My daughter would be starting UA with about half her total credits done, through AP and dual enrollment. She would like to spend four years in college, and has plenty of ideas for filling that time - second major, etc. Are there scenarios under which she would have to graduate in fewer than four years?
Depends on majors. What major is she?
Math
No, she will not be forced to graduate before 4 years and it does not depend on major. Your daughter should look at University Scholars or perhaps the STEM MBA if she’s a STEM student.
If she will go for a second major, the credit requirement may be higher. There is an assumption to “double-dip” certain classes, but I don’t think that is required.
I believe that if she just took things that weren’t required, let’s say art or music, each semester, she could easily stretch out her degree to four years. No one will make her stay “on track” to graduate early.
can FA become a problem? I think the formula is 150% of the hrs required for the degree is the maximum. However, we have never used FA, so I don’t know if it counts credits that were earned prior to freshman yr. Does anyone know for sure?
What FA would she be getting ? If FA is merit or loans or Pell, then no problem.
She has a Presidential Scholarship. Maybe pre-med, and in CBH.
That isn’t really FA. That is a merit scholarship. She gets 8 semesters. She’ll be fine.
@mom2collegekids Thanks! Decision time is near, so I want to have all my data together…
There are so many NMFs, presidential scholarship holders, etc, that are coming in with tons of AP/IB/DE credits. I know that my older son graduated with about 187 credits.
I think the problem occurs when too many credits are earned after HS graduation. The ones earned before don’t seem to hurt a student at Bama.
Eligibility for federal aid generally earns at 180 attempted credits. AP, IB, CLEP, and transfer credit all count towards this requirement, though graduate level classes do not. Federal aid is not rescinded should the student cross over the 180 credit mark during a semester in which federal aid was used. There is an appeals process.
Some universities require students to graduate once they have taken all the courses required for a degree. UA does not do this and allows students to continue as students provided they don’t apply for graduation from that degree program.
I graduated UA with over 200 credits and received an email each semester during my last two years about being close to the eligibility limit for federal aid. I scheduled my classes such that I would not go over the limit until my final semester and didn’t take 1 or 2 required courses until my final semester just to be sure.
UA’s merit scholarships are good for 8, sometimes 10 semesters and have no limits beyond maintaining a required GPA and being an undergraduate student, though exceptions for the latter are made for students during their final two semesters.
I was a senior for 7 of my 8 semesters at UA. 
Thanks much! No worries, then. I love it, @SEA_tide, that you were a senior nearly your whole time at UA.
^ and he graduated with his masters before graduating with his bachelors.