Financial Aid

During these tough economic times, the Director of the North Carolina Geology Field Course, Dr. Harper, realizes that some students must finance his/her Geology Field Course expenses with Financial Aid or Loans. That being said, students, who enroll in the North Carolina Geology Field Course and plan to pay for part or all of your Field Course expenses with Financial Aid, need to be aware that many field course expenses, such as lodging and cash advances to pay for our food, necessitate that most, if not all, students pay his/her field course fees before we depart for New Mexico and Colorado.

We will not turn down any student, who needs to pay his/her field course fees with financial aid. However, extremely late financial aid payments have become a growing problem during the past two years. The source of late payments has two causes: (1) Slowness in processing financial aid applications by Financial Aid Offices at some universities; and (2) Students who do not begin their financial aid application process in a timely fashion and/or do not follow the instructions that his/her financial aid office gives him/her.

Hence, the Director of the North Carolina Geology Field Course is offering the directions below to reduce delays in payment of Geology Field Course Tuition and Fees for a student, who plans to use financial aid to pay his/her field course fees.

For students, who are not currently enrolled at East Carolina University:

Your Total Tuition and Fees Payment of $4500 must be paid in full by April 12, 2019 (definitely no later than May 01, 2019) in order to attend the 2019 North Carolina Geology Field Course.  Hence, if you are paying the Field Course tuition and fees with Financial Aid, either you will have to pay your Field Course tuition and fees before your Financial Aid funds are disbursed to you by your university's Financial Aid Office or provide written documentation from your university’s Financial Aid Office stating the amount of Financial Aid you will receive and the specific date on which it will be disbursed. 

Please note the following information concerning Financial Aid for students (Visiting Summer Students), who are not currently enrolled at East Carolina University.

• First, you must apply for Financial Aid at your university, not East Carolina University, as ECU provides no financial aid for outside students.
• Second, you should begin your request and application for summer school financial aid at the earliest possible date that your university’s financial aid office allows.
• Third, for students, who use financial aid to pay for a course taken at a university other than your home university, you should be aware that most universities require an extra step, which usually includes verification by the Geology Field Course Director (Dr. Harper) and/or the Office Staff (Robin Linkous) at the ECU Division of Continuing Studies that you have been accepted to and will be enrolled in the North Carolina Summer Geology Field Course, and completing a Financial Aid Consortium Agreement.
• Lastly, keep Dr. Harper and the office staff (Robin Linkous) informed on the progress of your Financial Aid disbursement of your funds directly to you or directly to the Division of Continuing Studies at East Carolina University.

For students, who are currently enrolled at East Carolina University: ECU students should use the Summer Study Abroad Form to apply for financial aid at the earliest possible date. A copy of the form can be accessed by clicking on this Summer Study Abroad Form link. By using the Summer Study Abroad Form, ECU Geology Field Course Students can apply for financial aid for their Geology Field Course tuition and fees well before the April 01, 2019 financial aid application date. If you submit your financial aid application to the ECU Financial Aid Office by the end of the second week of March on the Summer Study Abroad Form, your Financial Aid should be disbursed around May 6^th, 2019. You will need to use the Summer Study Abroad Form for 2019 at the hot links above after they have been activated for the 2019 year.

For ECU students, who are maxed out on your yearly Stafford loan limit, you can apply for an additional $4000 to $5000 in Stafford loans for the summer if your parents have applied for and been denied a Parent PLUS Loan.  Or, if your parents are approved for a Parent PLUS Loan, then you can use the Parent PLUS Loan to pay for your Geology Field Course Tuition and Fees. The turn-around time for the approval or denial of a Parent PLUS Loan from the lender is 2-3 days. 

Inform the Field Course Director, Dr. Harper, and the office staff (Robin Linkous) at the ECU Division of Continuing Studies, by March 01, 2019 that you plan to use financial aid to pay for your Geology Field Course Fees. Second, keep the Field Course Director, Dr. Harper, and the office staff (Robin Linkous) at the ECU Division of Continuing Studies informed on a weekly basis after April 12^th on the progress of your financial aid application status and the disbursement of your funds to the Division of Continuing Studies at East Carolina University.