Financial Aid

FINANCIAL AID

Mercaz Hatorah students and/or their parents are expected to participate to the best of their
ability in financing their education. Any student/family that is unable to pay full tuition may
discuss the situation with the Executive Director.
Upon determining that the student/family is indeed needy, scholarships may be available to
qualifying students. Since scholarship funds are limited, we cannot guarantee sufficient
availability for all students. Be sure to request a scholarship early in the year, asthey are awarded
on a first-come, first-served basis. Presently institutional scholarships are the only form of
financial aid available to our students.

Mercaz Hatorah is currently not eligible for Federal or State financial aid programs. However we
are in the process of getting approved. At the present time, therefore, this is not an option
offered to our students.
The following policies will be in effect once we are approved for Financial Aid.
Eligibility for Federal programs is determined by an evaluation of the student’s need. This is
determined by subtracting the expected family contribution from the student’s total budget.
The expected family contribution comprises the parental contribution plus the student
contribution, as determined by a formula developed by the U.S. Department of Education.
Continued student eligibility is dependent upon your maintaining satisfactory progress,
completion of verification, if required, by the deadline date (explained elsewhere in this catalog)
as well as submission of all required documents and signatures.

The parental contribution is the amount that the parents are expected to pay, based on their
income and available assets. Allowances are made for expenses such as medical bills, support of
the family according to its size, and the number of children in post-secondary education.
The student himself is expected to contribute toward his education, using his summer earnings,
if applicable. The student’s assets, e.g. savings, are generally considered to be for the purpose of
his education and are expected to be available to be divided among his years of post-secondary
education.

After subtracting these “family contributions” from the student budget, the student need will
be calculated. This concept of “need” is the foundation of financial aid. Students exhibiting
“need” and who apply on time will probably be awarded aid. The application deadline is June
30th of the school year for which you are enrolled.
Mercaz Hatorah of Belle Harbor has been approved as a Title IV eligible institution by the United
States Department of Education. This enables students to take advantage of Pell Grants and

campus based programs consisting of grants, work study jobs and loans. These are described in
more detail under the heading, “Federal Student Aid 22 Programs”.
A Pell Grant is awarded to all those students eligible for it. The school then takes the available
funding for Supplemental Grants, Work Study Programs, and Loan Programs, and distributes the
available aid according to the total student need. This process is known as “packaging”.
Beginning with the 24-25 school year, FAFSA’s are, for the most part, completed online since this
process allows Federal Tax information to be retrieved directly from the IRS and inserted into
the FAFSA. Go to Studentaid.gov to begin the process with creating an id. Follow the prompts to
complete your FAFSA.

The Financial Aid Office is here to assist you with any questions or difficulties that you may have.
There remains the option for the student to complete a PDF FAFSA, which needs to be mailed to
the processor. This method will cause many delays that will not occur using the online system.
Unfortunately, beginning with the 24-25 school year, schools are no longer able to submit the
FAFSA on behalf of the student.

FEDERAL STUDENT AID PROGRAMS
Please remember that full time undergraduate students may be eligible for all of the programs
listed below, while graduate students may apply for work study and loan programs only.
THE FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM provides students with outright grants. These need not be
repaid. Eligibility as determined by the processing of the FAFSA will be reported to the student
in an SAR (Student Aid Report) or ISIR (Institutional Student Information Report), from the
federal central processing system.
THE FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANT PROGRAM (FSEOG) is a
grant program. Its recipients are selected by the school based on packaging, in which available
funding is matched against the total need of students applying. Please note that this grant may
be adjusted in the course of the school year for various reasons. However, in the event that this
does occur, your total aid package will not change and you will not incur any additional tuition
liability. Financial aid disbursements in the Federal Pell and FSEOG programs are scheduled so
that a student generally receives one half of his scheduled award during the first semester and
the second half during the second semester. Students who have attended the first semester but
complete their financial aid paperwork during the 23 second semester may be paid retroactively
for the first semester.

However, students are urged to submit their applications by September 1st. Failing to meet the
deadline may delay the processing of many programs, and funds for some programs will be
distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, so that early application will be to the student’s
advantage.

Payments from the Pell and FSEOG programs will be made by direct credit to the student’s
tuition account. Students will be receive receipts for all payments credited to their accounts,
which will serve as notice of this credit. Students may inspect their tuition records during
regular hours of the Tuition Office.
THE FEDERAL WORK STUDY PROGRAM is a job program in which students are offered part-time
employment in the school or off campus. Eligibility is determined by the school through
packaging. Disbursements are in the form of payrolls, distributed monthly during the duration of
the students work schedule.

Student employees must be U.S. citizens or eligible noncitizens, must complete the INS form I9
to document this, and must be paid at least the New York State minimum wage of $16.50/hour.
Additionally, Federal Work/Study students are encouraged to accept employment under the
Mercaz Hatorah of Belle Harbor Community Service Learning Program under which students are
paid for work which also serves a higher purpose – that of filling a need in the life of their
community. Details about this and other programs are available from the Office of Student
Financial Aid.

INSTITUTIONAL REFUND POLICY

RETURN TO TITLE IV For all Title IV eligible students who withdraw during a semester, the
institution performs a calculation to determine the date of withdrawal. For a student who
gives official notification, the date of withdrawal is the date that the student indicates in his
notice or the date of notification, whichever is earlier. For a student who withdraws without
giving official notification, the date of withdrawal is the midpoint of the semester. The
calculation is performed within 30 days of the date of determination of the withdrawal.
Generally, if a student officially withdraws before 60% of the semester has passed, he will be
able to retain a prorated portion of the financial aid award based on the number of days
attended and the number of days in the semester. If he withdraws after 60% of the semester
has passed he will most likely be able to retain all of the financial aid he has been awarded.

SAR/ISIR VERIFICATIONPROCEDURES
The Student Aid applicant output document which results from the processing of the FAFSA
(the Student Aid Report [SAR] or Institutional Student Information Record [ISIR]) is received
by the Financial Aid Office. If an asterisk is noted to the right of the EFC, this student has been
selected for verification.

Mercaz Hatorah of Belle Harbor verifies students based on the following criteria:

1. All CPS – selected students are required to be verified.
2. Unless conflicting information is found, verification is completed only on
CPS-selected applicants.
3. Resolution of conflicting information must occur before additional Federal funds
may be disbursed.
4. We reserve the right to select any student for verification, regardless of all of
the above.

Documentation of certain data elements provided on the FAFSA must then be provided to
establish the accuracy of the FAFSA, and, ultimately, the SAR/ISIR, in order to ensure the
validity of the ISAI, the basis of all Federal Student Aid. Basic documentation would be the
appropriate tax forms for the base year (the year prior to application), or other income
documentation for non-tax filers. Additionally, the appropriate Verification Worksheet must
be completed and signed. Dependent students require their own and one parent’s signature.
Independent students require only their own signature. This document will serve to verify the
household size and number in college, and serves as a control document throughout the
verification process.

The required documentation which originates with the institution (i.e. the Verification
Worksheet) will be provided by Blimi Chesir, the Financial Aid Director, within one week of the
student’s ISIR being selected for verification. At that time, all required documents which
originate with the student, will be specified, in writing, to the student. The deadline for
submission of these documents is the deadline for submission of corrections to FAFSA data
published annually in the Federal Register. These documents include, at a minimum, Federal
tax return transcripts for returns filed by the student and the spouse, for independent
married students, and the student and the student’s parents for dependent students.
However, the Financial Aid office may require additional supporting documents such as W-2
forms if warranted. Authority to require all documentation deemed necessary is granted the
institution by 34CFR, subpart E, 668.53. The applicant must submit all requested
documentation in a timely manner. That is, all documents must be submitted sufficiently in
advance of the deadline for completion of verification, to allow adequate time for proper
completion of this process, as well as reprocessing of the application, if necessary.
The Financial Aid Office’s reviews all these documents, and compares them to the
information on the output document. If conflicting information is found, even if not a
required verification item, the conflict must be resolved and/or corrected, in order for the
student to continue to receive Federal Aid.

A vital component of the function of the Financial Aid Office is to assist students and their
families in every way possible to enable them to fully comply with all eligibility requirements.
Satisfactory completion of verification is one of the most crucial of these.

Therefore, it is the policy of this office to provide professional guidance to all parties, enabling
them to cooperate fully, and in a timely manner.

The deadline for completion of this process, which includes submission of any necessary
corrections to the Federal Processing System, as well as receipt of the corrected, reprocessed
ISIR, is September 14, 2025 or 120 days following the last date of attendance, whichever is
earlier. If this deadline is not met, the student will lose eligibility for Federal Student Aid. Any
funds already disbursed or credited to the student’s account will be invalidated and the
student will be required to repay all disbursed amounts within 60 days of the date of
notification, if disbursed directly to the student. If necessary, legal action will be taken to
recover these funds, including, but not limited to, referring overpayment cases to the
Department of Education.

Following completion of verification, the student will receive a “Verification Result” letter.
Should reprocessing be necessary, due to errors discovered through this process, a
“Reprocessed Letter” will be generated, detailing all changes which will be submitted to the
Federal Processor on behalf of the student, as well as any changes which may result in the
student’s eligibility for funds.

Note: At any time during the processing and reviewing of student information, should
conflicting documentation be discovered, it must be brought to the attention of all concerned
parties and resolved. Until that time, all further Federal Aid must be withheld.

Treatment of Title IV Aid When a Student Withdraws

The law specifies how your school must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance
that you earn if you withdraw from school. The Title IV programs that are
covered by this law are: Federal Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, Federal
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs), and Federal Perkins Loans.
Even in the instance that your aid is posted to your account at the start of each payment
period, you earn the funds as you complete the period. When you withdraw during your
payment period or period of enrollment (the Financial Aid Office can define these for you and
tell you which one applies) the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned
up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or your school or parent
received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able
to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess
funds must be returned by the school and/or you.

The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For
example, if you completed 30% of your payment period or period of enrollment, you earn
30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed
more than 60% of the payment period or period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance
that you were scheduled to receive for that period.

If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a post- withdrawal
disbursement. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, your school must get
your permission before it can disburse them. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan
funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. Your school may automatically use all or a portion
of your post-withdrawal disbursement (including loan funds, if you accept them) for tuition,
fees, and room and board charges (as contracted with the school). For all other school
charges, the school needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal disbursement. If you
do not give your permission (which some schools ask for when you enroll), you will be offered
the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow the school to keep the funds to
reduce your debt at the school.

There are some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that you cannot earn once
you withdraw because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if you are a first-time,
first-year undergraduate student and you have not completed the first 30 days of your
program before you withdraw, you will not earn any FFEL or Direct loan funds that you would
have received had you remained enrolled past the 30th day.
If you receive (or your school or parent receive on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds
that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of
1. your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
2. the entire amount of excess funds.

The school must return this amount even if it didn’t keep this amount of your Title
IV program funds.

If your school is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining
amount. Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a PLUS Loan) repay in
accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you make scheduled payments to
the holder of the loan over a period of time.
Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The
amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received
or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original
amount for the overpayment is $50.00 or less. You must make arrangements with your school
or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.
The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund
policy that Mercaz Hatorah of Belle Harbor may have. Therefore, you may still owe funds to
the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. The registrar’s office can provide you with
the requirements and procedures for officially withdrawing from school.
You may refer questions about your Title IV program funds to the Office of Student Aid, as well
as, the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). TTY
users may call 1-800-730-8913. Information is also available on Student Aid on the Web at
www.studentaid.ed.gov.

Return of Funds by the Student
The student (or parent for a PLUS loan) must return unearned aid for which the student is
responsible by repaying funds to the following sources, in order, up to the total net amount
disbursed from each source, after subtracting the amount Mercaz Hatorah of Belle Harbor
will return: (Amounts to be returned to grants are reduced by 50%).
1. Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
2. Subsidized Stafford Loan
3. PLUS loan
4. Pell Grant x 50%
5. FSEOG x 50%
6. LEAP x 50%
Loan amounts are returned in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. If a student
received less aid prior to withdrawal than he or she earned under the formula, Mercaz

Hatorah of Belle Harbor will make or offer to make a post-withdrawal disbursement. Post-
withdrawal disbursements will be made from funds in the following order:

1. Pell Grant
2. SEOG
3. LEAP
4. Subsidized Stafford Loan
5. Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
6. PLUS Loan

To officially withdraw from Mercaz Hatorah of Belle Harbor, you must notify the following
offices in the following order: (1) The Registrar; (2) Tuition Office; the Tuition Office will
request a signed statement of withdrawal; (3) Financial Aid; (4) You may need to visit the
Financial Aid Office again to discuss adjustments to your account.

Repayment Policy
If a student totally withdraws from the Institution on or before the first day of classes of a
payment period, and the student received a cash disbursement for non- institutional costs
under any Title IV program (excluding Federal Work Study, and the Stafford Loans) for that
period, the student must repay any cash disbursement which is determined by the Institution
to be an overpayment.

In determining whether a student received an overpayment, the Institution will subtract from
the cash disbursement received by the student the educational costs incurred for non-
institutional charges (to include room and board, books and supplies, and miscellaneous
expenses) for that payment period up to the date of withdrawal. The cost of books, supplies,
and miscellaneous expenses will be determined by the number of days that the student is
enrolled. The Institution will determine the amount of the refund, and the amount will be
allocated to the Title IV programs in the following order:
1. Stafford Unsubsidized Loans
2. Stafford Subsidized Loans
3. PLUS Loan
4. Federal Pell Grant
5. Federal SEOG Program
6. Other Title IV Aid Programs
7. Other Federal Sources of aid
8. Other Institutional aid
9. The student

The Institution will determine the amount of any repayment, and the amount will be
allocated in the following order:
1. Federal Pell Grant
2. Federal SEOG Program
3. Other Title IV programs
4. Other Federal or Institutional aid
In cases where the student drops courses and has already received full payment of financial
aid awards from federal sources, repayment of unused funds may be necessary.