Eligibility Requirements
NSLDS Report to Determine Eligibility
During a student’s initial interview stage with the financial office, the school practice is to first pull a NSLDS report to determine the student’s initial eligibility, such as default, overpayment and aggregate limits. The financial aid officer will also look at previous educational experiences or overlapping loans.
Eligibility is the foundation for determining who receives federal student aid. The financial aid representative at Merryfield Academy will determine student(s) eligibility. To be qualified for financial aid a student must meet the following criteria:
- Demonstrate financial need
- Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student, working towards a degree or certificate in an eligible program
- Be a U.S. Citizen or eligible non-citizen
- Have a High School Diploma or U.S. equivalent (if from a foreign school) or GED
- Have a valid social security number
- Registered with Selective Services if required
- Maintain satisfactory academic progress once in school
- Certify that one is not in default on a federal student loan and do not owe money on a federal student grant
- Attest that one will use federal student aid for only educational purposes
If Merryfield school enters into an agreement with a potential student, student, or parent of a student regarding a Title IV, HEA Loan the school must inform the student or parent that the loan will be submitted to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), and will be accessible by guaranty agencies, lenders, and schools determined to be authorized users of the data system.
The Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended (HEA) suspends aid eligibility for students who have been convicted under federal or state law of the sale or possession of drugs, if the offend occurred during a period of enrollment for which the student was receiving federal student aid.
A student can regain eligibility, if he or she passes two unannounced drug tests conducted by a drug rehabilitation program that complies with criteria established by the U.S. Department of Education.
Civil Commitment for Sexual Offenses – A student subject to an involuntary civil commitment after completing a period of incarceration for a forcible or non-forcible sexual offense is ineligible to receive a Federal Pell grant.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement provides a list of Registered Sexual Predators: www.fdle.state.fl.us
Diploma Mills
A diploma mill, also known as a degree mill, it is a phony school that sells a high school diploma, a paper certificate rather than the educational experience. Diploma mills are scam operations that mass produce counterfeit paper diplomas to anyone who pays the requested “tuition.”
Suspicion of a Counterfeit Diploma Education is paramount and all diplomas will be verified. We will not accept any unauthentic diplomas or college course work. It is the duty of Merryfield admission representative to conduct the due diligence by comparing the high school or college against our database of suggested diploma mills. Merryfield will also take every precautionary measure to ensure that the institution that awarded the high school diploma or the college course work is truly eligible to award these diplomas. Our process entails re-searching the accrediting body that the institution claims to be accredited by and taking every step deemed possible to verify the authenticity of the diploma that was presented. We will also verify accrediting bodies against the government website of approved accrediting agencies. Once our due diligence is completed, all documentation will be placed in the student’s file for future reference.
