If a service member must suspend their studies due to service requirements, the service member will be eligible to return to their original program following the completion of their service requirement. The degree requirements in effect at the time of each Service member's enrollment will remain in effect for a period of at least 1 year beyond the program's standard length, providing the Service member is in good academic standing and has been continuously enrolled or received an approved academic leave of absence.

• Programs Without a Secondary Admission's Process:
  • If less than a year has passed since the service member left for service-related duties, the service member will just need to meet with their advisor (post return) to be advised for their future course schedule.  
  • If more than a year has passed since the service member left for service-related duties, the service member will need to complete the free application to AC again to ensure we have up-to-date contact information for the student. In the event the previously activated program has closed since the service member left the College, the Advisor will work with the student to help the student determine if it's in their interest to be "taught out" with the original program and/or if there are other or new programs that now better align with the student's goals with which the student would wish to pursue. 
• Programs With Secondary Admission's Process:
  • If less than a year has passed since the service member left for service-related duties, the service member should contact the VA Coordinator with their planned returned date so that the VA Coordinator can help facilitate a conversation between the student and student's program coordinator/advisor on how to best get the student back into rotation. 
  • If more than a year has passed since the service member left for service-related duties, the service member will need to complete the free application to AC again to ensure we have up-to-date contact information for the student. The student will also need to contact the VA Coordinator with their planned returned date so that the VA Coordinator can help facilitate a conversation between the student and student's program coordinator/advisor on how to best get the student back into the program rotation.  In the event the program has closed since the service member left the College, the Advisor will work with the student to help the student determine if it's in their interest to be "taught out" with the original program and/or if there are other or new programs that now better align with the student's goals with which the student would wish to pursue.

Refunds

Amarillo College's return policy is in alignment with the Department of Education stipulations regarding unearned aid. Refunds will be awarded based on the Amarillo College refund schedule. 

Full refunds of tuition/fees, prorated tuition/fees, or special grade consideration can be considered for reservists or service members who enrolled/paid prior to encountering the following situations: 

• Military reservists or active-duty personnel who are deployed. 
• Military reservist or active-duty service member who receive location reassignment or another type of training reassignment that inhibits their ability to complete the term. 

In order to start the process of special refund consideration, please email or deliver your service orders (including dates of notification) to the veteran's office email/in-person location. Please Note: The student needs to contact the VA Coordinator prior to reporting for duty/relocating. The student is also not eligible for special consideration for any classes that were completed prior to the service order date.

Students who withdrawal for military-related reasons will either be granted a "X" status (as though the class was never enrolled which will not appear on the transcript) or a "Withdrawal Exception (WE)" grade that will appear on the transcript, but will not count against the State of Texas 6-drop limit; the type of status may differ dependent on the request timeline and refund type. 

Amarillo College does not engage in unfair, deceptive, or abusive recruiting practices. 

Specifically, AC does not engage in the following activities:

• High-Pressure Recruitment: 
  Service member enrollments will not be sought through the use of high-pressure tactics such as making multiple (3 or more) unsolicited student contacts to students through means such as phone, email, video, or in-person interactions. Special events targeted toward high-pressure enrollment tactics (e.g. offering same-day service events where military or veteran students are recruited/registered/paid in the same day or otherwise offered incentives to quickly enroll).
• Targeting Service Members for AC Employee Financial Gain: 
  AC staff will not receive any financial incentive by securing Tuition Assistance or other military or veteran related funds by enrolling military or veteran student populations or by otherwise making decisions related to military or veteran student admission or financial aid. All AC staff are paid based on a designated pay grade that is in alignment with job duties specific to the assigned role. 

Financial Aid Counseling

Before offering, recommending, arranging, signing-up, dispersing, or enrolling service members for private loans, the appropriate Financial Aid officer will clearly articulate the ramifications of Title IV and/or other financial aid or loan borrowings to the service member. 

Loan Counseling: 

All students who seek loans are required to complete the studentaid.gov training. Students who need additional assistance will also be encouraged to call (806) 371-5000, walk-in to Enrollment Center, or email Financial Aid for additional assistance related to their loans.

Highly-Qualified Assistance: 

The Financial Aid Office and VA Coordinator work closely together to ensure that TItle IV, Tuition Assistance, and DoD compliance rules are followed. The VA Coordinator stays up-to-date with DoD and state-specific trainings and regularly attends annual conferences to ensure up-to-date VA training occurs. The Associate Director of Financial Aid was previously DoD trained, previously worked with veteran populations, and currently has assisting with veteran benefits built into the newest job expectations. The Associate Director and Director of Financial Aid regularly attend NASFAA and other trainings related to topics such as Title IV aid disbursement. Between the two offices, collaboration occurs to ensure both offices are aware of Title IV, TA, and other types of aid that may affect veteran populations. 

Default Rates

Any information a student needs to know about loans or the institution's current default rates can be found on the AC student loan website.

Deadlines

Amarillo Colleges does not have hard or even official priority financial aid deadlines. Any priority dates (e.g. scholarship has a March 1 deadline) will be listed on the Financial Aid webpage. Otherwise, the only requirement related to financial aid is that when the student enters the "pay-as-you-go" period (i.e. past the priority payment deadlines found on the AC Master Calendar), the student would need to have payment and/or financial aid processed on the account. The student's printed schedule will show the priority dates and when the pay-as-you-go period starts for each term. Financial Aid will communicate to students any missing documents in their package and the student's ACConnect student checklist will verify their financial aid status.

• Tuition and Fees: The Tuition and Basic Fee costs can be viewed on the AC website.
• Net Price Calculator: To calculate potential expenses, Amarillo College students can visit the Net Price Calculator.

Coordinator

Amarillo College has a full-time VA Coordinator housed on the Amarillo Washington Street Campus. The VA Coordinator serves all AC campuses and supports service members with Tuition Assistance (TA), Title IV adjustment, and VA benefit education. The VA Coordinator will connect service members to information about financial aid, advising, counseling, disability services, job support (both as a student and post enrollment), and other campus and community resources.

For students who need additional financial assistance and/or academic support, additional resources are also readily available to them:

• Enrollment Resources
• Career and Employment Services
• Disability Services
• Advocacy and Resource Center (ARC)
• Scholarships
• Tutoring

Advising

General Major-Requirement and Career Advising

Each student is assigned a major-specific advisor who has expertise in the degree requirements and career opportunities available within their assigned major. The academic advisor works closely with Career Services to stay up-to-date with the various workshops offered to students and the potential career opportunities and associate salary each major might provide (technical majors) or lead to with additional education (transfer majors).  The academic advisor also stays in close contact with the VA Coordinator (VA students have a special system tag) with any drops, adds, etc. that may affect a VA student's benefit eligibility.

Advising Related to Special Program Requirements 

Information about program-specific accreditation, program admission requirements, and special program consideration (e.g. licensure needed for employment), will be found on the various program websites and/or shared by the program advisor or coordinator (e.g. sample program information page - Radiography). For program-specific information, students can locate their community information on the AC website. The AC Catalog also contains information related to course descriptions and student degree requirements. 

Transfer

Transfer Credit to AC: 

When any student sends any type of transcript to Amarillo College, the Texas public numbering, Academic Course Guide Manual, and Workforce Education Course Manual (WECM) are compared to AC's offered courses (found in the AC Catalog) as a starting point to determine course transfer. In instances where a student took credits from a private school, out-of-state school, military credits, or upper-division credits, foreign, etc. items such as ACE recommendations (e.g. often relates to military credits) or catalog transfer course description comparisons is used to determine how courses will transfer into Amarillo College and these courses are built as equivalencies in the system; even prior to enrollment, students can be provided this information. The Registrar’s Office webpage and AC Catalog includes sections related to course transfer and transfer dispute. When a student sends Amarillo College a transcript, the course is evaluated, then a list of transcripts that have been evaluated is pulled by the Registrar’s Office and students are sent a notification that credits have been transferred and how they can view those credits. The email the student receives also notes that if students would like a side-by-side course comparison, they can request one, and it will be sent to their student email. In the event the student does not agree with credit transfer decisions, both the Registrar’s Office website and the catalog outline transfer dispute procedures.

Credit Transfer from AC to Other Institutions: 

When a student enrolls at Amarillo College, transfer discussions occur early on to determine not just that courses will transfer, but that the courses will be applicable to future degrees. For course transfer purposes, the Amarillo College Transfer website includes information related to connecting students to 4-year institutions for advising and the TCCNS website and also connects students to information related to articulation agreements or articulated credit. All of the above information (advising implications, articulated agreements, confirmation of course-by-course transfer, etc.) both into Amarillo College and out of Amarillo College can be disclosed to students prior to enrollment.

Post-Education Employment

Amarillo College is accredited by SACSOC. For each new program or significantly different program approval, AC receives regional accrediting approval. For each new program change, program inventory updates are also reported to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). 

In addition, program-specific accreditation aligns with the Guidelines for Instructional Programs in Workforce Education Programs and other national/state requirements and can be found on the AC Accreditations webpage.