Financial Aid

Enrollment

Matriculated students, those enrolled in an approved degree program, are eligible for financial aid. Unless otherwise noted, students must be registered at least half-time (6 credit hours per semester for undergraduate students, 5 hours for graduate students) or registered for co-op to be eligible to receive aid.


Course Load

Students with financial aid should only register for coursework required to complete their degree.

Financial aid is packaged based on full-time enrollment. Additionally, some individual aid programs are available only to students who are full-time (12 or more credit hours per semester as an undergraduate; 10 or more as a graduate student). Students who attend part-time or are on co-op should review how their enrollment will adjust aid on their bill and, in some cases, on their award offer.

Enrollment is reported by students when they accept their aid and is also reviewed in a term-by-term review for students receiving aid.

Students who co-op during the year should request that their aid be adjusted according to their co-op schedule in order to maximize each aid source.

Also, loan funds have unique posting requirements that students should understand before becoming alarmed that their loan may not be on their account.


Adding or Dropping Classes

Dropping classes or withdrawing from the university can significantly affect your aid eligibility. Federal aid recipients are subject to refund and repayment obligations that may differ from university withdrawal policies. Generally, financial aid recipients whose class load changes during the semester's refund period will have their aid prorated. A student may also be required to repay all or a portion of the aid received depending upon the point of withdrawal. Finally, review how dropping or withdrawing from classes can affect next year's aid through Satisfactory Academic Progress.

While aid will adjust with any dropping and adding of classes during the initial two weeks of the term, aid locks in on the 15th day of the term. Students who add classes after the second week will not be eligible for an aid (to include scholarships) adjustment. Any time a student is making a switch by dropping one course or section and adding another, the two actions should be done on the same day to avoid timeframe penalties.

Finally, if a student becomes eligible for aid after the 15th day, any eligibility for the term will be based upon enrollment at the time the particular aid source is disbursed.


Audit Classes

Because audit classes cannot apply to a degree program, classes taken as audit are not eligible for federal aid. State and institutional aid may also not apply.

Students looking to take audit classes should assume they will be responsible for the full cost of those courses. The enrollment will also be counted toward total hours taken when measuring a student against the Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress.


Repeat Courses

Students who take a course more than once after receiving a final (non-withdrawal) grade are limited to having it used for financial aid eligibility for the initial two enrollments. Courses taken more than twice for grade replacement purposes are not eligible for financial aid coverage.  

At the same time, each enrollment in a course that shows on a transcript (including times when you receive a withdrawal grade) is counted toward the limitations measured through Satisfactory Academic Progress.


Anticipated Aid

Prior to the term, accepted aid will show as anticipated.

If you have questions about aid that is not posting against your online bill, always check these basic reasons to self-determine the issue:

Checking these simple steps can often assist you in understanding why aid has not posted to your bill.