<p>I have been attending my local CC for the last 1.5 years and have earned my AA degree after this fall, 2010 semester. I received a letter from the financial aid office telling me that I will no longer be eligible for financial aid for the spring semester since my degree is complete and I now no longer meet the SAP requirements. I went in, spoke with a counselor about appealing, and she told me that my degree is done and financial aid won't pay for my schooling there any more.</p>
<p>I need to take 5 more courses before I can transfer next fall to a university. Losing my financial aid now would really mess up my progress and make me struggle. I applied for scholarships through my school but it looks like I will be denied for those as well since they want the same SAP requirements as financial aid does. </p>
<p>Please help! I have a 3.5 GPA and am very close to finishing. What are my options? What can I do?</p>
<p>Part of eligibility for financial aid is that you have to be a degree seeking student at the school you are attending. The mistake you made was finishing your degree requirements before you completed all the classes you needed to transfer (you should have saved a class from your degree). My son was able to continue getting financial aid at his CC after completing his AS because he had been unable to find a job and decided to pursue a second associate degree in a field that he thought jobs would be more attainable (though 3/4 of the way through the semester he got a great job offer in his original technical field so did not continue the 2nd degree). As he was pursuing a different degree they allowed him to get aid. I don’t know if your school would allow this or not. If not you are out of options at that school. If that is their policy they are the ones making the final decision.</p>
<p>If the above idea doesn’t work of going for a different CC degree, I guess your next idea is to take the courses at a public 4 year college. I know that will be more expensive, but it should open up additional aid.</p>
<p>Thank you swimcatsmom, I will inquire about that idea and see what they tell me. I guess if it does not work I can consider going to another local community college and applying to get aid there. </p>
<p>Any other suggestions? Please post them. I am sure there are others in a similar situation that would benefit from reading this thread.</p>
<p>If you have an AA why do you need more classes before you transfer? Can you just enroll at the 4-year school and take the classes you need there? Does the university have an articulation agreement in place with your CC?</p>