The Department of Education has implemented federal regulations that authorize CT State to administer Title IV financial aid funds. Title IV funds can only be applied to tuition and fee charges unless CT State obtains your authorization to apply your Title IV financial aid to non-allowable charges appearing in your student account, not including finance charges (i.e., late fees, returned payment fees, installment plan fees).
Your permission to authorize financial aid to pay for non-allowable charges will expedite the settlement of your student account. If authorization is not received prior to the term bill due date, the Title IV financial aid funds will not be applied to all charges. This may result in an outstanding balance on your student account and cause late charges to be assessed.
You are not required to give authorization but if you do: once the authorization is signed, the initial authorization continues to be valid for future years. You may cancel the authorization at any time by updating the authorization online. The cancellation is not retroactive and will take effect on the date that we receive it from you.
You can authorize or rescind your Title IV Financial Aid Authorization by logging into myCTState. Select the myFinancialAidlink on the Financial Aid card. On the Home tab, click on the Title IV Authorization for Non-Institutional Charges requirement or the Title IV Authorization for Prior Year Charges up to $200 requirement and you will be redirected to the page to complete the authorization. You can select Authorize or Rescind for each option and click Confirm at the bottom.
Title IV Authorization Frequently Asked Questions
Title IV authorization is the permission that students grant to schools to use their federal financial aid funds for costs other than tuition and fees. These funds are called Federal Title IV funds.
Title IV funds are federal student aid funds, which are from federal student aid programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education regulations only allow schools to use federal student aid to pay for current academic year institutional charges unless the student has granted permission to apply these funds to non-institutional charges.
Federal Title IV funds include:
- Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans
- Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grants
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG)
Federal Title IV funds do not include grants/scholarships from CT State or other private organizations.
Allowable (institutional) charges:
- Tuition
- Extension Fees
- College Service Fees
- Student Activity Fees
- Transportation Fees
- Mandatory Usage Fees
Non-allowable (non-institutional) charges include:
- Prior Term Debt
- Textbooks and Supplies
- Tier II Educational Extension Fees
- Late fees
- Installment Plan Fees
- Miscellaneous fees
The U.S. Department of Education requires that Title IV funds be applied to specific allowable charges. Allowable charges include tuition, and mandatory fees billed by CT State. If a student's total of Title IV funds exceeds the total of these qualifying charges, CT State must refund that excess to the student unless the student gives permission to do otherwise.
If a student does not grant authorization, federal financial aid grants and loans cannot be used to pay for charges other than tuition and fees. Any excess aid will be refunded to the student. Therefore, the student may receive a refund and may simultaneously be sent a bill for any charges that could not be paid with Title IV aid. Receiving a refund does not indicate that there are no pending charges on a student's account.