<p>After finding out I was getting some pretty good grants months ago, I got a second letter recently that said my award was being withheld since I took Spring 2009 off to work. Though I could have had half my tuition paid via federal loan ($2000), it was a highly unstable time for my finances to pay for the other $2000. The co-signer, my father, refused to co-sign another bank loan and I was unable to apprehend one for the other half of tuition ($2000) in time and, therefore, took the semester off to work and save up money instead.</p>
<p>I am now ready to go back this fall and finish my degree with a much better financial aid package, but it's been hindered by this hold.</p>
<p>According to this recent notice, I can get the award back, but I need to provide a compelling enough reason to appeal to the Financial Aid Board. Though I'm telling the truth, I want to be fully prepared and not destroy any chance of getting my grants back. </p>
<p>Thanks for any and all help.</p>
<p>I would like to offer advice, but I am not quite sure what you mean. You state that taking the time off to work made you lose grants. For what semester did you lose the grants? Please start again … when did you receive the information that you would have these grants? What semesters did you attend during the 2008-09 school year? How many credits did you take in the semesters you attended? Exactly what grants did you have?</p>
<p>The grants would be for this coming school year: Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. I received this information shortly after submitting the FAFSA this past spring. During 2008-09, I only attended fall 2008 during which I took 16 credits.</p>
<p>I still don’t quite understand. Generally, when you are told to file an appeal, it is related to something like not meeting satisfactory academic progress standards. Usually, this is due to gpa too low, failure to complete at least 67% of the classes you began, or having taken more than 150% of the credits required for a degree without actually completing the degree. Do any of these apply for you? I know that some of the students I deal with do not understand that we are withholding aid due to SAP - they think it is related to something else. </p>
<p>Perhaps your school has some other policy that governs the receipt of aid. If you would like to pm me the name of your school, I can search the website to see what their aid policies say & maybe tell you what happened in your case.</p>
<p>I PMed you, but I’m not sure if it worked…</p>