Financial Aid Disbursement

Cost of Attendance (COA)
The Cost of Attendance (COA) includes both Direct and Indirect Costs and assumes you will enroll full-time each semester/term (12 or more credit hours). If you do not enroll full-time, your COA is adjusted, which may result in a reduction of some federal aid award amounts. An itemized list of the COA components is listed on your financial aid award letter. Please note that the COA is not your charges. Refer to your myABC portal to see your total charges.

• Direct Costs – Costs that all students enrolled at Arkansas Baptist College (ABC) are charged that are associated with your courses and program. Direct Costs include Tuition, Fees, Room and Board (only if you live on campus).

• Indirect Costs – Costs that students enrolled at Arkansas Baptist College (ABC) are not assessed. Indirect costs are variable expenses that include books and supplies, transportation, personal expenses, and miscellaneous expenses that ABC estimates it will cost you during the academic year.

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is calculated from the information that you provide on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Financial Need – The difference between the cost of attendance (COA) at a school and your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). COA varies from school to school, your EFC does not change based on the school you attend.

COA minus EFC = Financial Need

Pell Grant Award – Your PELL Grant is based on the EFC that is calculated from your FAFSA. PELL is automatically adjusted based on your enrolled credit hours (12hrs or more = Full-time, 9-11hrs = Three-Quarters time, 6-8hrs = Half-time, and 1-5hrs = Less Than Half-time) Federal Direct Loan Award – Your Direct Loan award amounts are awarded based on your grade level (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior). Your grade level is determined by the number of hours that you have earned at ABC and/or accepted and transferred to ABC. See page regarding Types of Aid.

Scholarships- Scholarship awards are need or non-need resources that you may receive to pay your educational costs incurred at the school. This may come from the Institution or entities independent of the institution. Most scholarships are considered need-based and does have a direct effect when calculating your financial need and may affect the amount of other federal aid (i.e. – Loans).
Scholarship aid is awarded based on requirements by the school and the respective scholarship donor.

A Financial Aid Award letter is emailed to you once you have met all required eligibility requirements. The Award Letter is your notification of all aid that you are eligible to receive for the current academic award year. The aid award is divided evenly among two (2) semesters/terms. We encourage all students to maintain your school email address to log into your myABC Portal to view your financial aid award and student account information. All aid is divided amongst two (2) semesters/term unless the award is specifically to be awarded for one semester/term.

Grants, loans, and scholarship awards administered by the Office of Financial Aid are disbursed (paid) directly to your ABC student account to pay tuition, fees, room and board fees at the beginning of each semester/term after the Last Day to Drop/Add classes or ten days before the start of the semester/term. Disbursed aid may be adjusted if at the time of census, you are enrolled less than full-time (Federal PELL Grant or specific scholarship aid) and/or less than half-time (Federal Direct Loans and specific scholarship aid).

• Refunds (Credit Balance) – Refunds are determined if the amount of aid awarded exceeds the amount of your total charges. You can view this in your myABC Portal (My Student Account). Contact the Business Office (501.420.1212) regarding questions related to your calculated refund.

Federal Grant (PELL and SEOG) and Scholarship Aid is automatically disbursed to your student account.
Federal Direct Loans are disbursed to student accounts only if you have accepted the student loan award(s) and completed the following:

• Entrance Counseling
• Signed Master Promissory Note (MPN)
• Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement (New starting Spring 2021)

-Complete ALL at studentaid.gov–

Federal Direct PLUS Loan is disbursed to your student account only if your parent has completed the following:

• Direct PLUS Loan Application – Required Credit Check
• Signed Direct PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN)

Please note that if Parent PLUS Loan funds pays the balance of your student account and nets a credit balance, the credit balance will be sent to the Parent unless otherwise noted on the Direct PLUS Application that the credit balance should go to the student.Questions regarding aid awards can be directed to the Office of Financial Aid at 501-420-1226 or our email address at finaiddocs@arkansasbaptist.edu.