The Los Angeles Film School has Financial Aid counselors to help students and their families develop a financial plan to enable program completion. These counselors help students complete applications for grants and loans applicable to the student’s circumstances. Once a student’s eligibility for financial assistance has been determined, the student and the counselor develop a plan for meeting educational expenses. Students may apply for scholarships, grants, and loans to assist with college expenses. Scholarships and grants are sums of money given to an eligible student to be applied toward the student’s educational costs. Students do not repay scholarships or grants but must meet specific requirements to receive them. Various loans may also be available to assist students with educational costs.

IF A STUDENT OBTAINS A LOAN TO PAY FOR AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM, THE STUDENT WILL HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO REPAY THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE LOAN PLUS INTEREST, LESS THE AMOUNT OF ANY REFUND.

All students who receive federal or state-sponsored financial assistance must maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined in the Academic Policies and Procedures section. Students not actively attending due to an (IOT) or withdrawal may not receive award disbursements. The school is eligible for financial aid and participates in many programs to assist students with their education.

Federal Financial Aid

The Financial Aid Department encourages all applicants who apply for financial aid to begin the process early. Those seeking “federal” financial aid are required to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA may be completed online at studentaid.gov. After the FASFA is submitted, the U.S. Department of Education notifies applicants of their results, and our Financial Aid counselors will be available to discuss the available options for funding the selected degree program. Eligibility for Federal Financial Aid Programs requires that a student be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen [Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151) or Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551), commonly known as a green card].

Financial aid is only available to students enrolling in a degree program. Individual course students are not eligible for financial aid. The school reserves the right to decline the certification of any educational loan.

Grants & Scholarships

Federal Pell Grant

The Federal Pell Grant Program is designed to assist undergraduates with education expenses. Under this program, an undergraduate is one who has not earned a bachelor’s or first professional degree. Awards for the 2025–26 award year range up to $7,395. The U.S. Department of Education uses a standard formula, established by Congress, to determine eligibility.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) is also designed to assist undergraduates with education expenses. Under this program, an undergraduate is one who has not earned a bachelor’s or first professional degree. Amounts are determined by application of the federal formula regarding a student’s need as determined by the information provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Pell Grant eligibility.

Institutional Scholarships

The school has a variety of institutional scholarship opportunities to assist students in meeting their financial needs while attending one of our degree programs. Each scholarship is unique, and eligibility is dependent on the type of program and eligibility. Please contact a Financial Aid representative for more information.

Federal Loans

Direct Loans

A Direct Loan is a low-interest loan made to a student enrolled in an Undergraduate Degree Program. Annual loan limits increase each subsequent year a student attends. Repayment terms and conditions are flexible in order to meet the needs of students after graduation.

Parent Direct PLUS Loans

A Parent Direct PLUS Loan is a credit-based loan made to either parent of a dependent child enrolled in an Undergraduate Degree Program. Available to credit-worthy parents, these loans provide funds for a student’s educational expenses and may also provide additional money for living expenses. The interest rate is determined by Congress and compares favorably to other education financing options.

Private Education Loans

Many private lenders offer alternative education loans to supplement the federal programs after maximum limits are reached. These non-federal education loans have differing fees, interest rates, and repayment options. They are credit-based and students may often secure a more favorable interest rate by using a co-signer. Students are strongly encouraged to maximize their eligibility for federal aid prior to applying for any private education loan. Contact the Financial Aid Department for more information. Students acquiring an educational loan to finance tuition and related educational expenses will be obligated to repay such loans and interest thereon. Defaulting on educational loans may have an adverse effect on a student’s ability to qualify for future credit, loans, grants, and governmental assistance programs. Information regarding the rights and responsibilities of federal/private loan borrowers can be obtained during the online entrance interview as well as in the promissory note from the lending institution.

Special Programs

Federal Work-Study

The school participates in the Federal Work-Study Program. The Federal Work-Study Program is designed to provide jobs to qualified students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education-related expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to the student’s course of study. Students are awarded Federal Work-Study funds based on a federally prescribed formula. The school is an equal opportunity employer.

Veterans Education Benefits

The school is authorized to train students receiving Veterans Education Benefits as approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Awards are determined by application with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and funding is disbursed directly to the institution for the Post9/11 GI Bill® and the Yellow Ribbon Program (most other Chapters disburse funding directly to the student).

Vocational Rehabilitation Programs

Various states offer funding in the form of Vocational Training Benefits for designated applicants.

Return of Federal Title IV Aid

If a federal aid (Title IV) recipient either officially or unofficially withdraws, The Los Angeles Film School (LAFS) must perform a Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation to determine the percentage of federal aid that the student has earned for the semester based upon the portion of the semester completed as of the withdrawal date. For official and unofficial withdrawals, the LAFS Registrar will determine the withdrawal date that is equal to the student’s last date of attendance (LDA) using LAFS’s attendance records. The withdrawal date is used to determine the percentage of the semester that the student completed prior to withdrawal. This percentage is the basis of the R2T4 calculation to determine the amount of federal aid the student earned for the semester and what must be returned or disbursed. This calculation must be performed by LAFS within 30 days of the date the institution determines that a federal aid recipient student has withdrawn.

R2T4 Formula

The percentage of federal aid earned is calculated by dividing the number of calendar days completed through the student’s withdrawal date by the total number of calendar days in the semester. The total number of days in the semester are measured from the first day of the semester through the last day of the final module (course) attended. Both of these counts shall exclude scheduled breaks of five (5) or more consecutive days and days during an approved leave of absence. The resulting percentage is applied to the total eligible federal aid disbursed or that could have been disbursed for the semester. This amount represents the student’s earned federal aid.

Example: A student who completes 28 of 56 scheduled days in their semester has earned 50% of their eligible federal aid; the remaining 50% is unearned and must be returned to the appropriate federal aid programs.

If a student withdraws on or before completing sixty percent (60%) of the scheduled semester, LAFS will return the unearned portion of the federal aid funds awarded to the appropriate federal aid program within 45 days of the date LAFS determined the student withdrew. If the portion of the semester completed is greater than 60 percent, the student has earned 100% of the eligible federal aid for the semester.

Institutional Charges

LAFS is also required to apply this earning percentage to the amount of institutional charges for the semester and if the unearned institutional charges are less than the unearned federal aid, the institution is only required to return the unearned portion of the institutional charges. This can happen in situations where the student received excess federal aid for living expenses or other non-institutional costs. The calculation of unearned institutional charges is different than the institution’s tuition refund policy, which will also be calculated to determine the student’s tuition obligation. After the application of both refund policies, the student may owe a tuition balance for charges that were originally paid by federal aid.

Overpayments

If LAFS pays a refund based on unearned institutional charges, this is less than the unearned portion of the federal aid and the student may owe the difference as an overpayment to the U.S. Department of Education. LAFS will notify the student within 30 days regarding how much is owed in an overpayment, how it is to be returned, and in what timeframe. If an overpayment is not repaid, the student will lose access to further federal aid until the overpayment is resolved.

Post-withdrawal Disbursements

In some cases, eligible federal aid is delayed and not disbursed to the student’s account as of the withdrawal date. This can occur for a variety of reasons, but these funds are usually included in the R2T4 calculation as “could have been disbursed” funds. If it is determined that any of these pending funds are earned and eligible for disbursement after withdrawal, they will be offered in writing, no later than 30 days after the date LAFS determined the student withdrew, to the student/parent as a post-withdrawal disbursement. The student or parent must authorize the post-withdrawal disbursement of Direct Loan funds before the funds can be posted to the student’s account. The student/parent must accept these funds within 14 days of notification. If LAFS receives confirmation from the student/parent, that they wish to receive the post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds, LAFS must make the post-withdrawal disbursement as soon as possible but no later than 180 days after the date LAFS determined the student withdrew. LAFS will apply all post-withdrawal disbursements to outstanding charges on the student account first before any resulting credit balance is handled.

LAFS is permitted to credit a student’s account with the post-withdrawal disbursement of Title IV grant funds to cover current outstanding allowable charges without the student’s permission for tuition and fees. These disbursements must be credited to the student’s account within 180 days of the date LAFS determined the student withdrew. Likewise, any post-withdrawal disbursement of Title IV grant funds not credited towards the student’s account to cover allowable charges must be disbursed to the student within 45 days of the date LAFS determined the student withdrew.

Special Rule for Semesters With Modules

 There are special withdrawal rules for a semester that has modules (courses that do not span the entire length of the semester). A student is not considered withdrawn for federal aid purposes if at the point of ceasing participation in the semester, the student:

  • successfully completes 49% of the days in the semester,
  • successfully completes half-time credits (6 semester credits) during the semester, or
  • completes all of the program requirements and is considered a graduate

For days to count towards the 49% requirement, a student must successfully complete a combination of modules that cumulatively contain 49% or more of the number of days in the semester, excluding scheduled breaks of five or more consecutive days and all days between modules.

If the student meets any of these conditions, the student is not considered to be withdrawn for federal aid purposes, and all aid received for the semester is retained. If grades for the semester are not received within 30 days from the date LAFS determines the student ceased participation, the student will be processed an R2T4 calculation. If a passing grade is received at a subsequent point, LAFS will reevaluate the student’s withdrawn status and may reverse the R2T4 calculation and refund payments.

Credit Balance Payments

If the student has a Title IV credit balance upon withdrawal, it will not be paid to the student until after the return to Title IV fund calculation is performed to determine if the funds are earned.  If the student’s account has a credit balance after the completion of the R2T4 calculation, the resulting credit balance will be refunded to the student as soon as possible and no later than 14 days after the completion of the R2T4 calculation. 

Repayment of Title IV Funds

If a student withdraws and the R2T4 calculation shows that the student has been disbursed more federal aid than has been earned through the withdrawal date, LAFS is required to return the unearned federal aid funds to the federal programs from which the student received funds within 45 days of the date LAFS determined the student withdrew in the following order: 

  • Direct Unsubsidized Loan
  • Direct Subsidized Loan
  • Direct PLUS Loan
  • Federal Pell Grants
  • Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants
  • FSEOG
  • TEACH Grants

Official Withdrawal

Students who wish to withdraw from the school must notify the school orally or in writing. Students who choose to notify the school in writing may fill out a withdrawal form in person with the assistance of their Student Advisor (located on the 1st Floor of Building 2, 6353 Sunset Blvd.) or send written notice by email to advising@lafilm.edu (campus students) or onlineadvising@lafilm.edu (online students) or mail to: Student Records Department, The Los Angeles Film School, 6353 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028. Students who choose to notify the school orally can do so by clearly communicating their intent to withdraw to their Student Advisor by telephone, virtually, or in-person. Responsibility for providing a notice of withdrawal rests entirely with the student. Any money owed to the school is due on the effective date of the withdrawal. Refunds, if any, will be paid in accordance with the Refund Policies set forth in the catalog and enrollment agreement. The date of determination will be the date the student notifies the school of his or her intent to withdraw.

Unofficial and Administrative Withdrawal

The school may withdraw students for any of the following reasons.

  • Student is administratively dropped from all courses in a term due to non-attendance.
  • Student fails to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress.
  • Student fails to return from an interruption of training (IOT).
  • Student fails to reconcile their financial accounts in a timely manner.
  • Student fails to comply with the school’s policies, rules, and standards.
  • Student violates the Student Code of Conduct.

The date of determination of withdrawal will be the date that the school withdraws the student. The withdrawal date will be the date the Registrar determines as the last date of attendance using attendance records.

Institutional Refund Calculation

LAFS will calculate the amount of tuition and fees a student is obligated to pay when withdrawing from a semester. The institutional/California state refund policy shall be a pro-rata refund of monies paid for institutional charges for students who have completed 60% or less of the semester in which the student withdraws. The pro-rata percentage is based on the number of days the student was enrolled and in attendance within the semester. There shall be no refund available to the student if the student withdraws after completing more than 60% of the semester.

For example, if the student completed 20 days out of a 100-day semester, the student would be charged 20% of the tuition for the semester. The student may also be charged the full cost for one-time fees, unreturned books, and equipment received before withdrawal.

Any payments remaining on the account after any federal aid refunds due to the R2T4 calculation will be subtracted from this adjusted balance and if a credit balance is created, it will be paid to the student or the designated Direct Loan within 45 days following the student’s withdrawal. If the student has a Title IV credit balance after the adjustment of tuition charges for this policy, this credit balance will be paid to the student within 14 days after it is created on the student’s account. The student may direct LAFS to return any refund due to the student to his/her outstanding Direct Loan. The student must fill out an authorization form advising the school where they would like their refund to be sent. If no authorization form is received, any remaining balance will be refunded to the student. In no case will the amount refunded to the assistance program exceed the amount disbursed.

If the student owes a balance after the application of the refund policy, the student will be billed for the amount due to LAFS and payment is due upon receipt.

Credit Balances

The school receives financial aid funds for each student in two disbursements for each academic year of study. If a student borrows more than tuition to cover additional education-related costs, the student will be requested to sign an authorization form to hold a federal student aid credit balance. Upon receipt of borrower’s signature on the form, the school will refund the credit balance owed.

The school receives disbursements each semester based on packaged and guaranteed financial aid. If a student borrows more than tuition to cover additional education costs within the confines of the Cost of Attendance (e.g., final project or living expenses), a stipend check will be issued to the student based on the following credit balance policy: All tuition for the semester in which a credit balance is scheduled must be received before a student can receive a stipend check. Any delays in providing documentation to financial aid or adjustments due to verification changes may result in a delay of the stipend check.

Due to circumstances outside the institution’s control, there are instances when a scheduled disbursement does not occur as the result of a processing error with the lender or the Department of Education. When this happens, the funds do not post to the student’s account on the expected date. This situation will result in a delay of the stipend check as funds must be received in order to issue any credit balances to the student. The school will do everything possible to ensure that the matter is resolved as quickly as possible so as not to result in a lengthy delay.

Schools must disburse credit balances to students within 14 days as a requirement of the U.S. Department of Education. Credit balances only occur after a disbursement is made on a student account. Once funds are received, the school can guarantee that a stipend check will be issued within 14 days between the date of disbursement to the institution and the issuing of a stipend check to a student. We encourage students to plan accordingly.

If a student is using Direct Loans as part of their total Financial Aid package, please note that there is a 30-day waiting period for the initial disbursement of loans to first-time borrowers (this only applies for stipends issued in the first semester of the freshman academic year of study). Depending on the amount of funds borrowed above tuition and fees, this delay in Direct loans will result in one of the following scenarios:

  • If the projected stipend is less than the net award of Direct loan(s), there will be a delay of the entire stipend check until federal loans have been disbursed and generated a credit balance on the student account
  • If the projected stipend is more than the net award of Direct loan(s), there will be two stipend checks issued. The first will be based on a credit balance from funding not subject to the 30-day Direct loan delay. The second check will be based on the additional credit balance that occurs as a result of the Direct loan disbursement(s) following the 30-day rule.

Per U.S. Department of Education regulations, the institution is required to issue credit balances for PLUS loans directly to the parent borrower unless we receive authorization in writing from the parent borrower (prior to loan disbursement) to release the check to the student. Please contact Financial Aid for more information and a copy of this form. If a student does not attend one or more terms, a stipend in a subsequent semester may be reduced based on a change in enrollment status (this particularly impacts federal aid recipients).

For students utilizing Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits and planning to use federal aid towards a credit balance on the student account, please note the school must wait until all tuition and fees for a semester are paid for before a stipend check can be issued. This may mean that the student will have to wait until the end of the semester before all monthly payments from the VA have been received before a credit balance shows up on the account and a check can be processed. Additionally, the Department of Veterans Affairs can take up to three months to issue disbursements to an institution upon certification of attendance, which may also result in delays of any potential credit balances to the student account. We encourage all Post-9/11 GI Bill® students to utilize their monthly MHA stipend from the Veterans Administration and budget accordingly until all funding has been received for a semester of study.

If a student borrows a private loan to cover living expense costs, all tuition and fees for a semester must be paid before a stipend check can be issued.

All students must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress in order to receive timely disbursements of federal financial aid and subsequent stipend checks. Please see the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy in the Academic Policies and Procedures section for further details. All fees for tuition,  and laptop/software package are deducted from the first stipend check. There is no option to defer these deductions from any future disbursements. Laptop costs are non-refundable.

General Disclosure

At the time of this printing, The Los Angeles Film School does not have a pending petition in bankruptcy, is not operating as a debtor in possession, has not filed a petition within the preceding five years, and does not have a bankruptcy filed against it that resulted in reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. Sec. 1101 et seq).

Financial Aid Penalties for Drug Law Violations

Students are advised that a conviction for any offense under any federal or state law involving the possession or sale of illegal drugs during a period of enrollment for which the student was receiving Title IV program funds will result in the loss of eligibility for any Title IV, HEA great, loan, or work-study assistance.