Advising Topics: A

Faculty Handbook

Financial Aid Information for Faculty

While faculty advisers are not expected to know the ins and outs of financial aid, and should always refer students to the Financial Aid Office, knowing a few of the basic rules can be helpful.

Academic Progress: A student must maintain satisfactory academic progress toward a degree to receive financial aid. To maintain satisfactory progress a student must:

Maintain the Grade Point Average requirements in the University’s academic standing and progress policy, which require a resident and semester GPA of 2.0 or above.
Successfully complete 67% of total enrolled credits. Failing a class or having an incomplete in a class is not considered successfully completing the class.
Complete a degree with 150% of the published length of the program. For degree programs which have a published minimum of 120 credits, students may receive financial aid for a maximum of 180 attempted credits. Financial aid can be extended for programs requiring more than 120 credits. Undergraduate students seeking a second degree may receive financial aid for an additional 90 credits. Graduate students are allowed a total of 54 credits.
Standards of academic progress are monitored once a year at the end of the spring semester. Students who fail to meet these standards will be denied financial aid.

What if a student does not meet the Standards of Academic Progress

Students may reinstate their eligibility by earning an academic standing which meets the above minimum criteria.
Students may appeal their unsatisfactory progress status if they have extenuating circumstances. If their appeal is approved, students are allowed to receive additional financial aid on a contract basis and are monitored after every semester until they have reached the minimum standards.

Note: A student who is on academic warning or probation but has met the financial aid standards of progress may continue to receive aid. Students who are on suspension cannot receive financial aid.

Falling below full time status
Students may receive financial aid as part time students, although for most aid program students need to be at least half time.

Students often ask if their financial aid will be cut off or reduced when withdrawing from a class results in part time status. Students’ financial aid is based on their ENROLLED credits, determined at the end of the drop period (the first two weeks of the semester for fall and spring). If they change their enrolled credits after their aid is disbursed (generally on the first day of classes), their financial aid will be adjusted, if appropriate. In some cases, this may mean the student must repay some of the aid received.

If students drop a class after the add/drop period, their aid is not adjusted because they will continue to pay tuition for that class. Students will, however, want to be aware of the satisfactory progress policy and the need to complete at least 67% of the credits for which they enroll.

Withdrawing totally from the University
Federal regulations regarding financial aid state that students who withdraw from the university before 60% of the semester has been completed may be required to repay a prorated amount of their financial aid.

If students complete 20% of the semester before they withdraw, 80% of the aid must be repaid.
For students who complete 50% of the semester, 50% of their aid must be repaid.
Students who withdraw after completing 60% of the semester, however, will not have to repay any financial aid, although satisfactory progress will be a concern. Note: This applies only to students withdrawing totally from the university.

Students with questions about the withdrawal policy should be referred to the Financial Aid Office. Students wanting to have their repayment calculated should be referred to the Cashier’s Office.

Internships and Financial Aid
Students who have full time internships (working 30 or more hours per week), but are only enrolled in fewer than full time credits, can be considered full time students for financial aid.

Special Students
Students admitted as special students are not eligible for financial aid.