Enrollment Status: Your financial aid award(s) is based on your enrollment in the hours and sessions indicated on your Award Notification Letter. If you enroll for fewer hours or decide not to attend one of the sessions indicated, you must contact the Financial Planning Office so that your financial aid can be appropriately adjusted. Please note that you must be enrolled in at least 6 hours of coursework to receive most financial aid awards, including student loans. Failure to contact the Financial Planning Office will result in a delay in the receipt of your financial aid awards.
You must be enrolled and attending class at the end of the semester's drop-add period in order to receive financial aid for the class. If you are enrolled in a class your name will be on your instructor's class roster. Contact the Registrar's Office immediately if you are not included on the roster. Only the Registrar's Office can add you to a class - not your instructor or center coordinator. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are on your instructor's class roster.
Withdrawals: Students are strongly advised to contact their Financial Planning Advisor prior to dropping or withdrawing from a course. If You Withdraw Or Drop Any Of Your Courses, It Is Possible That You May Lose All Or Some Of Your Financial Aid. If you received a refund from the Bursar’s Office, you may be required to repay these funds To Mercer.
Also please ensure that you appropriately withdraw from a course if you are unable to attend all the scheduled classes. An unofficial withdrawal from a course may also result in the loss of financial aid.
Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant (GTEG) and HOPE Scholarship: In order for our office to determine your eligibility for these funds you must complete a GSFAPPS Online Application by going to http://www.gacollege411.org/newuser.asp and creating your state 411 account and user profile. After completing your user profile, go to “Apply for the TEG - learn more” under the For Students Tab in the middle of the gacollege411 homepage. Click on #1, Apply Online, which will take you to the GSFAPPS page. From the GSFAPPS page, scroll down and click on “Apply Now” . Click on and submit BOTH the HOPE Scholarship and Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant applications. Be sure to select Mercer
University as the institution you plan to attend. Completion of these applications does not guarantee receipt of funds; however, your applications will remain on file in the event you gain eligibility at a later date. Note that the applications must be submitted before the end of the term or your last date of enrollment, whichever occurs first. Contact our office if you need a paper version of the application. Please note that if you received these funds last year at Mercer
University, you do NOT need to complete another application.
You must be enrolled in at least 12 hours of undergraduate study for 14 days after the drop add period of Session II to remain eligible for the GTEG and full-time HOPE Scholarship. (Six hour enrollment is required for part-time HOPE.) Withdrawal from either a Session I or Session II class may therefore result in the loss of these funds. In order to retain your HOPE Scholarship, you must have a cumulative 3.0 HOPE GPA at the end of each Spring semester AND at your next HOPE checkpoint. HOPE eligibility is lost after 127 attempted hours, or 127 paid hours of combined HOPE Scholarship, HOPE Grant and/or HOPE Accel. GTEG eligibility is lost after 127 paid GTEG hours.
Loan Information: Student loans are awarded as an estimate. In order to receive your loan funds, you must perform the following steps before the end of the term:
1) “Accept” your student loan on BearPort (http://bearport.mercer.edu) or return a properly completed and signed Award Notification Letter.
2) Sign and return the promissory note that will be mailed to you by the Student Loan Office. (Students who signed a Master Promissory Note at Mercer
University previously will not be required to sign another promissory note.)
3) Complete Entrance Counseling if you are a first time student borrower. Entrance Counseling may be completed on-line by going to www.dl.ed.gov and clicking on "Entrance & Exit Counseling". You must select MERCER UNIVERSITY
- EXTENDED EDUCATION as your school - or - you must print, sign, and return the “Borrower Rights and Responsibilities” form to the Financial Planning Office. Our fax number is 478-301-5383. (Students who have previously completed Entrance Counseling do not need to complete it again.
If you do not wish to receive a student loan, please “Reject” the loan on BearPort or indicate “reject” beside the loan on your Award Notification Letter. If you wish to change your loan amount, mark through the amount listed on your Award Letter and indicate the loan amount that you desire. Return the Award Letter to the Financial Planning Office. Remember that you must be enrolled at least half time (6 hours) to be eligible to receive a student loan.
Financial Aid Disbursements: If your financial aid file is complete, your awards will generally be credited to your student account at the beginning of the semester. Financial Aid awards are first applied to the tuition and fees that have been charged to you by the Bursar’s Office. If your financial aid awards total more than your tuition and fees, the Bursar’s Office will refund the excess to you. Refunds are not available until after the term's drop‑add period.
Purchasing Books: If your Financial Aid file is complete and your awards total more than your tuition and fees, you may be able to use your excess financial aid awards to purchase books and supplies at the Mercer Bookstore. Contact the Bursar’s Office the week before classes start to move financial aid funds to your BearCard account. The Bursar’s Office recommends that you price your books before contacting them so that you don’t move too much money to your BearCard account. Monies moved to your BearCard account which are not used in the current term are available for use in future terms; however, excess funds cannot be returned to your student account or refunded to you until you graduate or leave the University.
Satisfactory Academic Progress: To ensure that you retain your financial aid eligibility, please review the Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards outlined in the General Financial Aid Information section of this website.
Important Contact Information:
Financial Aid: (800) 392-2830, or 301-5381 locally
center_fin_aid@mercer.edu
Mercer One: (800) 548-7115, ext 1111 or 301-1111 locally
bursar@mercer.edu
Student Loan Office: (800) 342-0841, ext 2407 or 301-2407 locally
