<p>I am working with a student who got 4 Ds at a 4 year college, and will now be going to community college second semester. She wants to know if she can "pretend" that she never went at all, so that the Ds will not be on her record. I am sort of assuming, however, that somehow the federal govt. can access her GPA, so that they will know if she continues to be eligible for F.AID. So specifically and in general, does a student have to reveal previous attendance and GPA? I would sort of assume so, since otherwise students could go on and on trying out many different colleges and failing repeatedly. </p>
<p>I have advised her that she has to disclose, AND that she needs to get 4 As so that she can float up her GPA to something decent--as well as for her future, duh!</p>
<p>NO…she can’t pretend she didn’t go at all…she DID go. Most colleges require that you submit transcripts from ALL previous college courses taken. The fact that she wants to “pretend” is a red flag…it’s not honest.</p>
This is not true at all for federal aid. It might be at some schools for their own institutional aid, or for some State programs. But it is not true for federal aid.</p>
<p>As long as a student meets SAP they can continue to receive federal aid. There is no requirement to graduate in 8 semesters.</p>
<p>Federal loans are limited by dollar amounts, not by a number of semesters. A student can continue to receive Stafford loans until they reach the aggregate maximum $$ amount. If a student received the maximum yearly amounts they would reach the maximum in four and a bit years ($5500 freshman, $6500 sophomore, $7500 3rd and 4th years, leaving $4000 still available in a 5th year). But if the student has not received the full amounts each year she can continue to be eligible for loans until she meets the aggregate maximum. </p>
<p>The Pell is actually available to an undergrad for something like 16 or 18 semesters.</p>
<p>Other campus based aid such as SEOG or WS would depend on the school’s own policies.</p>
<p>Schools do usually have a maximum amount of credits that a student can attempt and still get financial aid (it will be stated in the school’s SAP policy). It is usually around 150% of the credits required for a degree.</p>
<p>OP: Most schools require you to inform them of all classes you have taken at other colleges. It is not a good idea to lie about this as they will be able to see that the student has received aid before. Being caught in a lie would not be a good way to start at the school. The school may have some sort of academic renewal or forgiveness program.</p>
<p>“She can start fresh somewhere else without those impacting her transcript in the next college.”</p>
<p>“Not true. Anywhere she goes, she will have to report previous enrollment and provide transcripts from all previous institutions.”</p>
<p>These may both be true. If the D’s aren’t transferable, they may not show up on the new school’s transcript even if she has them sent there. Even if they are accepted as transfer credit, transfer classes don’t usually affect the gpa at the new school. Of course, anyone who needs a cumulative gpa (like grad school) will look at ALL work.</p>
I transferred 103 credits from 3 institutions into the State U. The transcript just says “103 transfer credits” without even listing the courses or what the grades or the gpa were. The transfer grades were not averaged in with the State U grades.</p>
<p>While they may not be listed in the college’s cum gpa, I believe those transferred grades may count toward SAP at the new school. IIRC, any transferred credits that would apply to her degree at the new school have to be counted in order to be in compliance with federal regs and the school’s SAP policy may be to count all grades. </p>
<p>Please make sure she has a clear understanding of what the CC’s SAP policy is, and what she needs to do in order to meet it, if FA is needed. Lots of kids have posted that they lost aid eligibility because they dropped a class, got another low grade, etc. and didn’t fully understand how SAP works and how important it is to meet those standards.</p>
<p>The student must provide a transcript to the community college and disclose that she attended another school. Not disclosing is considered misrepresentation can be grounds for her being dismissed from the community collge (yes, there will be a notation on the transcript).</p>
<p>The 4 D’s that she took at the school will most likely count toward her SAP at the new school and determine whether or not she is eligible for federal aid.</p>
<p>However, many schools will not transfer a grade lower than C. Her transcript at the new school may indicate that she has transfer courses, but she has received no credit for those courses. She will not transfer a GPA to the community college. This is a close as she is going to get to a “do over.”</p>
<p>Remember if student applies to grad/professional school she must disclose the first transcript and most likely answer the question as to whether or not she has ever been placed on academic warning, probation (with 4 D’s the mininum she received was a warning from school number 1). BY that time there will be so much distance between those first term grades and where she finishes it probably will not hurt her at all.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies. This is basically how I intuitively figured it would work. I am advising the student to follow full disclosure–but as many of us know, we cannot “make” students do things they don’t want to do. I intend to point out the consequences to her as well–thanks sybbie.</p>