ACM’s Student Financial Aid Office educates and counsels students and parents on all aspects of financial aid in order to align financial resources with financial need so that the greatest number of students, regardless of financial circumstances, can obtain their education.
Our Student Financial Aid Office is a member of the National Association of Student
Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), the Eastern Association of Student Financial
Aid Administrators, and the Delaware-District of Columbia-Maryland Association of
Student Financial Aid Administrators.
We act in the best interest of students and their families. All actions and decisions
are bound by NASFAA's Statement of Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for Institutional
Financial Aid Professionals and the State of Maryland’s Code of Conduct, copies of
which are available in the SFAO, and regulations developed by the U.S. Department
of Education.
We participate in the Federal Direct Student Loan Program with the U.S. Department
of Education is its lender for all Title IV Federal Student Loans.
Should the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) be revived, we will adhere
to the 2009 code of conduct policy approved by the ACM Board of Trustees.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 requires educational institutions participating
in a Title IV Loan Program to adhere to a Code of Conduct, which prohibits conflicts
of interest between Allegany College of Maryland's (ACM) officers, employees, and
agents with any lender, lender servicer, and/or guarantor. Sections 487 (a) (25) and
487 (e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, require the development,
administration, and enforcement of a Student Financial Aid Code of Conduct to govern
federal student aid programs. Staff members of the ACM Student Financial Aid Office
(SFAO) are bound to act in compliance with the ACM Student Financial Aid Code of Conduct,
the Maryland State Code of Conduct, and the Statement of Ethical Principles and Code
of Conduct from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).
Officers, employees, contract employees, trustees, and agents, including alumni associations,
booster clubs, foundations, athletic organizations, social, academic, and professional
organizations, and other organizations directly or indirectly associated with or authorized
by ACM, agree to the provisions of the ACM Student Financial Aid Code of Conduct and
will refrain from:
ACM will not use a Preferred Lender List; however, the SFAO will make use of a Recommended Lender List. The ACM SFAO may request and accept assistance from lenders and/or guarantors to conduct entrance and exit loan counseling. ACM SFAO staff shall always be in control of the counseling sessions and will not permit the lender and/or guarantor representative to promote in any way the specific lender's products or services. ACM will make use of the various lender and/or guarantor's materials and products to aid students in financial literacy.
ACM is committed to providing the information and resources necessary to help every student achieve educational success and will consider the individual needs of each student.
The information contained herein has been provided to all ACM officers, employees, and agents affiliated with this college. In addition, this Student Financial Aid Code of Conduct will be published on the ACM internet site and at least annually, will update the code and inform the officers, employees, and agents of the provisions of this code. Staff, employees, and agents affiliated with this college who fail to comply with this policy will be subject to all applicable disciplinary actions.
Approved by the Board of Trustees July 20, 2009
The College Financing Plan is a consumer tool that is designed to simplify information
that prospective students receive about costs and financial aid so that they can make
informed decisions about which post secondary institution to attend.
The College Financing Plan may be used in place of or as a supplemental cover sheet
to an institution’s existing financial aid offer letter. Either approach ensures that
families will have an easy-to-read form that enables them to compare institutions
in terms of grant and scholarship amounts, net costs and loan and work options to
help pay the net costs.
An institution need not use the College Financing Plan every time it revises a student's
financial aid package. However, since the College Financing Plan helps students compare
aid offers, we encourage institutions to use it when financial aid packages are revised.
Institutions that have agreed to comply with the Principles of Excellence (POE) in
Executive Order 13607 (EO 13607): Institutions are expected to use the College Financing Plan to provide the required
personalized and standardized form with financial aid information for undergraduate
and graduate service members, veterans, military spouses, and other military family
members covered by EO 13607. The College Financing Plan should be provided to prospective
students who are eligible to receive Federal military and veterans’ educational benefits.
It must be provided to those respective students who have applied for Title IV aid
using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This means that students
should receive the College Financing Plan prior to enrollment. Many institutions that
have agreed to comply with EO 13607 have also indicated to the Department that they
intend to provide the College Financing Plan to all of their students, in addition
to those receiving veterans’ benefits.
For all other institutions that adopt the College Financing Plan: Institutions are expected to provide the College Financing Plan to all undergraduate
and graduate students as part of their commitment to supplying information in a transparent
and consistent manner. It must be provided to those who have applied for Title IV
aid using the FAFSA. We expect that institutions that adopt the College Financing
Plan will provide it to students prior to enrollment.
Institutions have a responsibility to be transparent about their costs and the aid available to meet those costs so that parents and students have the information they need to make decisions about how to finance their college education. Ultimately, this information will also help them to understand their expected financial obligations, an increasingly important aspect of higher education financing. The College Financing Plan addresses a critical need to simplify the financial aid process for students, while still providing the necessary flexibility to institutions to provide additional information as necessary.
Institutions and their software providers may use the HTML specifications to produce and populate the College Financing Plan using the applicable fields from their existing data systems.
Software providers have indicated that they will be able to help institutions produce
the
College Financing Plan. They are confident that participating institutions will be
able to implement the College Financing Plan during the 2020-2021 award year.
Additionally, institutions that plan to implement the College Financing Plan without
the help of a vendor may use EDExpress, a software application provided by the Department that processes, packages, and
manages Title IV student financial aid
records.
No. Institutions that adopt the College Financing Plan should not modify the form
to remove programs from which a student will not receive funding. To ensure that students
will be able to easily compare attributes of different institutions, we intend that
all components currently on the College Financing Plan will remain on the form.
We recognize that not all of the components of the College Financing Plan are applicable
to graduate students. Because graduate students may not receive Federal Pell Grants
or Direct Subsidized Loans, we recommend that institutions place an N/A in these fields
for graduate students. However, institutions may remove the lines for Federal Pell
Grants and Direct Subsidized Loans from the College Financing Plan.
Institutions may add information that is not included in the College Financing Plan
format using the box at the bottom of the form to provide supplemental information.
Institutions can also use the College Financing Plan as a cover sheet and include
additional information about the student’s aid award as part of a separate financial
aid offer letter.
You are expected to evaluate the student’s financial circumstances and provide a recommended loan amount, even if it is zero. This may be different than the amount a student is eligible for. In most cases, you will include the loan amount that you recommend on the student’s offer letter.
This disclosure requirement is different from the requirement to provide a prospective student with a personalized and standardized form (the College Financing Plan). To fulfill the disclosure requirement, an institution that agrees to comply with the principles in EO 13607 is expected to provide the required information in an easy-to- read format on the institution’s website where financial aid information is located as well as in all financial aid-related materials distributed (in both written and electronic formats) to the veteran, service member, or family member.
Please direct any questions about the College Financing Plan to Collegefinancingplan@ed.gov.
To help you and your family make informed decisions about financing your education,
we recommend using our College Financing Plan – a comparative consumer tool that simplifies
college costs and financial aid information. Think of it as your shopping cart for
financial aid.
Your individualized College Financing Plan sheet is available through Self-Service (under the Financial Aid section) after you have been awarded financial aid by the
Student Financial Aid Office. Carefully consider its contents before making your final
decision.
If you have fully completed the financial aid process and you do not see your College
Financing Plan, contact us at 301-784-5213.
The Student Financial Aid Office of Allegany College of Maryland offers free financial aid counseling services to all persons who request such help. All students attending the College are awarded all of the student financial aid for which they are eligible. Students have the right to cancel/decline some or all of any student financial aid award. ACM’s Student Financial Aid Office does not discriminate on the basis of curriculum, race color, creed, national or ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, age, veteran status, or citizenship status (except in those circumstances permitted or mandated by Federal law) when awarding or disbursing student financial assistance.
