<p>I was tipped off on another thread that applying chunks of credit for IB diploma or lots of AP classes can impact the aid that the student can recieve down the line. Will work study or subsidized loans become unavailable senior year if the student still takes 3.5 or 4 years to graduate? Looking at a student with a likely science major where it is difficult to compress the timeline, could we get burned in 3 years with limited aid?</p>
<p>I don’t know about the answer to your question, but in a related note, we have been advised (if S goes to our state university) to hold back at least one graduation requirement for senior year, because he wants to take graduate level courses as a junior and senior and the university has asked students to graduate at the end of junior year if they have fulfilled requirements.</p>
<p>The same strategy may work for holding on to financial aid all four years.</p>
<p>Quote a FA guide: “Eligibility [for fin aid] can also be terminated when the credit hours reqired for a specific degree/program are earned or the student has attempted greater than 150% of the credit ours required for a specific degree program.” </p>
<p>Is this what you’re asking? If AP/IB credits can put a student over that 150%-or whatever cut-off the institution has set? I suppose they could and you might be denied aid that last year. In the above case, the word “can” seems to give some wiggle room. I hope nobody gets cut off after 3 years because of boatload of APs, but I suppose it could happen. Wonder if dual enrollment would be treated the same way?</p>
<p>If you are applying a “boatload” of AP, I would think that most of those credits would be used to fulfill general education requirements at most colleges. If you had a bunch of AP credits, you could theoretically take fewer credits each semester of college (and still graduate on-time) than you would if you had to to start with no credits at all, which would result in a substantially lower overall tuition bill (unless you attend one of the few schools that charge flat-rate for full-time tuition). Think of it this way: Your degree might require 16 credit hours per semester of study in order to graduate on-time, but you may only have to take 12 credit hours because your AP credits count toward some of your requirements. You are theoretically saving the cost of 4 credit hours per semester, and that could add up to many thousands of dollars over 4 years. Most scientific/technical degrees will span 4 years of study, anyway, because those programs tend to have a lot of classes that are presented in a specific sequence with many prerequisites. By taking a lighter courseload, I think you would have a hard time reaching any 150% limit your school might impose. You could probably take a part-time schedule senior year of college and still fullfill your graduation requirements; doing this would give you more time to possibly get a paid internship or at least a better part-time job to help cover expenses.</p>