Financial Aid

Financial Aid

The mission of Gulf Coast State College's financial aid office is to effectively and efficiently serve students who need help with paying for their educational dreams by delivering information and access to financial assistance programs while meeting customer service expectations.

• Contact Us!
• Sabine Bennett
• Erika Ellis
• Lisa Fritch
• Rowena Gammons
• Patricia Velez Matos
• Rebecca Ramsey

• Coordinator of Financial Aid & Interpreting Liaison*
  Ursula Backus
  Leadership, Unusual circumstances, & Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

  (850) 913-3313
  ubackus@gulfcoast.edu

• Director of Financial Aid
  Kris Hatcher
  Administration of Federal, State, & Institutional aid

  (850) 873-3543
  khatcher1@gulfcoast.edu

*Financial aid information will be provided to national origin minority persons with limited English language skills in their native language.  Ms. Backus interprets Spanish and will obtain the assistance of other GCSC employees with the skills necessary to interpret financial aid information in other languages.

*Información sobre la asistencia económica para estudiantes se proporcionará a las personas de origen nacional minoritario con conocimientos limitados en inglés, en su lengua nativa. La Señora Backus interpreta español y si es necesario puede obtener la asistencia de otros empleados de GCSC con habilidades para interpretar la información sobre la asistencia económica para estudiantes en otros idiomas.

COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions

• Q1: Can I visit the financial aid office in person?

  A1: Yes, the financial aid office is now open again for face-to-face services. CDC guidelines will still be maintained, however.

  If you're unable to visit us in person, then please email FA@GulfCoast.edu from your official GCSC account. Otherwise, feel free to call us at (850) 872-3845 or any of the team member phone numbers detailed above.

• Q2: Is emergency funding available for students?

  A2: The U.S. Department of Education (ED) provided Gulf Coast with two rounds of COVID-19 emergency grant funding. The first round of funding (HEERF I) was exhausted in the spring and summer of 2020. The second round of funding (HEERF II) was exhausted in the spring of 2021.

  Both rounds of assistance were designed to help students cover emergency expenses related to COVID-19 or for any component of the student’s cost of attendance, such as tuition, books, laptop, food, housing, health care, and childcare.

  Funds from the second round (HEERF II) were awarded to eligible students enrolled in the spring semester of 2021 with no application necessary. Eligibility criteria include:

  • Enrolled in at least 5.0 credit hours in the spring semester
  • US Citizen or eligible non-citizen
  • Have declared a program of study
  • Priority given to student with exceptional need, as determined by the FAFSA

  
  Funds were sent to students via direct deposit through BankMobile (https://www.gulfcoast.edu/tuition-aid/bankmobile-disbursements.html). Students were encouraged to set up a deposit preference, if they hadn’t already, by logging into myGCSC and clicking the BankMobile app/tile/link.

  Visit https://www.gulfcoast.edu/tuition-aid/financial-aid/documents-forms/1920/heerf-student-faqs.pdf to view ED's "Frequently Asked Questions from Students about the Higher Education Emergency Relief Student Grants"

• Q3: Will incomplete grades impact my financial aid?
  A3: Incomplete grades may impact your financial aid, so please email FA@GulfCoast.edu from your GCSC account if you have a question about your situation.
• Q4: Will I have to pay back my financial aid if I’m unable to complete my courses due to COVID-19?
  A4: Our faculty will be as flexible and accommodating as possible. We encourage you to contact your instructors, as they may be able to provide you options. If you are receiving federal financial aid (Pell Grant, Direct Loans, etc.) and are unable to complete a semester, current law requires the college to perform a calculation that may result in money being returned to them. For this and other reasons, we encourage you to work with your instructors and do your best to complete as much as possible.
• Q5: I am a Federal Work-Study (FWS) student who is unable to work due to COVID-19. Will I receive a paycheck for the payroll period ending April 20th?
  A5: Per the U.S. Department of Education, GCSC paid FWS students who weren't working during the spring of 2021 due to COVID-19 for payroll #4 (ending 04/20/2020). The amount that FWS students received was based upon an average of the last three paychecks they'd individually received, minus hours that weren't worked during GCSC's originally planned spring break week.
• Q6: Where can I find further updates regarding COVID-19?

  A6: You can visit:

  https://www.gulfcoast.edu/covid-19-coronavirus.html

  https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/coronavirus

  https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments

• Q7: Where can I find HEERF I reports that are required to be publicly disclosed?

  A7: HEERF I reports that are required by the U.S. Department of Education (https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/heerfreporting.html) can be found online as follows –
  
  Per section 18004(e) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), Pub. L. No. 116-136, 134 Stat. 281, GCSC's "Student Portion Public Reporting" can be found online at:

  • 30-Day Fund Report = https://www.gulfcoast.edu/tuition-aid/financial-aid/documents-forms/1920/ed-30-day-fund-report-as-of-may-07-2020.pdf
  • 2020 Quarter 3 Report = https://www.gulfcoast.edu/tuition-aid/financial-aid/documents-forms/2021/heerf-i-2020-quarter-3-report-final.pdf
  • Subsequent Quarterly Reports = No further "Student Portion Public Reporting" is necessary because the 2020 Quarter 3 report detailed the finalized expenditure of our HEERF I student funding.

  
  Per sections 18004(a)(1), (2), & (3) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), Pub. L. No. 116-136, 134 Stat. 281, GCSC's "Quarterly Budget and Expenditure Reporting (QBER)" forms can be found online at:

  • 2020 Quarter 3 Report = https://www.gulfcoast.edu/tuition-aid/financial-aid/documents-forms/1920/quarterly-budget-and-expenditure-quarter-ending-09-30-2020.pdf
  • 2020 Quarter 4 Report = https://www.gulfcoast.edu/tuition-aid/financial-aid/documents-forms/2021/quarterly-budget-and-expenditure-quarter-ending-12-31-2020.pdf
  • 2021 Quarter 1 Report = https://www.gulfcoast.edu/tuition-aid/financial-aid/documents-forms/2021/quarterly-budget-and-expenditure-quarter-ending-03-31-2021.pdf
  • 2021 Quarter 2 Report = Will be published by 06/30/2021.
  • 2021 Quarter 3 Report = Will be published by 09/30/2021.
  • 2021 Quarter 4 Report = Will be published by 12/31/2021.
• Q8: Where can I find HEERF II reports that are required to be publicly disclosed?

  A8: The U.S. Department of Education hasn't specified HEERF II reporting requirements yet, so please check back later for more information.