Welcome to the Office of Financial Aid and Veteran's Services. Our mission is to provide financial assistance for students, enabling access to educational opportunity, and supporting persistence toward completion of their educational goals.
Prospective students and parents are encouraged to browse this site for general information about college costs, types of financial aid available, the financial aid process, and financial aid application requirements. Reviewing our site will provide the information necessary to understanding your or your student's eligibility for financial aid. Current students will also find this site helpful. Here you can complete and submit required financial aid documents, review the process or conditions on certain financial aid programs, view disbursement dates, and find links to other helpful resources.
To apply for most types of aid, students must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at http://www.fafsa.gov. To be considered for all possible financial aid for 2012-2013 academic year, please submit your FAFSA before March 15, 2012. To ensure the Financial Aid Office has sufficient time to review your file and determine your eligibility for financial assistance before the semester begins, please submit your FAFSA by May 27, 2012 for fall semester and by October 28, 2012 for spring semester.
In an effort to contact students as quickly and efficiently as possible about their status in the financial aid process, the Financial Aid Office will use email as the primary means of communicating with students. It is your responsibility to check your OCCC email in order to receive important financial aid information.
The Financial Aid Office is located in the Main Building across from the testing center. If you have any questions about your financial aid, please contact us by phone at: (405) 682-7525 or email: financialaid@occc.edu or in person during the following hours:
| Monday | 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday - Thursday | 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. |
| Friday | 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
LEGAL GUARDANSHIP
The FASFA now includes supplemental comments to help improve accuracy in completing questions
45-47 on the 2012-2013 FASFA.
Select, “Yes”, only if you can provide a copy of a court decision that you were in a legal guardianship immediately before you reached the age of being an adult in your state.
MARITAL STATUS
For the first time regulations allow college and university financial aid offices discretion to require students to update a change in their marital status, if it is necessary to more accurately reflect the status of the applicant and the applicant's ability to pay for school. Applicants are informed when they complete the FASFA to check with their Financial Aid Office if the marital status changes after you complete and sign the FASFA. The OCCC Financial Aid Office will utilize this option to update marital status during the year.
VERIFICATION PROCEDURES/IRS DATA RETRIVAL SERVICE
Families are encouraged1 to file the FASFA online for 2012-2013 after they file their Federal Tax Return for 2011. Beginning in February 2012 families filing the FASFA online who have tax return(s) on file will be able to request their IRS reported income and tax paid information be retrieved from the IRS and inserted on the FASFA to insure accuracy of required income data on the FASFA. Using the IRS Data Retrieval Service helps improve the accuracy of the data used in the verification process and improves the efficiency of the verification.
Applicants and their families who do not use the IRS Data Retrieval Service or are not able to meet the criteria for using the service will be required to submit an IRS Tax Transcript not a copy of their 1040. The submission of the IRS Tax Transcript is a regulatory requirement.
All applicants will be required to submit either the Dependent or Independent Verification Worksheet to document household size and the number in college. Applicants who report receipt of food stamps and/or child support paid will be required to submit documentation verifying the items.
If your FASFA data is selected for verification you will receive an email notification including a link to the Verification Fact Sheet on the Financial Aid Office Webpage http://www.occc.edu/FinancialAid/ . You may also check the Fact Sheet on the Financial Aid webpage giving a comparison of the IRS Data Retrieval Service and Tax Transcript processes. You may pick up a hard copy of these documents in the Financial Aid Office.
LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF SEMESTERS OF PELL GRANT ELIGIBILITY
Beginning with the 2012-2013 FASFA all students who are Pell Grant recipients (including students who have previously received Pell Grant) have a limit of 12 full time equivalent semester of eligibility. After 12 fulltime equivalent semesters, eligibility ends.
ABILITY TO BENEFIT
Beginning with July 1, 2012 and thereafter, a student enrolling in a college, university, technical center or career school will no longer be eligible for Federal Title IV student financial assistance unless they have a high school diploma, GED, or has completed requirements for high school through home schooling. New students will no longer have previous options such as testing or completing 6 credits of college level coursework to qualify for Federal Tile IV assistance.
Students who, prior to 7-1-12, were enrolled in an academic or occupational program that was eligible for Federal Title IV assistance may still be able to utilize those options to include previous ATB tests. Check with the Financial Aid Office.
For more information or to make comments:
Financial Aid
Office: (405) 682-7525
Fax: (405) 685-7837
7777 South May Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73159