The general eligibility requirements for Federal Aid include that a student be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen, be enrolled in an eligible degree or certificate program and demonstrate financial need (derived from the FAFSA). Students planning on securing student loans must be enrolled at least half-time to be eligible for funding. Additional enrollment eligibility requirements are discussed below.
Adjustment of Financial Aid
Because aid is pro-rated based upon enrollment, adding or dropping a class can affect a student’s eligibility for aid. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will adjust a student's financial aid for a specific term up until the end of the 100% refund period. On that date, we will freeze a student's aid for the semester and cease adjustment for registration changes. Keep in mind, however, that while dropping classes after the refund period may not affect your aid for the semester, it will negatively impact your Satisfactory Academic Progress standing.
If a student becomes aid eligible after the refund period, that aid will be paid based upon the enrollment at the time of disbursement.
For students who have received Title IV aid, that aid will be adjusted after the 100% refund date in cases where a student completely withdraws from classes, or receives a non-attendance F in a class originally counted towards their eligibility for aid. In such situations, a student may owe money back for aid received, but not earned. Students receiving Title IV aid will need to meet with a financial aid counselor if he/she is completely withdrawing from the university prior to completing 60% of the semester for which the aid was provided.
Repeated Classes and Eligibility
Under new regulations, students passing a course with a grade of D or above can retake the same course only one more time to receive financial aid for that course. Courses taken for a third time are no longer eligible for financial aid. The new regulations impact Federal Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Work Study, Stafford Loans and PLUS Loans.
Audit Coursework
The degree seeking requirement prohibits aid to be disbursed for classes that are audited. As audited classes do not count towards a degree, they will not count towards the consideration of student aid.