balances and check their Pell Grant status by logging into their Federal Student Aid account online at studentaid.gov.

The Federal Student Loan payment pause will be extended one final time and will end on December 31, 2022. Borrowers should begin making plans to restart repayment in January 2023.

Applications for the loan forgiveness are now open.

Please visit studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/ for the most up-to-date information.

If you would like to be notified by the U.S. Department of Education, please sign up at the Department of Education subscription page.

Learn More >

Century College participates in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. The Direct Loan may be subsidized, unsubsidized or both.

Under the Direct Loan program students will apply for and receive their loan funds directly from the U.S. Department of Education.

You may review information about managing your federal student loans, completing your Master Promissory Note, information about entrance and exit counseling, consolidation, and repayment options at the studentaid.gov website.

In order to apply for loans, you must have received your financial aid award notification from Century College for the appropriate term. Your award notification indicates your eligibility for federal student loans.

You may access your award notification at eServices.

For information specific to loans at Century or if you have questions concerning your rights and responsibilities of being a Federal Direct loan borrower, the terms and conditions of your loan or the loan application process, please contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships by email or phone 651-779-3305.

A federal loan is a loan, not a grant. Before you borrow, make sure you can afford the monthly payment. You must repay the funds you borrow, any fees associated with the loan, and any interest that accrues on the loan. All fees are deducted from your loan prior to disbursement. However, you remain responsible for repaying the entire loan amount.

Century’s 3-year cohort default rate for 2019, the most recent year available, was 1.4%. For information about the national average Cohort Default rate, as well as specifics by institution type, visit Federal Student Aid’s default management site.

For additional information about your Loans and how to Manage your Spending, look at options on Plans to Repay or learn about Loan Default and Making your Finances a Priority. Complete the Financial Awareness Counseling offered at studentaid.gov

You must have a completed Student Loan Entrance Counseling and a Master Promissory Note before any loan application will be processed.

Your Pell Grant eligibility must be determined.

You must be registered for and complete a minimum of 6 aid eligible credit hours (half-time) during each term of the loan period. You must also be registered for at least 6 aid eligible credits at the time your loan is certified and disbursed by Century.

Your loan may require proration (a reduction in what you are eligible to borrow) if your final period of enrollment at Century is just one semester, or if you are in a short major.

You must declare a financial aid eligible major and be enrolled in a degree, diploma or certificate program at Century.

You must maintain satisfactory academic progress.

Your loan proceeds must be disbursed (and therefore you must be eligible to receive them) within 3 days of the disbursement date or your loan may be canceled.

It is very important that you contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships if you decide to completely withdraw prior to completing your program of study at Century to understand how withdrawing will affect your loan eligibility and repayment.

You must complete Loan Exit Counseling once you graduate, withdraw, or drop below a half-time (6 credits) enrollment.

Annual Loan Limits

*less total Subsidized loan for same enrollment period

Dependent Student: $31,000 - total of all Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans (Direct and FFELP). However, no more than $23,000 can be Subsidized (Direct and FFELP).

Independent Student: $57,500 - total of all Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans (Direct and FFELP). However, no more than $23,000 can be Subsidized (Direct and FFELP).

Federal Direct Loans can be either “subsidized”, a need-based loan that the government pays the interest on while you’re in school and during eligible periods of deferment, or “unsubsidized”, a non-need-based loan where you pay all the interest (although you can have the interest payments deferred).

The interest rate for a Subsidized or Unsubsidized Direct Loan is 4.99% on loans first disbursed on/after July 1, 2022.

For additional information regarding the Federal Direct Loan Program (DL) go to FSA’s Direct Loans.

In order to apply for loans, you must have received your financial aid award notification from Century College for the appropriate term. Once you have received your award notification, you must complete Loan Entrance Counseling, a Master Promissory Note and Request your Direct Loan dollar amount through eServices in order for us to disburse your loan funds.

Requesting your Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans

Log in to eServices account using your StarID. On the left side of the screen, click Financial Aid then Loans.

Enter all necessary information on the following screens and then click Next to move to the next section.

1. Loan Period - Verify Award Year and Award Year Term
2. Pre-Requirements - Review the requirements. If there is a checkmark in the box, it has been completed. If the box is not checkmarked, you need to complete Loan Entrance Counseling and/or Master Promissory Note (MPN). Loan Entrance Counseling and Master Promissory Note (MPN) must be completed before loan funds are certified.
3. Loan Application - Review your loan eligibility. Select the amount of Federal Direct Loan assistance you would like to receive. Choose either: Total loan amount for the loan period OR Reduced loan amount for the loan period and enter the amount you are requesting. All loans will have two disbursements. For example, if you have a fall/spring loan, you will receive half in fall and half in spring. If you have a one term loan, you will receive half at the beginning of the term and half at the mid-point of the term.
4. Application Summary - Review the Application Summary bullet points. Check the box to indicate that you understand the conditions. Click Submit Loan Application button to submit your loan request.

Once your loan request has been submitted, you can check the status of your request at any time by following steps 1, 2 and 3 above. Processing is complete once the loan status says Certified.

You have a choice of repayment plans and the monthly payment will depend on the size of your debt and the length of your repayment period. FSA’s Direct Loan Payment plans explains available repayment options as well as provides a loan repayment calculator.

To view your Federal Student Loan History go to www.nslds.ed.gov.

Your Federal Direct loan will not automatically be discharged in bankruptcy.

Subsidized Federal Direct Loan - during the in-school period, principal payments deferred; government pays all interest.

Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan - can be deferred while in-school, but interest accrues to the borrower and must either be paid or capitalized (added to principal balance of loan).

The Loan Period for the 2022-2023 academic year is August 22,2022 - May 11,2023 for a Full-Year Loan.

The total amount borrowed will be split equally and disbursed in TWO separate payments, half disbursed fall term and half disbursed spring term.

If you are borrowing a loan for only one term, you will receive two disbursements with the first half disbursed at the beginning of that term, and the second half being disbursed at the mid-point of that term.

PLUS Loans enable the parents to borrow to help pay the education expenses of their dependent student who is enrolled for at least six credits. The student must have completed the FAFSA and received a current award letter from Century if the parent is considering applying for a PLUS loan. The yearly limit on a PLUS Loan is equal to the cost of attendance minus any other financial aid the student has received.

To be eligible to receive a PLUS Loan the parent will be required to pass a credit check. The parent can’t be turned down for having no credit history - only for having an adverse credit history. If they don’t pass the credit check, they may still be able to receive a loan if someone, such as a relative or friend who is able to pass the credit check, agrees to endorse the loan. An endorser promises to repay the loan if the parent fails to do so. The parent may also qualify for a loan without passing the credit check if they can demonstrate that extenuating circumstances exist. The parent and the student must also meet other general eligibility requirements for federal student financial aid.

The interest rate is fixed at 7.54%. The first payment of the loan is due within 60 days after the final loan disbursement for the period of enrollment for which the parent borrowed. There is no grace period for these loans. Interest begins to accumulate at the time the first disbursement is made, and the parent will begin repaying both the principal and interest while the student is in school. The parent can choose to defer payments until six months after the date the student ceases to be enrolled at least half time. Accruing interest can be paid monthly or quarterly, or be capitalized quarterly.

Loan funds are sent to Century. Loan funds will first pay any outstanding charges owed to Century for the student. If any loan funds remain, they will be disbursed to the student. Any remaining loan money must be used for educational expenses.

Loans will be disbursed through BankMobile Disbursements either to the student’s bank account or onto the BankMobile ATM card, whichever method the student chooses.

We encourage all students to begin the financial aid application process by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If you require more financial assistance than appears on your award letter, you may apply for additional student loans from private education loan programs. These loans may have higher interest rates than federal loans and generally should be considered as a borrowing option after you have applied for your federal loans.

Under the Truth-In-Lending Act rules, private education loans are subject to self-certification, three consumer disclosures at specific times in the application process, and a three day delay in disbursement. Due to the number of steps involved in the private loan application process, applicants should allow a minimum of three weeks for processing.

Neither Century College nor its employees receive benefits or compensation as a result of your choice of lender.

Private Student Loans are available through various lenders. Students who do not qualify for a Direct Loan or find that they need additional funding may want to consider this alternative.

Students should learn about a Private Student Loan before completing an online application. Carefully review which loan is the best fit, whether you are a student or a parent. Become familiar with the terms of each loan such as the interest rate and how it is calculated, required enrollment level, are there any fees associated with the loan, repayment terms, whether or not a co-signer is required, is satisfactory progress at the college a requirement, deferment and forbearance options available, rights and responsibilities for borrowing this loan, and if there may be look-back feature available for financing past due balances. All of these should be considered and researched before applying for a Private Student Loan.

Century College will not recommend, and will not refer students to, any specific private student loan program. Century College has certified private education loans in the past three years for the lenders listed on our website in the private loan information.

By clicking on the name of the lender you will leave the Century College website. Please contact the lender for information regarding terms and conditions.

View a historical Private Student Loan lender list. Students do not need to choose one of the lenders on this list. A student may choose any lender who participates in the Private Student Loan Program.