NC NBS Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility for the North Carolina Need Based Scholarship is set by state regulations and is determined by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®).

Enrollment

1. Classification: Students must be admitted, enrolled, and classified as an undergraduate student at the College at Southeastern and have not yet completed their first bachelor's degree.
2. Courses: Students must be enrolled in courses fulfilling requirements for academic progress in their primary undergraduate academic plan. Courses not in a student’s primary undergraduate academic plan going towards academic progress are not eligible for government financial aid.
3. Minimum Requirement: Students must be enrolled full-time (12+ credit hours) for the full scholarship amount, three-quarters time (9-11 credit hours) to receive 75% of the full scholarship amount, and half-time (6-8 credit hours) to receive 50% of the full scholarship amount. Students enrolled in less than 6 credit hours are not eligible for NBS.
4. Attendance: All undergraduate students are required to begin attendance and continue attending their courses throughout each term to remain eligible for all their federal and state financial aid.

Residency Determination Service (RDS) 

1. Purpose: The policy of RDS is that all undergraduate students receiving the North Carolina Need Based Scholarship must complete residency determination to confirm their eligibility.
2. Statuses:
   1. Unknown – You have not completed residency determination, so your eligibility for the NC NBS is unknown.
   2. Yes – You have completed residency determination and your status as a resident of NC has been confirmed. You are considered eligible for the NC NBS.
   3. No – You have completed residency determination and the service determined you are not a resident of NC. You are considered ineligible for the NC NBS.
   4. Expired – You previously completed residency determination and were determined to be a resident of NC, but your determination expired. To confirm eligibility for the NC NBS, you need to complete residency determination as soon as possible.

Verification 

1. Purpose: The policy of verification is implemented by the U.S. Department of Education to ensure that the financial aid provided to students is based on accurate and consistent information.
2. Process: If selected for verification, students must provide additional documentation to confirm the information provided on their FAFSA® form. 
3. Steps Involved: Students selected for verification must submit all requested documents to receive any funds. Any student who fails to complete verification should not expect to receive any institutional, state, or federal financial aid. 

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

1. Purpose: The policy of SAP is to ensure that students who are receiving federal and state financial aid are making measurable progress toward completion of a degree program within a reasonable time frame.
2. Process: The Office of Financial Aid monitors SAP of all financial aid recipients by reviewing a student’s academic record after grades are posted at the end of each fall, spring, and summer semester.
3. Components: The completion rate calculation and maximum time frame calculation (quantitative measurements), and the GPA calculation (qualitative measurement) are reviewed using grades and hours from the student’s total academic record. Failure to meet the standards in any of the three calculations may result in the cancellation of a student’s awards.