Schedule Your Financial Aid Orientation

Each new student requesting financial aid is required to schedule an appointment with the Financial Aid Office prior to enrolling. During this appointment, you will become acquainted with the financial aid process, financial aid payment periods, the loan programs, and loan repayment.

File the FAFSA

The FAFSA may be filed electronically beginning October 1st of each year. using prior-prior year federal income tax information. The 25-26 FAFSA application should be available for completion here by the end of December 2024 for the 2026 Academic Year. The FAFSA will be collecting prior-prior year federal income tax information. Students will need a FSA ID to complete the FAFSA. The FAFSA filing is an annual renewal. We encourage you to file early and to file a FAFSA even if you are unsure if you will require financial aid assistance. MTSA’s school code for the FAFSA is 00778300.

Provide Required Documentation

Your FAFSA results will be submitted to you, from the Central Processing System, as a summary (of the data you submitted).  Review the summary for accuracy.  You might see a note on your summary (Student Aid Report) that you’ve been selected for verification.  Most individuals are selected randomly. All FAFSA results are reviewed, so if you are selected for verification, the Financial Aid Office will email you a request for additional documentation that supports the information you reported.

Report Outside Assistance

If you receive scholarship funds or tuition assistance from outside sources, they must be reported to the Financial Aid Office so they can be incorporated into the financial aid package.

Review Financial Aid Offer

Prior to each new academic year, once you have completed the new year FAFSA, you will receive a financial aid offer with further instructions from the Financial Aid Office. The Financial Aid Office will offer the maximum Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan of $20,500 for the year and any outside assistance you’ve reported for the loan period. If students need more than the amount of the Unsubsidized Loan, steps will be provided on completing paperwork for other credit-based loans.

Complete Required Documents

• Direct Unsubsidized Loans – Go to studentaid.gov and complete the Entrance Counseling and Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loan MPN.
• Direct Graduate PLUS Loans – Go to studentaid.gov and complete the Grad PLUS MPN and Grad PLUS Application.
• Private loans – Loan documents will need to be acquired from your lender and completed each time a new loan is borrowed. You may use www.elmselect.com to assist in the private loan process.

MTSA requires you to accept your loan amounts on your student portal before any federal/or private loans are requested for disbursement. You will have a deadline date to complete the required paperwork for the loans and accept the aid on your student portal. The deadline date is to ensure funds arrive in time to make tuition, as the funds will be requested for disbursement by MTSA.

Accept your Financial Aid Offer

• Access your student portal, https://ten-web.scansoftware.com/cafeweb/tl/login

If you wish to adjust your aid offer, please email finaid@mtsa.edu with your request. If requests are made after the deadline (to process the loans by the tuition due date) your loans may be delayed and arrangements for payment may need to be made with the Business Office.

Financial Aid Offer Glossary»

Disbursement Information

Disbursement of aid is the process by which financial assistance is placed on to the student account. Loans will be processed and requested to disburse to MTSA on the tuition due dates within each loan period. Loan amounts will be equally divided over the semesters within the loan period.

MTSA’s academic year (loan period) is a year in length and each academic year has three semesters.

Tuition charges will be deducted from the financial aid disbursement first. Any amount requested over the tuition charges is called a credit balance.   Students can view their disbursements on their student portal, https://ten-web.scansoftware.com/cafeweb/tl/login, under Financial Aid Status.

Electronic Funds Transfer

When loan funds are applied against the student’s school charges and it creates a credit balance, the Business Office uses electronic funds transfer (EFT) to transfer any credit balance on the student’s school account into the student’s personal bank account. Students who request financial aid will be asked to complete an MTSA Authorization Agreement for Electronic Funds Transfer. This form collects bank account information and can be accessed and completed on the student portal.

Procedure

1. MTSA will receive the financial aid disbursement from the Department of Education and/or private loan source.
2. Tuition charges are deducted from each student’s financial aid disbursement and posted to each student’s school account.
3. Any remaining financial aid (called a credit balance) on student’s school accounts will be transferred via EFT to each student’s personal bank account within 14 days of the loan disbursement date, as directed by the MTSA Authorization Agreement for Electronic Funds Transfer.

Reminders

• Any change in personal bank information MUST be given to the Business Office no later than two weeks prior to the disbursement date, by completing a new MTSA Authorization Agreement for Electronic Funds Transfer with the Business Office.
• MTSA student accounts are maintained by the Business Office and students may access account information on their student portal.

MTSA Title IV Cancellation Procedure

Students have a right to cancel all or part of the loan disbursement(s) offered. The loans may be cancelled, with the Financial Aid Office, any time before the loan disbursement dates. Once MTSA is in receipt of the loan funds, students have a right to cancel all or part of the loans within 14 days after the disbursement date for the loan period. In order to cancel any or all of your federal aid, students must confirm in writing the loan type(s) and amount(s) and send the request to finaid@mtsa.edu. Students are responsible for any unpaid balance on their student account. Students will be advised of the status of their request for cancellation.