Keeping Your Financial Aid
There are two ways of putting your financial aid in jeopardy: failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress and withdrawal from school. In addition, online, term-based students must also consider midpoint requirements in order to keep their Financial Aid.
SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS FINANCIAL AID POLICY
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards ensure that each student is successfully completing their coursework and can continue to receive financial aid. The U.S. Department of Education requires that ALL students who receive financial assistance make real and measurable progress in the academic program in which they are enrolled. Husson University must establish, publish, and apply standards to monitor each student’s progress toward completing their degree program. SAP affects all federal and state aid, as well as most forms of need-based institutional aid, including the Husson employee tuition waiver.
To be and to remain eligible for financial aid, you must meet specific minimum thresholds in both cumulative GPA and cumulative credit-hour-completion rate as seen below:
Undergraduate Students:
|
Credits Attempted |
Cumulative GPA Minimum |
Completion rate: Completed credits ÷ attempted credits = a minimum of: |
|
1-23 (Freshman) |
1.50 |
67% |
|
24-53 (Sophomore) |
1.70 |
67% |
|
54-83 (Junior) |
1.80 |
67% |
|
84+ (Senior) |
2.0 |
67% |
Graduate Students:
|
Credits Attempted |
Cumulative GPA Minimum |
Completion rate: Completed credits ÷ attempted credits = a minimum of: |
|
Doctorate of Pharmacy |
2.0 |
67% |
|
All other Graduate Programs |
3.0 |
67% |
If you fail to meet the required minimum GPA and/or completion standards, you will be placed on a SAP Warning for one semester/payment period. You may still receive financial aid during your Warning period.
- If you attain the required GPA and/or completed credits percentage standards by the end of your Warning period, you will no longer be on a SAP Warning.
- If you fail to meet the required minimum GPA and/or credit hour completion rate at the end of your Warning period, you will be disqualified from using financial aid in subsequent semesters.
If you were placed on SAP Warning in a previous payment period and continued to fall below minimum requirements at the end of that Warning period, you will be placed on SAP Disqualification, causing the loss of financial aid eligibility going forward. You will receive an email from the Financial Aid Office notifying you of your SAP Disqualification. You have two options on a SAP Disqualification:
- You may appeal the Disqualification (details below)
- You may continue without the benefits of financial aid. You will still be responsible for finding a way to pay your student account charges if you decide not to appeal. Other ways to pay include a payment plan (https://mycollegepaymentplan.com/husson) or private education student loans (elmselect.com).
You may appeal your SAP Disqualification status. All appeals must complete this form before our SAP Appeal Committee can review your appeal. Incomplete forms will not be considered for an appeal.
Requirements for this form include:
- A statement that discusses the circumstances that kept you from meeting SAP requirements, and what you will change or do differently in order to foster academic success moving forward. Circumstances for an appeal can include, but are not limited to:
- The death of a relative
- Injury or illness of the student
- Other special circumstances, such as:
- Family difficulties, such as divorce or illness
- Interpersonal problems with friends, roommates, significant others, etc.
- Difficulty balancing school and work, athletics, family responsibilities, etc.
- Financial difficulties.
- An academic plan which must be completed with your academic advisor
It is recommended that you submit your SAP appeal as soon as you are notified that you have been placed in SAP suspension. The final deadline to submit your SAP appeal is the mid-point of the following semester. Incomplete appeals will not be reviewed. Once all required pieces of information are received, the SAP Appeal Committee will review your appeal within 14 business days and notify you of their decision via email.
- Class failures, withdrawals, and incompletes are considered attempted, but not completed credits for the purposes of evaluating Satisfactory Academic Progress.
- Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reinstatement of your eligibility.
- There is no limit on the number of times you may appeal a SAP disqualification.
- ALL credits attempted and earned will be included when calculating your maximum attempted credits, GPA, and completed credits percentage.
- If you change majors, the credits you earn under all majors will be included in your GPA calculation as well as the calculation of credits you have attempted and earned.
- If you take undergraduate courses while you are a graduate student, credits you earn will be included in your GPA, completed credits, and maximum attempted credits.
Withdrawal from School Financial Aid Policy
If you register and then withdraw from all classes, your eligibility for aid will be recalculated based on the number of days you attended class.
- If you withdraw from all classes prior to the first class day, any financial aid received will be returned.
- If you withdraw on or after the first class day, including administrative withdrawals, you may have to repay a portion of any financial aid received.
- If you withdraw, you should consult the definition of Satisfactory Academic Progress to determine if your withdrawal will affect your eligibility for future aid.
- If you are withdrawing from classes, you should contact the Center for Student Success to start the process. After the paperwork has been completed and signed by all parties, it will be processed and any refund calculations will be based on your last date of attendance.
- Students are notified of refund requirements via policies on the Husson University website, in the student handbook, and in the college catalog.
The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 changed the formula for calculating the amount of aid a student and school can retain when the student withdraws from all classes (Consumer Information 34 CFR 668.22). This law specifies how Husson University must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that you earn if you withdraw from school. The Title IV programs that are covered by this are: Federal Pell Grants, Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, and Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).
Though your aid is posted to your account at the start of each semester/term, you earn the funds as you complete the semester. If you withdraw during your period of enrollment, the amount of the Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or Husson or your parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by Husson University and/or by you.
If a refund is due by the school, it will be made to the appropriate Title IV fund within 45 days of the date of official withdrawal or within 45 days of the date of determination of withdrawal if the student does not officially withdraw.
The order of Title IV refunds is as follows:
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
- Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
- Federal Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG
The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a prorated basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your period of enrollment, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.
If you did not receive all of the funds you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If your post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, Husson must get your permission before it can disburse them. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you don't incur additional debt (which we highly encourage). We may automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room/board charges. Husson needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal disbursement for all other school charges. If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in the best interest to allow us to keep the funds to reduce your debt at the school.
If you receive (or Husson or parent receives on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:
- Husson charges are multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
- The entire amount of excess funds.
We must return this amount even if you didn't keep this amount of your Title IV program funds. If Husson is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a Direct PLUS Loan) repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you make a scheduled payment to the holder of the loan over a period of time.
Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with Student Accounts or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.
The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that Husson has. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. Husson may also charge you for any Title IV program funds that the school is required to return. Please refer to Husson’s Institutional Refund policy for refund percentage schedules.
If you have any questions about your Title IV program funds, you can call Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1.800.4.FEDAID (1.800.433.3243). TTY users may call 1.800.730.8913. Information is also available on Student Aid at www.studentaid.gov.
Midpoint Review for Online Students
Financial aid for online students is processed on a Borrower-Based Academic Year.
Undergraduate students who receive financial aid must complete a minimum of 21 weeks of instruction and 12 credits at the end of 3 terms. After every 3 completed terms, the Office of Financial Aid must review students to make sure they are meeting this minimum standard in order to continue to receive financial aid.
Graduate students who receive financial aid must complete a minimum of 21 weeks of instruction and 9 credits at the end of 3 terms. After every 3 completed terms, the Office of Financial Aid must review students to make sure they are meeting this minimum standard in order to continue to receive financial aid.
Avoid losing your aid by working with your advisor to ensure that you are enrolled in the correct number of credits.