Contact the Financial Aid Office

We will review your file in the order we received it. You will not get a tuition-deferred hold, and you must pay the balance. Student Financial Services will issue your refund for any out of pocket payments back to the original fund source and or via Bank Mobile.

Our deadlines are included on the College’s Academic Calendar. They are also on our quarterly newsletter.

If you already have a bachelor’s degree, you qualify only for federal student loans and scholarships. You may also get some federal work-study. Private loans are available based on credit history.

Some options include: Scholarships, Special Circumstances Appeals, Federal Student Loans, or Private loans based on your credit history.

You can find it in the tax tile on ctcLink. If you have trouble, contact 1098help@bellevuecollege.edu or visit their website.

Yes. After you are officially accepted to a select admissions program or once you have selected a financial aid eligible program, you may qualify for other aid, including grants if you meet their rules.

The Bellevue College Academic Calendar is current and lists important deadlines for many campus departments.

You must enroll in classes for us to review your file. If you are not enrolled, we will not review it.

You can check the Student Central Processing Dashboard to see what week we are reviewing.

Your aid will not be automatically transferred to Bellevue College. You must add Bellevue College as a school in order for us to receive your application. Bellevue College’s code is 003769.

You do not repay any grants you may be eligible for. Grants are a form of money given by the Federal government or the state based on financial need.

Call 425-270-8022, option 2. Or visit in person. Visit the U-Building and check in at Student Central. Or submit a ticket.

Yes, it’s possible. If you want to start a bachelor’s degree, you can still get aid. If you want to earn a different associate degree or a certificate, that’s possible too. The program must be eligible for aid at a 24 credit hour minimum. You can receive the Pell Grant for up to 16 full-time quarters. Check your lifetime eligibility at studentaid.gov.

No, you can still receive aid while being a part time student. The aid will be adjusted to the amount of credits you are in.

Name the parent who gave you more financial support during the past 12 months.

No, Financial Aid is not Student Financial Services (SFS).
SFS can assist you with:

• How much your tuition will cost
• When tuition due dates are
• Setting up a payment plan
• Explain what the fees associated with tuition are

No, the FAFSA/WASFA will cover the academic year from Summer – Spring. Please check our deadlines for each quarter on our Academic Calendar if you aren’t starting in the Summer.

No, it takes a few days for them to process the form, then another few days to load into our system. Additionally, you must complete all checklist and to-do list items to get a “File Complete.” You should submit your FAFSA/WASFA early so you have time for these tasks to meet the deadline.

• First, FAFSA/WASFA sends the information to our Office.
• Make sure that you are registered for the upcoming quarter.
• You must make sure you are meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress.
• Ensure you are in an eligible program of study.
• Complete all your checklist and to-do list items on ctcLink.
• An Advisor will review your file and send you an award letter detailing which aid you are eligible.
• Finally, you would receive a disbursement on a Thursday after receiving your award letter.
• The aid would pay towards your balance first. If there is a surplus of aid after paying your balance you would receive the extra funds through BankMobile. If there is a balance remaining, it is your responsibility to pay off the rest.

Fill out the FAFSA if you are:

• a U.S. citizen
• U.S. permanent resident (green card holder).
• Eligible non‑citizens include refugees, asylees, or some visa holders.

Undocumented students should fill out the WASFA. Fill out the WASFA if you:

• have DACA status
• a non‑citizen who does not meet the FAFSA’s eligible non‑citizen rules, and is a Washington State Resident.

Yes. When asked for their Social Security Number, they can input 000-00-0000. You will have to manually enter their income information from their tax return.

You meet FAFSA/WASFA rules for independent students if you fit any of these:

• You are 24 or older.
• You have a spouse.
• You are a graduate or professional student.
• You are a veteran or on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.
• You are an orphan, a former ward of the court, or were in foster care after age 13.
• A court declared you an emancipated minor or set up a legal guardianship.
• You were an unaccompanied youth who became homeless or was at risk of homelessness.
• You have dependents who get more than half their support from you.
• If none of these apply—even if you live on your own and not with your parents—you are a dependent student.

Yes, you can still get aid. We process requests in the order we receive them. Visit the Student Central Processing Dashboard to see which week we are processing.

You can submit the FAFSA form on studentaid.gov and the WASFA on wsac.wa.gov.

Receiving a “File Complete” means we’ve received all required documents from you. You would need a File Complete in order to get a Tuition deferred hold on your account, and to meet the financial aid deadline.

If you are enrolled in less than 12 credits, you must submit an Enrollment Change Request. Your aid must be adjusted to the amount of credits you are in.

Come to our office with your original citizenship papers. We will add them to your file for the financial aid advisor to review. Or have the papers notarized and mail them with a DHS certification or other U.S. citizenship form.

No, they must be physical signatures. You can use a stylus or pen to write your signature. Typed signatures will not be accepted.

No, it must be completed in person with a Financial Aid Specialist. If you are unable to come to the Financial Aid Office in person, contact Financial Aid to discuss options such a signing in front of a Notary. If you get it notarized, the original document with notary stamp with ID must be mailed to us.

You can use this address:

ATTN: Financial Aid Department

3000 Landerholm Circle SE, Bellevue, WA 98007-6484

Yes, they must be signed physically with a pen or stylus. They can’t have a typed signature.

Yes, it must have a graduation date if you are turning in your transcript.

No, you don’t need to send us the confirmation as they will get sent to us automatically.

You can visit the IRS website, create an Individual Online Account. Then request the form for the year you need.

You can submit a written, signed statement stating whether or not you have a Bachelor’s degree. Use our submissions portal or bring it in person to submit it.

You applied for aid but missed Bellevue College’s priority deadline. You can file this petition if something you could not control kept you from applying on time. Examples are serious illness or slow admissions processing.

Not knowing our rules or deadlines is not a valid reason.

Yes, you must ensure the FAFSA/WASFA form you turned in is for the aid year it is required for.

We have Special Circumstances forms. They help if your income goes down, your family situation changes, or you have unexpected expenses. Find them on our forms page. Each form needs different documentation. After you fill a form and attach required documents, upload it for a counselor to review.

Please give us 7-10 days to process your document.

Yes, you must submit all required documents before getting a File Complete, which is necessary to have your file reviewed.

You can drop off your documents in person, or submit them through our online submissions portal.

No, it must be translated by a certified translation service.

You can get documents notarized at locations like the UPS store. You can also check if your bank offers free notary services. You can call them to check.

This hold prevents you from being dropped from your classes while you wait for your financial aid to disburse to your account. We place this hold for students when they’ve submitted their FAFSA/WASFA before the quarter’s deadline which can be found on the Academic Calendar.

This hold prevents you from getting disbursements as your aid must be adjusted to the amount of credits you are taking. You can call us or send in a ticket if you are done adjusting your classes for the quarter to get the hold removed.

This hold is from Student Financial Services and must be accepted before you can register for your classes.

You must be in a minimum of 6 credits to be eligible for a loan.

Federal loans are not credit based, so most anyone can take out a federal Stafford loan. You may qualify for a interest free loan (subsidized) while you are in school and during your grace period. Typically interest rates are lower than private loans.

By completing the FAFSA you may qualify for the interest free Subsidized loan while you are in school and during your grace period. The federal Stafford loans typically offer lower interest rates than a private loan and you do not need any credit history to receive one.

A subsidized loan will not accrue interest until 6 months after you graduate or fall below half time (6 credits), while an unsubsidized loan will accrue interest right away.

Prerequisite courses aren’t eligible for grants since you are technically not enrolled in an eligible program. Prerequisites don’t qualify for most federal or state grants. The only aid available would be a prerequisite loan until you complete your prerequisites and are accepted into the program. Once you are officially accepted in the program after completing prerequisites, you may be eligible for grants.

While taking prerequisite courses, you can only take out a prerequisite loan. After becoming officially accepted into the program you could become eligible for other types of aid like grants.

Each year we check federal, state, and college rules before we offer you aid. We check again at the end of every quarter you get financial aid. Federal rules say we must look at your entire Bellevue College transcript, even for credits you earned when you were not getting aid.

You must earn a 2.0 GPA, must complete a minimum of 67% of your credits, and must complete your degree or certificate program within 150% of the credits needed to graduate. For more details visit our SAP Page on the website.

You can see the week we’re reviewing under the Student Appeal Requests tab on the Student Central Processing Dashboard.

You can submit an appeal. We consider many reasons. Death in your immediate family counts. This includes parents, step-parents, siblings, children, spouse or partner, and sometimes grandparents. A serious physical or mental illness of you or an immediate family member counts. If you are the victim of a serious crime, you may appeal. If you or an immediate family member has a serious accident, you may appeal. For academic problems, explain what steps you took to fix them in your appeal. If you have a sudden layoff or your business closes and you must look for a job, you may appeal. This list does not include all situations.

The scholarship provider will send us the check, then our counselors will add it to your awards.

An option would be applying for scholarships. You can apply for the BC Foundation Scholarship which will match you with a scholarship ranging from $1000-$3000.

Additionally, you can use the following links to search for scholarships:

• The Washboard by WSAC
• Scholly by Sallie Mae
• Big Future by CollegeBoard
• The Washington State Opportunity Scholarship
• Career One Stop
• WA Women In Need

Please also use the internet to find additional scholarships!

Work Study is a type of financial aid for students with financial need. They are positions on campus which students can apply for and earn aid through receiving a paycheck.

You can see whether you qualify on your offer letter.

Please see the Work Study Process on their website.

You are not guaranteed a position if you are eligible for Work Study. There are a limited amount of positions available. We can only assist in showing you how to apply for positions, after that, it’s up to the department to follow up and determine whether you’re a good fit for the position.

You can fill out a Special Circumstances form and attach the required documentation to inform us of the change in income.

If you receive more aid than your tuition balance, the extra funds would be sent to you through BankMobile. You can set up your account and choose your refund preference: check or deposit to a bank account.

You would receive your disbursement on a Thursday after your award letter is sent to you. It could be one of the following Thursdays depending on your specific situation.

If you receive less aid than your tuition balance, you are responsible for the rest of your tuition payments. You can pay out of pocket or set up a payment plan with Student Financial Services.

We disburse on Thursdays. If you haven’t received your disbursement on the Thursday after receiving your award letter, then check if you have any holds or initiated checklist items as those would prevent aid disbursement.

You can potentially override your dependency status if you’ve been abandoned, kicked out, or can’t safely contact your parents. Also if your parents are incarcerated, homeless, or refuse all contact and support. It is decided on a case-by-case basis. Please contact our office if you think you are eligible for a Dependency Override.

Unfortunately, living independently or supporting yourself financially does not automatically make you independent for FAFSA/WASFA purposes. 

Yes, you are considered a dependent until you are 24 and must include them in your FAFSA. If you no longer speak to them, you can fill out a Dependency Override form by contacting the Financial Aid office. The main factors that would apply: Veteran, Married, or have a child.

If you need a personal code for BankMobile you can fill out our Personal Code Request form. You can call our office, submit a ticket, or you can visit us in person.

You must set up your BankMobile account, and usually need to request a personal code from us to fully enter your account.

We disburse on Thursdays, and once the aid disburses then it applies to your balance first then anything remaining gets set to you through BankMobile.

Since you can’t receive aid at two colleges simultaneously, you must set up a consortium agreement. You can contact lstrand@bellevuecollege.edu to set one up.