Financial Aid

All applicants are required to pay a $50.00 fee upon application to the course. Course fee subsidies are available on an as-available basis for those who apply for a fee subsidy and cannot afford the course. All fees required must be paid prior to the expiration date provided on the invitation, to avoid OSC incurring collection expenses and course withdrawals due to a subsequent inability to pay.

Fee Subsidy Determination

Subsidies are based on the applicant’s family income. Subsidies are only available for individual (personal) memberships. Only one subsidy will be granted to a single family (living together or basing need on each other’s income or lack thereof) for any calendar year. To receive a subsidy, the applicant must fill out and submit a Financial Aid application with required attachments (copies of most-recent tax return and lease or mortgage paperwork).

Using the family income and number of members of the household listed in the application, Our Safer Community determines the initial level of eligibility of the applicant by comparing the gross family income to the most-recent HHS Federal Poverty Guideline (48 Contiguous States) for the same number of persons in family or household:

Income > 275% Guideline No subsidy
Income < 275% Guideline 25% subsidy
Income < 250% Guideline 50% subsidy
Income < 225% Guideline 75% subsidy
Income < 200% Guideline 100% subsidy

If the applicant is not the lessee/mortgage holder, then additional income information for the other family members is necessary, because the applicant is not paying for housing and the family income picture is incorrect.

If the family information, when received, places the applicant outside of the subsidy limits, then the application for financial aid cannot be granted.

Financial Aid is Not an Entitlement

A determination of eligibility for financial aid means that you will be put on the list of applicants for a particular course. If subsidy funds are available for that course, they are granted in the order that applications were received. Anyone on the financial subsidy list for more than one year must re-apply for financial aid and for the Our Safer Community course they desire. If they re-apply prior to the end of one year from their original application, they can keep their place in the application queue. However, Our Safer Community has no obligation to award any financial aid moneys to any particular person simply because they are eligible for financial aid: subsidy funds are limited and applications, potentially, are not.