Associate Director of Financial Aid MASFAA 2017 What Faculty Advisors and Deans Need to Know About Financial Aid November 15, 2017 Allene Begley Curto Associate Director of Financial Aid Springfield College

We Will: Present an overview of the areas that impact financial aid eligibility and require interaction with other offices Academic Standing Enrollment Status Attendance Withdrawals (official and federally defined “unofficial withdrawals”) Repeat courses, Incompletes, courses that do not apply toward the degree or certificate Discuss some of the challenges and potential solutions Provide reference to regulatory requirements Offer communication strategies and list suggested offices to be included

Why We Need To Do This The Shared Goal is successful completion of the degree or certificate program It is difficult to successfully complete a program unless the student is enrolled in courses that apply toward the program, is actually participating in those courses and is making academic progress toward completion There is no federal aid (and there is not likely to be any state or institutional aid) unless the student is attending eligible courses in an eligible program 11/7/2017

Academic Standing - Federal Definitions need communication Quantitative as well as qualitative Loss of eligibility and granting of FA probation Academic Warning Academic Plans

Academic Standing Quantitative as well as qualitative Qualitative standard must be at least as strict as the standard for non-aid recipients and must be at least 2.0 after student has completed two or more years of college. Quantitative standard requires that programs be successfully completed in no more than 150% of the standard time frame. Both standards must show progress toward completion (GPA goes up not down and ratio of completed courses versus attempted courses goes up not down). For financial aid purposes all registered courses are attempted including Incompletes, Withdrawn and all separate attempts at a Repeated course.

Academic Standing FA probation and Academic Warning FA probation can be granted only if the student appeals and is approved. This requires an academic plan for approval. FA probation can be granted for more than one term if the student has met the requirements of the prior academic plans. Academic Warning status is a one term extension of financial aid eligibility. It can be granted once without appeal and without an academic plan in place. It can not be granted in two sequential terms. It can only be granted if academic progress is reviewed after each term. The approval of either status should include monitoring and interventions as needed.

Enrollment Status The institution must define full time, part time and less than half time. Full time undergraduate enrollment is expected to be at least 12 undergraduate credits per term. There is no loan eligibility in any term in which the student is enrolled at less than half time in eligible courses. Courses that do not apply toward the eligible degree or certificate do not apply to enrollment status. Federal Pell grant is based on enrollment status with differing amounts at full time, ¾ time, half time and less than half time.

Enrollment Status The institution must define its policy on Repeat courses. Financial aid can not be allowed more than once for a course that was previously passed. Many state grants and other scholarships and grants require full time enrollment. They may define full time but if not, the official college definition of full time will be used. Students will go into repayment or may use part of the grace period before repayment on federal educational loans if enrollment is below half time. This is true even if the student is working on Incompletes, preparing a paper or completing any other academic activity while not officially enrolled.

Attendance There is no eligibility for financial aid for a course in which the student did not begin attendance. If a student stops attending all courses during a term, we must perform a federal calculation to determine if any federal aid must be returned. If a student does not pass at least one course (that spans the term), we must research last date attended and determine if the federal calculation is required. Modules within terms are treated separately (and in a fairly complex manner).

Withdrawals and the Return of Federal Aid The federal calculation determines aid that is “earned” by the student based on courses in which they began attendance and the last date attended before withdrawal. The federal calculation looks at aid that is disbursed and aid that “could have been disbursed”. The requirement to return federal aid or offer post- withdrawal disbursements of aid does not care if there is a tuition credit after withdrawal nor does it care if the return creates a balance. Federal aid can not be used to pay a balance from a prior award year so a balance from return of federal funds can possibly create a financial obstacle that will prevent a student from graduating.

Key Points What we need to communicate: There is no aid eligibility if a student does not begin attendance (academic activity) in an eligible course that applies toward an eligible program. Financial Aid rules are almost always federal requirements and rarely able to be waived by the financial aid office. Students must be well informed on the rules so that informed decisions can be made and unpleasant outcomes avoided whenever possible. We need to develop ways that share the information between offices so that we can better assist students. We need to monitor the potential problems to offer interventions that will help the student get back on track.

Challenges Perceptions that the issues are solely a financial aid responsibility Concerns about sharing data that is student specific – who has the right to know? Federal requirements are usually not a “match” to institutional requirements All offices and departments are concerned about adequate resources

Who Needs to Be Involved? Financial Aid Office Registrar Academic Counseling Student Services Faculty, Advisors and Department Heads Everyone? 11/7/2017

Strategies Ensure that others know the requirements Emphasize the benefits Understand the difficulties that others may face Communicate and collaborate to resolve Review the results Revise as needed

Where to Find More Information Information for Financial Aid Professionals http://www.ifap.ed.gov/ifap/ Federal Student Aid Handbook (Volume 1 Student Eligibility, Chapter 1 School Determined Requirements) Program Integrity Information Questions and Answers 11/7/2017

Questions? Contact me: acurto@springfieldcollege.edu