• Applying for Financial Aid
• Accepting Financial Aid
• Paying Tuition with Financial Aid
• Withdrawing from Classes and Financial Aid
• Summer School
• Viewing Financial Aid in CofC MyPortal
• E-mail Notification

All students will access financial aid awards through the CofC MyPortal.

Award Changes May apply if...

***Please Advise the Office of Financial Assistance and Veterans Affairs of Changes if...***

1. The student does not plan to enroll on a full time basis (12 hours undergraduate, and 6 hours graduate) per semester*. Students planning to take less than a full time course load must indicate the number of hours they plan to take each semester and communicate that information to OFA & VA. Undergraduate students enrolled in fewer than 6 hours per semester are generally not eligible for financial assistance. Graduate students enrolled in fewer than 3 hours per semester are not eligible for financial assistance.

*Credit hours earned from EDLS 100 Learning Strategies, EDPD courses, or Audited (AU) courses do not count toward degree requirements. Therefore, these courses do not count for financial aid purposes. Financial aid students should treat these courses as an add-on to regular full time course load. Graduate students who enroll in both undergraduate and graduate courses must ensure that at least 3 of their credit hours are at the 500 level or higher to receive student loan amounts at the graduate student level.

2. The student or parent wishes to borrow less than the amount offered each term under the Federal Direct Student or Parental Loan Programs(s), respectively. You may reduce your loan awards on the Accept Awards page mentioned above. If there is a need to reduce or cancel the loan after you have already accepted the loan, email us at financialaid@cofc.edu with your request. Please indicate the amount student/parent wishes to borrow for each semester. Note that loan origination fees of 1.072% for Student Loans and 4.288% for Parental Loans should be considered when determining loan award.

3. The student is receiving Outside Awards. Any aid source from outside the College of Charleston, such as civic organizations, churches, etc., must be reported to and sent to the OFA & VA to ensure that these sources are coordinated with Federal and State aid and are properly credited to the student's account. In the Award Change Communication, students should provide the name of the aid source, the amount of the award and the semester when they will be receiving the award. This should be communicated to the OFA & VA as soon as the information is available. It is most helpful to receive this information by July 1st for fall term and November 1st for spring term. Students should ask the awarding agency to make checks payable to the College of Charleston and reference the student's full name and social security number. This will allow the College of Charleston to credit the account immediately. Funds will be returned to the aid source when students do not attend. Existing awards may require adjustments to accommodate the outside aid you will be receiving.

Advising of Award Changes: If you are having problems reducing and/or declining your aid offer, please do not hesitate in e-mailing us with your request to financialaid@cofc.edu. Please be specific about the type of aid involved, indicate the amount student wishes to accept(s) for each semester, and include the total amount you wish to receive. All communication to OFA & VA should contain your full name and College of Charleston ID number.