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Financial Aid

Financial Aid Information

Welcome to Financial Aid! Our General Email box is: fin_aid@bfcc.edu

Oki' Blackfeet Community College offers an affordable, first-rate education. The Office of Student Financial Aid is here to assist you with the costs of your educational investment. We are committed to providing information on available financial aid options and assisting you with the process. 
 
Gaylene DuCharmeGaylene DuCharme, Financial Aid Director
Phone: 406-338-5421, ext. 2245               Fax: 406-338-3776
Office Hours M-F: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
CLOSED on Fridays from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm
(At lunch, 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm) 
 
Don't hesitate to get in touch with me for general questions about your default status, PELL Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU), your academic status, detailed information regarding your FAFSA errors and/or corrections or required student paperwork, missing signatures, Financial Aid Needs Analysis, Award Letters, Scholarship Posting, your SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress), Financial Aid appeals, professional judgments and your pace of progression. 
 
 
Desiree Brown-Lopez, Financial Aid Specialist
Phone: 406-338-5421, Ext 2246
Office Hours M-F: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
CLOSED on Fridays from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm
(At lunch, 12:00 pm to 12:30 pm)
 
Please get in touch with me for information, to check if your student file is complete, FAFSA appointments & FAFSA assistance, work-study applications, verification of FAFSA info, scholarships or Facebook posts, assistance getting tax transcripts, student verification paperwork, and helping with the FSA ID.   

Financial Aid Announcements

HIRING Looking for Workstudy Applicants

Tue, Jul 18 2023 at 11:54 AM

Federal Work-Study jobs help students earn money to pay for college or career school.

Undergraduate and graduate students with work-study jobs will work part-time on or off campus while enrolled. Federal Work-Study provides part-time jobs for undergra...

Read more HIRING Looking for Workstudy Applicants Read more

Who’s My Parent When I Fill Out My FAFSA® Form?

Tue, Aug 16 2022 at 4:44 PM

A parent means your legal (biological or adoptive) parent or stepparent, or a person that the state has determined to be your legal parent by state or local law. 

  • Question 1: Are your parents married to each other?

If yes, then report information for b...

Read more Who’s My Parent When I Fill Out My FAFSA® Form? Read more

What do I do if my family financial situation has changed?

Tue, Aug 16 2022 at 4:42 PM

Many FAFSA applicants have experienced recent financial changes due to the COVID-19 emergency or other reasons.

Has your (or your family’s) financial situation changed from what is reflected on your federal income tax return? For example, you or a fa...

Read more What do I do if my family financial situation has changed? Read more
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Financial Aid Forms

Eligibility

The FAFSA or Renewal Application is a yearly application the U.S. Department of Education (ED) uses to determine a student's eligibility for need-based federal financial aid for college based upon their financial situation.
Use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form to apply for college or graduate school financial aid each year. Please create your FSA ID to sign the FAFSA; this is your electronic signature. Keep the FSA login in a safe place. You will use it if you attend any eligible USA college.
To be eligible to receive financial aid, applicants must:
  • Demonstrate financial need to further their education by completing the yearly FAFSA
  • Be a citizen or an eligible non-citizen
  • Be enrolled in 6 or more credits or accepted for enrollment as a regular student in an eligible degree or certificate program
  • Maintain satisfactory academic progress in a declared course of study or certificate
  • Not be in default on any student loans
  • Not owe repayment or overpayment on any grants
  • Submit Financial Aid Forms

Purpose of the Title IX training, consisting of: the Clery Act, the Alcohol and Drug Policy and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), & Staying Healthy in a Changing Environment.  Blackfeet Community College (bfcc.edu)

 

Click on the VECTOR Tile for students, and begin the training online. 

 

Students registered at Blackfeet Community College and most importantly those receiving any federal funding, i.e. the Pell Grant, FSEOG, Work-study, Private Grants, Scholarships, etc. must complete these courses assigned to them before funds are disbursed.

A reminder will be sent to your email every week until you have completed the training, or if you have not started or you started but have not finished the Foundry Title IX training. 

 

The Vector App looks like this:

(.docx, 24K)
Download Title IX Training

When you know what degree you want, you will meet with your advisor and create a timeline or an educational plan that takes you to graduation or transfer from BFCC. 

We know it takes careful planning to determine the courses you need to navigate through to graduation or transfer. Your advisor will help you with that plan and keep it on track. We recommend creating an Educational Planner before registering for classes with your Advisor – not just the first time, but for every semester.

Your BFCC Educational Planner can ensure you’re progressing correctly through your degree plan while meeting Financial Aid and Graduation requirements. And can help answer your questions about which class to take next and help you decide on changes you might want to make for the next semester. 

Call and make an appointment with your advisor before registering to ensure you are on track to graduate! And complete the second page according to your chosen program aka major. 

(.pdf, 318K)
Download Educational Planner

Have you been Verified?

You might see a note on your SAR saying you’ve been selected for verification, or your school might contact you to inform you that you’ve been selected. Verification is the process your school uses to confirm that the data reported on your FAFSA form is accurate. If you’re selected for verification, your school will request additional documentation supporting your reported information.

Don’t assume you’re being accused of doing anything wrong. Some people are randomly selected for verification, and some schools verify all students' FAFSA forms. All you need to do is provide the documentation your school asks for—and be sure to do so by the school’s deadline, or you won’t be able to get federal student aid.

Now are you Dependent or Independent? If you know, please choose the Dependent or Independent Verification form. 

If you do not know, please choose the "Am I independent or dependent on determining which form to complete? 

Your dependency status determines whose information you need to report when you fill out the FAFSA® form.

You'll report your and your parent's information if you're a dependent student.

If you're an independent student, you'll report your information (and, if you're married, your spouse's)

(.pdf, 186K)
Download Am I independent or dependent?

General Financial Aid Forms

Forms that you may need to fill out a scholarship, a grant, or get a FERPA release, get information from your student file. 
 
What is an FNA? The Financial Needs Analysis (FNA) provides agencies with the student’s financial status and unmet need figures used to determine eligibility for agency funding. Unmet need is determined by taking the BCC federally calculated student expenses minus resources available to the student.
These resources may include grants, loans, scholarships, the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC), and private funds.
 
EFC? The EFC is determined by information the student provides when they complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), enrollment, and if a student is making Satisfactory Academic Progress when the request is completed is also reported.
 
How to Request a Financial Aid Needs Analysis (FNA): First, the student’s FAFSA must be on file with BFCC before an FNA request can be made. All students must complete the BFCC  form online here in JICS. Other individual agency forms will be completed, as with the BFCC FNA form. Email them or hand them in. 
 
Once the request the FNA is submitted to the BFCC Financial Aid Office. Please allow three (3) days for processing. 
 
BFCC can only complete an FNA for a student with a FAFSA on file. This assures the college provides the agency with the most accurate financial aid information at the time of the request. Exceptions can only be made for students on suspension of financial assistance or default status.
 
(.pdf, 300K)
Download Financial Aid Needs Analysis (Printable link)
What if I forget my FSA ID username or password?
 
If you’ve forgotten your username or password, don’t worry; we provide options for you to recover your account information.
 
On most of our log-in pages, you’ll find links that say something like “Forgot My Username” and “Forgot My Password” so you can start the process of recovering your information.
 
Recovering Your Username by clicking on the “Forgot My Username” (or similar) link on the site you want to log in.  
(.pdf, 50K)
Download What if I forget my FSA ID username or password?
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act aka FERPA
 
FERPA is a Federal law that is administered by the Family Policy Compliance Office (Office) in the U.S. Department of Education (Department). 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99. FERPA applies to all educational agencies and institutions (e.g., schools) that receive funding under any program administered by the department. Parochial and private schools at the elementary and secondary levels generally do not receive such funding and are, therefore, not subject to FERPA. Private postsecondary schools, however, generally do receive such funding and are subject to FERPA.
 
Once students reach 18 years of age or attends a postsecondary institution, they become "eligible students," and all rights formerly given to parents under FERPA transfer to the students.
 
Eligible students have the right to have access to their education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, the right to have control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the records (except in certain circumstances specified in the FERPA regulations), and the right to file a complaint with the Department.
 
The term "education records" is those records containing information directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. See FERPA: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/
(.pdf, 188K)
Download FERPA Authorization Form