1. You must first apply for a Department of Education Personal Identification Number (PIN), if you do not have one already. Apply for your PIN at www.pin.ed.gov. If you are a dependent student, please encourage your parents to apply for a PIN. The PIN simplifies the application process, enables you to make changes to your FAFSA data and allows both you and the college to get the results faster.
2. Complete your FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov. The School Code is 006191. If you prefer to complete a paper application, you may obtain one from you high school or our Financial Aid Office. You will need to file a FAFSA if you plan to file for federal, state and institutional grants and/or loans. Students must reapply for assistance each year. 

3. Federal Student Aid’s FAFSA4caster, http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov is a tool to help students and their families plan for education beyond high school. The tool will provide students with an early estimate of their eligibility for federal student aid. The students and families can use this information to help them make important decisions as they prepare and apply for college.

4. After the FAFSA submission, applicants may be required to submit additional information, including tax returns, social security and citizenship documentation.

   To receive aid, students must:

• Be accepted into a degree or eligible certificate program
• Register for at least six credits per semester
• Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress – see below

And remember that…

• Financial Aid funds cannot be used for non-credit, audit and repeat courses

Definition of Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students receiving Federal Assistance through Title IV funds should review the following definition of Satisfactory Academic Progress as it relates to Financial Aid:

 Academic Progress

• Academic progress for students receiving Title IV funding (PELL, SEOG, FWS, or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans) must conform to a written set of benchmarks in accordance with Federal Regulations.
• The College’s catalog states a student must maintain a 2.0 grade point average for satisfactory progress toward a degree.  Professional programs may require a higher standard of academic achievement.
• The Federal Government includes additional requirements.  Grade Point Average alone does not measure satisfactory academic progress.  To quantify academic progress for an undergraduate program, the maximum time frame for completion may not exceed 150% of the published length of the program measured in academic years.
• A full time student expected to complete the program in two academic years could not take more than three academic years to complete the program.  (2×1.5)
• A part time student expected to complete the program in four academic years could not take more than six years to complete the program.  (4×1.5)
• The qualitative measure the College must use is a comparison of the number of hours the student attempted with the number of hours the student successfully completed.  This increment enables the College to determine whether the student is progressing at a rate that will allow him or her to finish the program within the maximum time frame.  Students must complete 66% of course hours attempted each year to meet the qualitative measure.
• Federal or state financial aid is not available if a student needs to repeat a course if the student received federal or state financial aid the first time the course was attempted.

Loss of Financial Aid/Appeal Process

Federal or state financial aid is not available to students on academic probation.  A student must make academic progress from one year to the next year.  Academic probation will halt this progress.

• Students may file an Appeal of Reinstatement of Aid to the Financial Aid Appeals Committee if they wish to appeal a decision regarding loss of financial aid eligibility due to a lack of satisfactory academic progress.  Forms are in the Financial Aid Office.  Completed forms must be returned to the Financial Aid Office
• The Committee will review the student’s record to consider:  (1) How withdrawals, incomplete courses, repeated courses, and noncredit remedial course work would affect the student’s progress, (2) Whether or not the student plans to increase or decrease course load, and (3) Whether or not there are any mitigating circumstances.  The Committee Chairperson will notify the student in writing of the decision.  The Committee will meet prior to the commencement of the fall and spring semesters to consider requests.

Financial Aid Warning

• The student is permitted one financial aid warning sequence.  For the payment period following the payment period in which the student did not meet SAP standards, the school may choose to place the student on financial aid probation.  During this period, the student will continue to receive Title IV funding. 
• For the payment period following a payment period during which a student was on financial aid probation, the College will disburse Title IV funds only if the student is meeting the SAP standards.   

Definition of Terms

Satisfactory Academic Policies are based on the maximum timeframe.  Periodic evaluations reflect the progress necessary to complete the program within that timeframe. 

“Pace” is measured by dividing the cumulative number of hours the student has successfully completed by the cumulative number of hours the student has attempted.  Transfer credits accepted by the institution towards the student’s program are included.

Financial Aid warning is a status assigned to a student who fails to make satisfactory academic progress at a school that evaluates academic progress at the end of each payment period, and chooses to allow students who fail its progress standards to continue to receive aid.  Warning status may be assigned without an appeal or other action by the students; thus, warning status can be grantee “automatically.”

This means that students enrolled in day or evening courses (nursing, [first year], radiography and general studies) will be evaluated at the end of each semester.

Students enrolled in accelerated “spring starts, 2^nd year nursing majors, or accelerated evening courses, will be evaluated at the end of each term course.

For the payment period following a payment period during which a student was on financial aid warning and still did not meet Satisfactory Academic Progress standards, the school will place the student on financial aid probation, following the prescribed appeal procedures, and disburse title iv aid to the student.

Summer session will count as any other payment period.  For example, a school that evaluates after each term puts a student on automatic warning after the spring evaluation; the student takes summer courses.  He would have to be reevaluated at the end of the summer and either have made up the satisfactory academic progress deficiency or successfully appeal his failure to make up the deficiency in order to receive aid for the fall.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Based on two criteria:

1.) Minimum CGPA

2) Minimum credit hours successfully completed

*As stated in the catalog: “A full-time student is defined as one who carries a minimum of 12 credits per semester.”