Student Financial Aid & Veteran's Educational Benefits

    Student Financial Assistance (SFA) at DACC is available in the form of scholarships, grant, loans, and part-time employment. In-depth information and counseling may be obtained from the Financial Aid Office located in the Vermilion Hall, 1st Floor, West Wing. Four full-time staff members and several part time students maintain the office and provide service to DACC students.

    About 74% of the DACC student body receives some type of Student Financial Assistance (SFA) each year. The most current completed award year of 2010-2011 revealed a total of funds disbursed from Federal, State, Institutional, various Agencies in the form of grants, scholarships, waivers and loans to be $9,865,057.00 (Source: IBHE Annual Report).

    A DACC brochure, "How to Pay for College" is a useful tool that summarizes the resources available to help pay for educational costs.

    A Danville Area Community College student who may receive any State or Federal financial aid must meet the following minimum standards of program guidelines and academic progress in order for financial aid to be awarded.

1. A student must be enrolled in an eligible program of study which leads to a college level degree or certificate, or transfer equivalent.
2. A student may receive financial aid while taking remedial classes and enrolled in an ineligible program. However, financial aid can be received for only one academic year of remedial classes (30 semester hours). This includes all attempted hours.
3. A student must be enrolled in the minimum number of hours required by the financial aid program.
4. Only students who have graduated from high school or have a GED are eligible to receive financial aid. The exception is Ability to Benefit Criteria for students who meet this criteria and began attendance in their Degree Seeking program at Danville Area Commuity College prior to July 1, 2012.
5. Apply for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid(FAFSA). You may use the paper application or use the Internet to apply at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. The DACC School Code is 001669.
6. If you are male and required to be registered for Selective Service you must be registered to receive student financial aid. If you wish to register electronically visit the Selective Service WEB site at http://www.sss.gov.
7. Provide verification documentation to establish accuracy of FAFSA information. Various information can be provide using "standard" DACC financial aid forms. Click here for FORM Listing and Access.
8. Be meeting DACC's Standards of Academic Progress (SAP) per student aid regulations. Click here to review SAP.

    Eligibility for SFA is determined by individual "Financial Need." Financial need is the difference between the costs of attending college for a period of attendance and the amount a student's family can be expected to contribute from their income and assets.

    Because various sources of SFA funds are limited, it is usually necessary to meet a student's needs by combining several forms of aid. This combination of more than one kind of aid is referred to as a "financial aid package".

    The first step to determine if you are eligible for any type of student aid (Federal and/or Illinois State) is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Your eligibility for the need and non-need based programs will be determined from your family's financial resources as well as household size and number attending college (excluding parent's).

You can view a short "Financial Aid 101" slideshow that outlines the student Financial Aid process in summary by clicking here. (This is a Powerpoint slideshow. To download a free Powerpoint viewer, click here)

    Resources for Blind and Visually Impaired Students : Audio Guide (listen on-line at www.studentaid.ed.gov/audioguide ). TTY number 1-800-730-9013.

    The previous year's financial resources (that is a completed Federal tax year) prior to the start of a financial aid award year is the data you will use to complete the FAFSA. For instance if you plan to take classes Fall 2012 and/or Spring 2013 you would be in the 2012/2013 Award Year. Your family would use income resource data from the tax year of 2011. The DACC Financial Aid Office will require copies of your Tax Transcripts to complete the verification process. You can contact the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at 1-800-829-1040 to request a Tax Return Transcript. If you use the IRS data retrieval, when completing your FAFSA, you will not have to submit a tax transcript unless you change the tax fields later.

IMPORTANT: If you think your family has an exceptional financial circumstance that should be addressed complete the worksheet for the Appeal for Special Circumstances (ASC) and return it (with supporting documentation) to the DACC financial Aid Office. Results from the FAFSA must be on file and that information verified before a Special Circumstance can be evaluated.

    The ASC form as well as other DACC Financial Aid Office forms can be found by clicking here FORMS. Be sure to follow all instructions provided and attachments requested with each applicable form you need to submit.

    If you have attended previous colleges, request copies of your grade transcript(s) to be sent to the DACC Records office. Also, send a memo (or phone) the DACC Records Office that the transcript(s) is to be evaluated for your program of study (Certificate, Degree or transfer credit) at DACC. Credits that can be used for your program at DACC will be included in the Maximum Time Frame for program completion.

NOTE: DACC's Financial Aid Office verifies all elements of the FAFSA data. You and your family will be requested to provide the documentation concerning the information required on the FAFSA. Your financial aid file will not be completed and student financial aid (that you may qualify for) will not be awarded until all verification is complete. Any instances of conflicting, erroneous or omitted information may require a correction to your FAFSA data. Once corrections are processed and returned you will be updated to any changes in eligibility. It is important that you reply to all requests for verification documentation. Verification must be completed and corrections made (if applicable) before the end of the semester for which you are applying for student aid funds or all "potential" SFA funds will be canceled.


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