I’ve been going to school over the last several years at a local community college in which I finally have graduated from this summer with an Associates in Business Administration. Throughout my time there I had changed majors multiple times where I have now taken many classes that are no longer needed for what I have decided to pursue. I have earned 121 credits through this community college. In Spring 2020 they notified me that I had reached the Max Time Frame and I had to file an appeal and basically promise I would finish my degree in the next 2 semesters and transfer to a university. I have decided to pursue a degree from the University of Minnesota in Accounting beginning this Fall. I have been accepted and have enrolled in classes that will begin next month. A few of the general business classes that I have taken and the general education requirements will transfer toward my degree, however I believe before I am finished with the degree requirements I will be over the Max Time Frame of 180 credits that is 150% of the 120 credit requirement for a Bachelors degree.
Has anybody been in this situation before that would be able to shed some insight on this? Even if I no longer qualify for aid once I reach 180 credits, do schools generally allow students to continue on until they finish even if they pay out of pocket for the remaining courses? I don’t believe it would be very many that I would need to pay for without aid, but it would be very disappointing if they didn’t let me finish my degree because of this. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!
You can finish your degree; you will have to pay out of pocket because you would no longer eligible for aid.
You should also check the tuition rate at which you will be charged, some schools will charge you the OOS rate when you have leveraged all your instate taxpayer subsidized tuition credits.
You should sit down with an adviser and go through the actual 4 yr plan of your desired degree and see what your credits actually count for, I assume you are instate and your CC is in the same state?
Thanks for your replies! My biggest worry was that I would not be allowed to finish my degree. Would taking out a private student loan still be an option once I have exhausted federal loans?
Yes, you can still borrow private loans.
I second the suggestion to meet with an academic advisor. Once you do that, be sure to stick to the plan so you can maximize your federal aid eligibility & finish school with the least amount of borrowing possible.
Thanks for your reply! I have used FAFSA each year for school and I used to qualify for the Pell grant that would help with a big portion of what I owed and the rest I would pay out of pocket. This year when I filled out my FAFSA, I didnt receive any grant money at all and I am having to take out loans to cover the entire tuition. I’m an independent student receiving zero help from family to pay for school yet my EFC was calculated at over $7000. I dont understand how they come up with that amount when I have no help.
I will definitely meet with my academic advisor, thank you!
Is this the first year you are considered independent for financial aid? Low income students who are working their way through school sometimes find that their EFC shoots way up when they become independent. This is because a large percentage of an independent student’s income is expected to go toward educational costs. How much money did you earn in 2018?
What kind of jobs have you had while you have been studying? Is there any chance you could get a job at your new university? Often staff members can take a certain number of credits for free each semester. I know several people who completed their degrees that way.