Financial Aid Policies

Definitions:

Procedure for Federal Programs (Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work-Study, Federal Direct (Student) Subsidized/unsubsidized Loan, Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan) and Private Alternative Loans, effective May 2011:

1. Point of Evaluation:
   1. SAP in four-year and two-year programs is evaluated at the end of each academic year (May).
   2. SAP in programs of one year or less is evaluated after each semester of attendance.
   3. All semesters of attendance will be considered, regardless of when the student first enrolled or first received financial aid.
2. SAP GPA: 
   1. At each evaluation, the student must achieve a SAP GPA of at least 2.00.
   2. Courses that will be calculated in the SAP GPA are all courses completed by the student or used in the student’s most recent educational program (at the time of the SAP review).
   3. This calculation is done by dividing the number of grade points by the total number of credits for which the student has earned a grade of ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, or ‘F’.
   4. SAP GPA is taken to two decimal places and is not rounded up. For example, if a calculated SAP GPA is 2.268, the published GPA is 2.26 and not 2.27.
   5. The highest earned grade is used in cases where a student repeats a previously completed course.
   6. No other grades, such as for completed courses not needed for a student's program, are used in the calculation.
   7. SAP GPA is not calculated in the same manner as Graduation GPA.
3. Timeframe and Pace of Completion 
   1. Students may receive aid for a timeframe of up to 150% of the published credit hours for their educational program. For example, if a program requires 120 credit hours to complete, a student may receive financial aid for up to 180 credit hours in that program.
   2. Pace of Completion is calculated by dividing cumulative credit hours earned by cumulative credit hours attempted in the educational program. Pace of at least 66.67% is required to meet the 150% timeframe requirement. For example, a student who has earned 40 out of 50 credits attempted in her program has a pace of 4/5, or 80%. Pace is rounded to two decimal places.
4. Course and Credit Requirements
   1. Only courses in the current educational program for which a student receives a grade of A, B, C, D, S are counted as credits attempted and earned toward SAP. Courses for which a student receives a grade of F, W, I, SP, Z, R, U or T are counted as credits attempted but not as credits earned toward SAP.
   2. Credit hours from another institution that are accepted toward a student’s current educational program are counted as both credits attempted and earned.
   3. Credits earned for repeated courses within a student’s educational program, as well as the original attempts, are counted in the Pace of Completion calculation.  
      Note: A student may receive federal financial aid a maximum of two (2) times when repeating a previously passed course (taken at Penn College or transferred in).
   4. Only courses applicable to a primary educational program (major) are considered for students enrolled in dual degrees, dual (multiple) majors, and minors.
   5. Credits earned through Advanced Placement (AP), College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), DANTES Subject Standardized Test (DSST) and other similar proficiency tests are counted as credits attempted and earned in determining Pace of Completion.
   6. Developmental credits are included except for any that are not needed for a student’s most recent program.
5. Program Changes:
   • A student who changes programs two or more times (enters a third different program) is ineligible for aid pending further review by the Director of Financial Aid or designee.
6. Financial Aid Unsatisfactory Academic Progress – Ineligibility:
   • A student who does not meet the above conditions for SAP is no longer eligible to receive federal financial aid and may not be eligible for private alternative loans. Eligibility for federal aid and private alternative loans is restored when the student again demonstrates SAP.
7. Appeal Process for Financial Aid Probation
   1. A student may request reconsideration of eligibility for financial aid based on death of a relative, injury or illness of the student, or other special circumstances that prevented the student from achieving SAP. The student must submit a detailed, written appeal to the Financial Aid Office which includes the following information:
      • Full name and Penn College Student ID number.
      • An explanation of why the student failed to achieve SAP.
      • An explanation of what has changed in the student’s situation that will allow the student to demonstrate SAP by the end of the next semester.
      • Details that define the student’s plan to ensure future SAP.
      • The course numbers, if any, of courses that you plan to repeat.
   2. The appeal must be submitted by the student via the Financial Aid Office site on myPCT Portal.
      Contact the Financial Aid Office with any questions.
   3. The Director or designee may request documentation to support the appeal and may also request a face-to-face meeting with the student.
   4. Appeals should be submitted promptly. An appeal received and/or reviewed after a semester for which a student was ineligible because of SAP will not enable a student to receive a Federal Pell Grant, FSEOG, or Federal Work-study for that prior semester. The same is true for Federal Direct Loans unless a student is enrolled in a semester (during the same academic year) following the one s/he requests Direct Loan funds.
   5. The Director or designee will inform students in writing and usually by e-mail of the decision on the appeal. This notification will include any conditions under which an exception has been made or will explain the reason for denying the appeal and detail the action necessary for a student to regain eligibility. A student may request a review of this decision in a meeting between the student, the Director of Financial Aid and the Associate Director of Financial Aid.
8. Grade Changes 
   • Grade changes that occur after a SAP review do not impact SAP GPA or Pace of Completion until the time of the next SAP review. A common example is an 'I' grade that is initially assigned for a course that is completed/passed after the most recent review. The only exception is a grade change due to a correction in the original grade. Once the Financial Aid Office learns of a corrected grade, it will determine what impact, if any, the corrected grade will have on the student's most recent SAP review.
9. Academic Probation and Academic Renewal
   1. A student on Academic Probation or Renewal as defined by Academic Affairs may continue to receive financial aid but is subject to the requirements for SAP as defined above. The Financial Aid Office will not require a separate appeal letter from the student.  The appeal documentation will reside in the Academic Affairs office for Program Review and auditing purposes.

Pennsylvania State Grant Program Satisfactory Academic Progress (PSG SAP) Policy (subject to revision by PHEAA)

PA State Grant Satisfactory Academic Progress (PSG SAP):

1. Students must successfully complete at least 12 credits for each full-time semester and at least 6 credits for each part-time semester during which PA State Grants were received.
2. Developmental (remedial) credits, in many instances, do not count toward the credits required for PSG SAP. Remedial credits can only count toward PSG SAP if taken during a semester for which a student was granted a Remedial Exception and used toward the minimum number (12 for full-time or 6 for part-time) of credits needed.
3. A course previously passed during a semester with a PA State Grant will not count in the PSG SAP calculation if taken and passed again.
4. PHEAA mandates the responsibility of checking PSG SAP to the institution of attendance. As a result, students typically initially receive an award notification from PHEAA before the Financial Aid Office can review for PSG SAP.

PSG SAP will be evaluated beginning in May (after grades are posted for the Spring Semester) for all students who previously received one or more PA State Grants, will be enrolled for the current or upcoming year, and have been tentatively awarded a PA State Grant for the upcoming year.

1. Students who were awarded a PA State Grant(s) during the previous academic year, including summer semester, will be evaluated for credits earned during that year.
2. Students who were awarded a PA State Grant(s) prior to the previous academic year will be evaluated for credits earned during and since that year.
3. The Financial Aid Office must review official college transcripts with final grades to determine PSG SAP for students whose most recent PA State Grant(s) was received while at another institution. It is the responsibility of students to ensure that an official transcript from a prior institution(s) is mailed to the Financial Aid or Admissions Offices.
4. PA State Grants received 10 or more years prior to the current academic year are exempt from the PSG SAP review.
5. Students are responsible to inform the Financial Aid Office of any grade change that occurs after the PSG SAP review if s/he believes the change will impact the most recent review.
6. Students who have not achieved PSG SAP will be ineligible for additional PA State Grants until the semester after they have earned additional credits to demonstrate PSG SAP. Any 'additional' credits must be non-developmental and must be earned from an approved Pennsylvania State Grant or Federal Title IV institution in order to be considered toward PSG SAP.
7. Students who believe that they had mitigating circumstances that prevented them from achieving SAP may appeal PHEAA's academic progress decision. Appeals must be made in writing and are reviewed only by PHEAA. As part of the appeal process, students first need to contact the Financial Aid Office for more information.

Non-Pennsylvania State Grant programs may have different Satisfactory Academic Progress guidelines. Students should refer to their state grant award letters for program-specific requirements.

Payment period – the total number of calendar days that a student is scheduled to complete prior to ceasing attendance, including breaks in enrollment of less than five days.Note: During fall or spring semester, the entire semester is usually the payment period.

Module – a course that does not span the entire payment period.

Withdrawal – a student is considered to have withdrawn if the student does not complete all the days in the payment period that the student was scheduled to complete prior to ceasing attendance.

Payment period completed – the total number of calendar days within the payment period that a student completed prior to ceasing attendance, including breaks in enrollment of less than five days.

Percentage of the payment period completed – 'payment period completed' divided by 'payment period'.

Academically-related activity – examples include: taking an exam, interactive tutorial, online instruction (not just logging on), submitting an assignment, or attending a study group assigned by the College, etc. Academic counseling and academic advising are not considered academically-related activities.

When a student withdraws, ceases attending, or is administratively withdrawn during a semester, the College is required by Federal regulation to determine the amount of Title IV grant or loan assistance (Federal Pell, FSEOG, Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loan, Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan) that the student earned as of the student's withdrawal date. The unearned portion of the Title IV aid must be returned to the appropriate Title IV program(s).

Adjustments to a student's enrollment status made after the student ceases attendance have no bearing on the Return of Title IV Funds requirements.

• If prior to ceasing attendance, a student drops modules that have not yet started, the dropped modules will not be included when determining the student's payment period. Eligibility for Title IV funds may need to be recalculated.
• If a student drops modules that have not yet started, after ceasing attendance in all courses, the dropped modules will be included in determining the student's payment period.

• The date a student officially notifies the Registrar's Office, in writing or in person, of his or her intent to withdraw or,
• If a student ceases attendance without providing official notification to the Registrar's Office, the withdrawal date will be the last date of attendance as determined from faculty attendance records
  • For online courses, the last date of attendance is determined by the last date of participation in an academically-related activity.

• Penn College does not use a 'R2T4 Freeze Date' for the purpose of the withdrawal determination process.
• If a student fails to complete all modules scheduled for a semester, the student is considered a withdrawal at the time the student ceases attendance.
• If a student withdraws from a module but indicates in writing to the Financial Aid Office that he or she will attend a later module during the same semester, the student is not considered a withdrawal.
  • If the student fails to attend the later module, the date of withdrawal reverts to the original withdrawal from the prior module. The later module will be included in the period of enrollment.
• Without written confirmation of the student's intent to attend a later module in the same semester, a student who withdraws from a module or has ceased attendance is considered a withdrawal.
• If a student begins but fails to complete the final module(s) in a semester, the student is considered to have withdrawn.
• If a student receives a failing grade for the final module(s) in a semester, the College must determine if the student ceased attending and is therefore considered a withdrawal.
• The Return of Title IV Funds process will begin as soon as possible after it is determined that a student has withdrawn or ceased attendance. If the student returns for a later module in the payment period, the Return of Title IV Funds will be reversed.

• Based on the withdrawal date, the College determines the percentage of the payment period completed.
• Earned Title IV aid is calculated using the percentage of the payment period completed.
  • If a student completes more than 60% of the days he or she was scheduled to complete, the student is considered to have earned 100% of the Title IV grants or awards for the semester.
  • Earned Title IV aid may not be sufficient to cover the College charges and a balance due may result.
• Unearned Title IV aid is the remaining Title IV aid that the student did not earn based on the date of withdrawal.
  • All unearned Title IV aid must be returned to the specific Federal program.

The responsibility to repay the unearned Title IV funds to specific Federal programs is shared by the College and the student.

• Federal regulation requires that Title IV financial aid be used to cover only the length of time the student was enrolled before withdrawal, dismissal, or ceasing attendance.
• The College's share is the lesser of:
  • The total amount of unearned Title IV funds; or
  • Institutional (College) charges incurred for the billing period multiplied by the percentage of aid that was unearned.
• The College's share is allocated among the Title IV programs in the following order of return:
  1. Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
  2. Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan
  3. Federal Direct PLUS Loan
  4. Federal Pell Grant
  5. Federal SEOG
  6. Other Title IV assistance for which a return of funds is required
• The student's share is the difference between the unearned Title IV funds and the College's share.
• Timeframe for the Return of Title IV Funds to the Federal programs:
  • Return of Title IV Funds process will begin as soon as possible after it is determined that a student has withdrawn or ceased attendance.
  • The College must determine the withdrawal date for a student who withdrew without providing notification no later than 30 days after the end of the semester.
  • The College must return funds no later than 45 days after the date the College determined that the student withdrew.

Additional information from PHEAA about distance education.

Developmental credits, in most cases, cannot be used toward the calculation. Only when a student has been granted a Remedial Exception for a semester can (some) developmental credits be included in the calculation. PHEAA policy permits Remedial Exceptions when:

• A full-time student has 6-11 non-developmental credits.
• A part-time student has 3-5 non-developmental credits.
• A student's prior number of Remedial Exceptions** is not greater than .50 for full-time students or .75 for part-time students.

**0.50 = 1 full-time semester Remedial Exception. Students with prior Remedial Exceptions can view the cumulative total of exceptions from the 'PA State Grant Breakdown' section of the 'View Financial Aid Information' page of SIS.

Hybrid courses combine classroom and distance learning and are identified by Penn College course section numbers of 97 or 98 or 99. Academic schools inform the Registrar’s Office of the percentage of distance learning instruction and this percentage is available for students to view when scheduling. As long as a hybrid course consists of 50% or more classroom instruction, it is considered (by PHEAA) as a classroom course. Hybrid courses that consist of more than 50% distance learning instruction are considered as distance learning courses. Refer to the instruction breakdown provided for individual hybrid courses on the 'Search Course Offerings' information provided on the Registrar's Web page and my PCT Portal page.

If you have questions about PHEAA's Distance Learning policy and/or how it might impact your eligibility for PA State Grants, don't hesitate to contact the Financial Aid Office.

Yes. A withdrawal is not a 'completed' attempt.

Yes. Federal aid cannot be awarded for a course that you passed once during a semester when you had one or more types of federal aid, completed in a 2nd attempt (again with federal aid), and plan to take a 3rd time.

We must base your Pell Grant award on 11 (14 total minus 3 ineligible) credits, and your account will be credited with an 11 credit enrollment intensity Pell Grant.

We must base your eligibility on 4 (7 total minus 3 ineligible) credits. Since a minimum of 6 credits is required to be eligible for a Direct Loan, we will cancel your Direct Loan.