<p>I have been searching around trying to find out what the reasons are for losing access to Stafford and other federal finacial aid. I do know that it can vary from school to school in terms of meeting eligability requirements</p>
<p>My step daughter doesn't have it and we are not sure if we are getting the true story or not...it could be based on dropping classes and not maintaining high enough GPA in her freshman year and / or being considered a full time student ( though she is enrolled as such this coming semester) </p>
<p>I know that I can call the school's bursar's office next week , but wondering if anyone has any knowledge of this type of thing in the meantime</p>
<p>Each school must have a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy for federal aid. They vary a bit from school to school, but generally include:
Minimum % successful completion of all credit hours attempted. (the percentage seems to vary from school to school but I have commonly seen 67% to 75%). This is a cumulative requirement and means the required percentage of all attempted credits ever including any Fs and Ws.
A minimum GPA requirement.
A maximum number of hours attempted. Again this may vary, but a common number is around 150% of the credit hours for a degree. So for a 120 hour degree, aid would be unavailable after 180 hours.</p>
<p>Her school probably has the information published on the website somewhere. It would be the financial aid office that would probably have the guidelines, not the bursar’s office. If it is a first time problem with SAP, the student can often appeal and be put on FA probation for a year.</p>
<p>edit to add: also any drug convictions while on federal aid will lose to loss of eligibility for federal aid.</p>
<p>Before you call the bursar’s office, make sure the student has signed permission for you to speak with them. Otherwise, they won’t talk to you about her account at all.</p>
<p>Did she complete the FAFSA? Her custodial parent would have needed to provide the information needed. </p>
<p>Another possibility is that her FAFSA was selected by the college for verification and the information requested has not been sent.</p>
<p>Federal financial aid is very heavily regulated, and last year they added even more new regulations. Financial aid offices are audited annually (or should be) and if they allow students access to federal aid and are found to have violated one of the regulations, then the financial aid office will be penalized, so there’s a strong incentive to follow all the rules.</p>
<p>There are different rules for qualifying for Pell, subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans, and Parent Plus Loans, for example.</p>
<p>Reasons why someone would not continue to receive aid include:<br>
low GPA - usually 2.0 cumulative
not being a full time student for the semester (as defined by their rules)
not enough hours completed vs. attempted in a semester (withdrawing from or dropping a class after receiving aid, or not passing a class) - usually 75% of attempted
not enough hours completed vs attempted cumulative (often called Pace) - the threshold is 67% for this
Declared major - if you are working on a certificate, associate’s degree, or bachelor’s degree, there are different limits on how much aid you can receive
Student’s level/classification - higher loan limits for a sophomore vs freshman, for example
Max hours - you can’t be a perpetual student in your attempt to earn your degree, I think the limit is around 150% of the hours required for the degree
Repeat policy - won’t pay to repeat courses you’ve already completed with a passing grade; if you attempted but did not pass, limit on number of attempts
Drug conviction
Required Entrance Counseling
Signature required on a Master Promissory Note
Already received a degree
Complete Withdrawal in a term, or failing all classes in a term - may be required to return a percentage of prior aid received
Can’t receive aid from two different institutions at one time, even if you are a student at both schools - will need to do a consortium agreement instead</p>
<p>The rules for financial aid can be stricter than the academic policy of the institution - for example, the school may have an academic forgiveness policy, which allows you to wipe out a poor record and start over, but for financial aid, the prior record is not erased.</p>
<p>Your step daughter should have received some communication from the financial aid office if there was an issue. It may have been via email, if that is the official form of communication for her institution, or through a student portal (web site where the student has to sign in).</p>
<p>To find out exactly what the problem is, you need to talk to the financial aid officer at the school who will discuss your step daughter’s case with you. In order to have that happen, you need written permission from your step daughter. You can call the school and ask them to fax or email you a form that will allow them to open the file and tell you exactly what the problems are, and present this to your step daughter for signature. You should discuss all of this with her parent and decide what the consequence should be if she refuses to allow you full access to the files and get the school’s official reasons for her predicament. That consequence should be made clear, and you and your spouse need to be together on this. Under what circumstances will you replace the aid if it is indeed in some state due to your stepD’s lack of doing or doing something against the terms of the loan? </p>
<p>The bursar’s office is unlikely to be able to tell you much of anything specific. The financial aid office will have the ins and outs of the situation and suggestions as to what courses of action can be taken.</p>
<p>it could be based on dropping classes and not maintaining high enough GPA in her freshman year </p>
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<p>If she dropped classes and/or had a low GPA, this is most likely the cause. SAP rules are now very strict, as others have noted. There is likely to be an appeal process, however, so it is important your step-daughter look into this. Nothing is guaranteed, but it is worth appealing (outlining what will be done differently so that the same problems do not continue).</p>
<p>As noted, there are other reasons, as well. From your comment, though, I am betting she did not meet SAP. The financial aid office is the place to call, but as others have stated, you must have a completed FERPA release (step-daughter authorizing the school to speak to you) or they will not tell you anything.</p>
<p>What might be quicker is to ask your step-daughter to show you the communication she received. It should tell you exactly what you need to know.</p>
<p>Thanks all ! I think this is probably because of GPA and withdrawn classes from the sounds of it.
She struggles academically since she has a learning disability. She is in over her head we fear</p>
<p>" What might be quicker is to ask your step-daughter to show you the communication she received. It should tell you exactly what you need to know "</p>
<p>That sounds good in theory , but she wouldn’t necessarily grasp that…unfortunately , still to this day her mother controls all of these things for her</p>
<p>Oh, that makes it tough for you and your H. </p>
<p>Do you know how she feels about school? Does she feel like she is in over her head? If so, do you think she might be open to going to a CC for a year or two? It might be helpful for her to start out that way. The loss of financial aid at her current school is a big deal, and she needs to stop and reassess her situation.</p>
<p>In that case, he didn’t actually lose anything. Parent PLUS loans are not guaranteed, as they are credit-based. If the parent is turned down, then he/she cannot borrow a PLUS loan … but the student can at least borrow an additional $4000 in unsubsidized Direct Loan if the parent is denied a PLUS loan.</p>