Regaining Financial Aid Eligibility
Financial Aid Maximum Time Frame Situations that lead to loss of financial aid eligibility:
Qualitative Standard – Grade point average: Students may lose eligibility to receive financial aid if their quarterly GPA falls below 2.0 or their cumulative completion rate falls below 67% for two consecutive quarters. Grades of A, B, C, D, and F will contribute toward the GPA calculation. Transfer credits are not included in the GPA calculation.
Quantitative Standard- Pace: Pace measures a student’s progress in a program. Students who do not maintain at least a 67% cumulative completion rate may lose their Financial Aid eligibility. Repeated courses in which the student receives a grade of A, B, C, and D and transfer credits will be counted as completed hours. Classes in which a student receives a grade of “F” or
“W”will be counted as attempted hours but will not be counted as completed hours. Pace is calculated by dividing the cumulative number of completed hours by the cumulative number of attempted hours.
Example:
Completed Credit Hours
Attempted hours 67% Rule Completed Credit Hours
Attempted Hours 67% Rule
4 hours 6 Hours 67% 24 hours 36 hours 67%
6 hours 9 hours 67% 32 hours 48 hours 67%
8 hours 12 hours 67% 40 hours 60 hours 67%
16 hours 24 hours 67% 52 hours 78 hours 67%
20 hours 30 hours 67% 64 hours 96 hours 67%
The student will be placed in a Financial Aid Warning status the first quarter he/she does not meet the pace and/or the GPA standard.
Once on warning, the student may continue to receive Title IV financial aid (grants and guaranteed student loans). If both standards, pace and GPA, are met at the end of the next quarter the student attends while receiving aide, the warning will be removed, and the student will return to a satisfactory status.
Failure to meet the standards while on Financial Aid Warning (meaning for the 2nd consecutive quarter the student has less than a 67% cumulative completion rate and/or less than a 2.0 quarterly ( GPA) will result in the student being placed on Financial Aid Suspension at the end of the quarter. Students on suspension will NOT be eligible to receive Federal Title IV funding (grants, and guaranteed student loans).
Students on Financial Aid Suspension for not meeting pace and or/ GPA standards may regain eligibility by completing additional credit hours to raise their cumulative completion rate to at least 67% and a quarterly GPA of 2.0 or higher at PSI. Once the student has completed the hours it is necessary to contact the Director of Financial Aid for a review of their status.
Additionally students have the right to appeal the suspension by completing a Suspension Appeal Form accessible via the Director of Financial Aid. All appeals are submitted before an Suspension Committee. Criteria that could influence the committee’s decision include class attendance or unusual circumstances. Any supporting documentation should be submitted with the appeal for review (i.e. medical records, death in the family, etc.). Suspension reviews can take up to 30 days to process.
Quantitative Standard – Maximum Time Frame/mathematically unable to complete program: Federal regulations specify that the Maximum Time Frame for degree or diploma completion may not exceed 150% of the published length of the student’s degree or diploma program. For example: if the Professional Skills Institute’s Catalog list a program’s clock credit hours at 121 which is equivalent to 74.25 financial aid credit hours, Maximum Time Frame for this program would be 181.5/111.38 (121 x 150%=
181.5 or 74.25 x 150%= 111.38).
Additional examples:
Graduation Requirements Maximum Time Frame Percentage Attempted Hours Permitted Quarter Credit
Hours
Financial Aid Credit Hours
Quarter Credit Hours
Financial Aid Credit Hours
109 109 150% 163.5 163.5
87 55 150% 130.5 82.5
Return of Financial Aid Funds for Students who Withdraw
Once it has been determined that a student will not successfully complete his degree plan prior to reaching Maximum Time Frame, the student will immediately be placed on Suspension, as required by the Department of Education and PSI.
For example, a student’s degree plan requires 74.25 financial aid credit hours to complete; therefore, the maximum time frame is 111.38 hours. The student has attempted 77.5 credit hours (due to the need of repeat courses) and needs another 35.5 credit hours to graduate. The student will immediately be placed on suspension for maximum time frame, since the student would not be able to complete all 35.5 credit hours needed to graduate prior to reaching the 111.38 maximum time frame limit. Accepted transfer credit hours will be included in the calculation, even those that count toward a new program.
A student on suspension for Maximum Time Frame (mathematically unable to complete their program due to hours remaining) may submit a Suspension Review Request to the Director of Financial Aid.
The Suspension Review Request will be reviewed by the Appeals Committee. Only one (1) appeal will be considered per student.
Criteria that may influence the committee’s decision includes reason for excessive attempted hours, number of hours remaining to graduate, and overall academic history. The student will be required to meet with Director of Financial Aid to complete an academic plan which must be submitted with the suspension review request form.
All students must follow the institutional refund policy.
If a student withdraws or stops attending all of their classes within a quarter, federal financial aid regulations require that a recalculation be done on financial aid funds received for that quarter. The financial aid is recalculated based on the student’s last day of attendance and any unearned aid must be returned to the federal government. Federal financial aid is not 100% earned until the attendance has exceeded 60% of the quarter. As a result of a financial aid recalculation, a student may be responsible to pay tuition charges that were originally covered by the financial aid funds that the college was required to return, and they could also owe money directly to a grant program.
The amount of Title IV aid earned is figured by taking the percentage of enrollment that is completed times the total Title IV funds disbursed plus the Title IV that could have been disbursed by federal guidelines. The difference between disbursed and earned is the unearned portion. Any Title IV aid that is unearned must be returned. If the student does not receive the full Title IV that he/she earned, then a post-withdrawal disbursement may be made.
After determining the amount of aid that is unearned, this amount must be returned.
How is unearned aid returned?
If there is aid that is unearned, it may be the responsibility of the school and/or the student to return the funds. The institution is responsible for returning the lesser of the following:
1. Total amount of unearned aid.
2. The amount of institutional charges multiplied by the unearned aid.
The student will be notified if he/she owes unearned aid back to the federal government.
Refund Distribution Policy:
Refunds from the student accounts for unearned student aid will be repaid in the following order:
1. Direct Loan (unsubsidized) 2. Direct Loan (subsidized) 3. Direct Plus Loan 4. Pell Grant
5. WIA, PRC, BVR, other funding agencies 6. Employer
7. Student
All refunds are made within 45 days of the determinated date of withdrawal.
(For refund purposes, institutional charges according to the federal guidelines, are tuition, lab fees, textbooks, supplies, uniforms, all testing fees; including proficiency testing fees, graduation fees and student liability insurance. The Application Fee and Registration fee is fully earned by PSI.) Contact the Director of Financial Aid at PSI for additional information about the recalculation policy.
Institutional and Financial Aid Refund Policy
It is advised that each student meet with the Director of Financial Aid prior to withdrawing to discuss the possible repercussions to his/her student aid with the decision to withdraw from a course or program.
Definition of students’s last date of attendance: If a student officially withdraws from PSI, their last day of attendance is based on the instructors’ attendance record which reports the last day the student was in class. This includes classroom and lab instruction, examinations and clinical experience.
If a student stops attending classes without officially withdrawing and has not attended classes for four consecutive days, the student is terminated from his/her program. The last day of attendance is determined by the instructor’s attendance records.
If a student has received Title IV funds and stops attending classes, a recalculation is performed using their last day of attendance as determined by the instructor’s attendance records. Refunds are made within 45 days after the institution has determined that the student withdrew.
If a student withdraws from a course(s) or program, the student’s refund amount will be calculated using the Ohio Board of Career Colleges and Schools Refund Policy 3332-1-10 which is as follows:
• A student who withdraws before the first class and after the five (5) day cancellation period shall be obligated for the registration fee.
• A student who starts class and withdraws during the first full calendar week of the academic quarter, shall be obligated for twenty-five percent (25%) of the tuition and refundable fees for the academic quarter plus registration fee.
• A student who withdraws during the second full calendar week of the academic quarter, shall be obligated for fifty percent (50%) of the tuition and refundable fees for the academic quarter plus the registration fee.
• A student who withdraws during the third full calendar week of the academic quarter, shall be obligated for seventy-five percent (75%) of the tuition and refundable fees for the academic quarter plus registration fee.
• A student withdrawal beginning with the fourth full calender week of the academic quarter, will not be entitled to a refund of any portion of the tuition and or refundable fees.
Questions regarding Financial Aid Options should be addressed to the Director of Financial Aid, Kelly Sanders.
Email: [email protected]
Tuition and Fees