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| Policies & Procedures for Award of FSA
Verification Policies and Procedures
Students with questions about their verification status may email finaid@apus.edu for assistance. Undergraduate Grade Level Determination In order to meet the grade level progression requirements for FSA and the FFEL (Federal Family Education Loan), the following policy is established to explain how undergraduate grade level progression is made and to explain how transfer credits are used to determine grade level advancement. (There are no grade level requirements for graduate students.) Our university system uses the table below to determine the grade level of an undergraduate student for FSA purposes.
Financial Aid is required to be based on a minimum of 24 semester credits and a minimum of 30 instructional weeks. The Finance Department will evaluate the student’s grades and total credits completed at the end of each semester. Based on the academic standards of the school, a student can only progress to a higher grade level at the same time that a student begins a new academic year (for loan limit purposes.) Transfer Credit Award Upon completion of an official Transfer Credit Evaluation, our Finance Department is notified of the number of transfer credits that the student has been awarded. Based on the chart above, the Financial Aid Office will determine the student's appropriate grade level, and will calculate the annual loan limit for the student based on the student’s grade level. If an existing student completes subsequent coursework outside of our university system and submits a TCE Update, the Financial Aid Office will recalculate the grade level for a student and a revised award letter will be done for the student so that the student’s account and grade level will be accurate. Entrance and Exit Interview/Loan Counseling The Department of Education requires that any student receiving a Federal Family Education Loan be notified concerning their loan and obligations. The university counsels each student regarding loan indebtedness and gives each student an entrance test and e-mails or mails an exit interview regarding the loan to make sure the student understands the total amount borrowed and the Borrower Rights and Responsibilities regarding repayment. The student must contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawal or graduation for loan counseling. The purpose of this session is to inform the student of their tentative total loans received while in attendance at the college, refunds that may be made, and to provide the student with an estimated payment schedule. If the student is unable to contact the Financial Aid Office, an exit interview will be provided. Borrower Rights & Responsibilities When a student takes on a student loan he/she has certain rights and responsibilities. The borrower has the right to receive the following information before the first loan disbursement:
The borrower has the right to receive the following information before leaving school:
The borrower has a responsibility to:
If you want additional information about your rights and responsibilities, the terms of loan repayment (including loan repayment schedules), the necessity of loan repayment and required loan exit counseling can use the links for the Department of Education at the bottom of this page. When a student applies for financial aid, the package is generally awarded based on an academic year. The academic year is generally two semesters. Federal Student Aid is generally paid in two disbursements, once each semester. Loss of Financial Aid Eligibility Students failing to meet or maintain SAP during any period of evaluation will lose eligibility for Federal Student Aid, in accordance with Title IV of the Higher Education Act. These students will be placed in a Financial Aid Denial status and will be e-mailed of their status by a Financial Services team member. Once in “Denial” status students are no longer eligible for Federal Student Aid. To regain FSA eligibility, students must satisfy all SAP requirements. Financial Aid Appeal Procedure Any student placed on “Financial Aid Denial” status may appeal their denial due to mitigating circumstances (situations that have had a negative effect on the student’s ability to successfully meet the normal SAP standards). The request for an exception to the policy must be a written petition submitted via email to our university’s Financial Services Office within 3 days of the notification of “Financial Aid Denial.” Students who fail any SAP requirements have the ability to appeal their SAP denial status. An Appeals Committee will consider all appeals. Students will be notified in writing of the committee’s decision within 3 business days of receipt of their emailed request. All decisions made by the committee are final. Reestablishing Financial Aid Eligibility Students placed on “Financial Aid Denial Status” may reestablish their eligibility for FSA by registering for courses at their own expense and demonstrating their ability to meet SAP. Once students demonstrate their ability to meet SAP, they may reapply for Federal Student Aid for future courses. For example, a student who is in violation of SAP requirements completes 12 credits in a semester with good grades and has now completed 48 credits. They raise their cumulative GPA above the 1.75 cumulative GPA threshold. If their quantitative measure remains at least 67% or higher, then they are no longer in FSA Denial status and they can reapply for Federal Student Aid.” All institutions participating in the FSA Programs are required to use a statutory schedule to determine the amount of FSA Program funds a student has earned or qualified for when he or she ceases attendance based on the period the student was in attendance. Our Financial Aid Office must calculate the amount of FSA Program assistance the student did not earn and those funds must be returned back to the lender or Federal Government. Up through the 60% point in each payment period or period of enrollment, a pro rata schedule is used to determine how much FSA Program funds the student has earned at the time of withdrawal. After the 60% point in the payment period or period of enrollment, a student has earned 100% of the FSA Program funds. The percentage of the payment period or period of enrollment completed is determined by the total number of calendar days in the payment period or period of enrollment for which the assistance is awarded divided into the number of calendar days completed in that period as of the day the student withdrew. Scheduled breaks of at least five consecutive days are excluded from the total number of calendar days in a payment period or period of enrollment (denominator) and the number of calendar days completed in that period (numerator). Title IV funds credited to outstanding loan balances for the payment period or period of enrollment for which a return of funds is required must be returned in the following order:
If funds remain after repaying all loan amounts, those remaining funds must be credited in the following order:
Students will be notified of any refunds due to a lender on their behalf through the mailed exit interview material. Refunds to any of the Title IV or State programs will be paid within 45 days from the date of determination. Return of Unearned FSA Funds
The student (or parent, if a Federal PLUS loan) must return or repay, as appropriate:
If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the institution would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid within 120 days of the student's withdrawal. The institution is required to return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of the determination of the date of the student's withdrawal. Students who officially withdraw during a semester Once the lesser of the amount of FSA Program funds that the student does not earn or the amount of institutional costs that the student incurred for the payment period or period of enrollment multiplied by the percentage of funds that was not earned is completed, the amount (if any) unearned funds are returned to the lender or back to COD. Students who as the result of officially withdrawing have Federal funds returned and now owe money to the institution are notified by e-mail and a ‘Balance Hold’ is placed on the account. Students who fail to pass any of their courses in a semester Students who failed at least one course in a semester and have drops or withdrawals as the remainder of their grades is considered to have not passed any courses within the semester. These students are considered as ‘unofficial withdrawals’ and are no longer considered as enrolled at the institution and are subject to Federal Return of Title IV Funds rules. The only exception to this rule occurs if the student has future registrations in their next semester. The following procedures are followed: Approximately 21 to 24 days after the end of a semester (to allow for initial grade posting and any grade revisions due to student appeal) a report is run to determine those students who failed to pass any courses in their semester. This report will identify any students who meet the involuntary withdrawal criteria. Once identified, the institution will follow all procedures listed above in Returning FSA Funds and Return of Unearned FSA Funds. Effective Tuesday, October 23, 2007 the university changed its policy regarding how students will be calculated for earned and unearned Federal Student Aid when they involuntarily withdraw from the institution. A student is considered an involuntary withdrawal from the university when at the end of a semester the student has failed to pass any of their courses from that semester, has at least one failing grade and the student is not registered for future classes. In this situation where a student has involuntarily withdrawn and they received Federal Student Aid for the semester, the university is required by law to perform a Return of Title IV Aid calculation to determine the percentage and amount of aid that the student earned for the semester. Prior to the above date the institution chose to use a straightforward 50% earned policy allowed in the Federal Regulations. Effective October 23rd, the policy will be as follows: For students identified as having not passed any of their courses in a semester, the institution will determine the last date that they participated in an academically-related activity (such as entering the classroom, participating in a discussion group, taking an exam, turning in homework, etc.) Once the last date of an academically-related activity has been determined, the Financial Aid Office will determine if the mid-point date will be used for the calculation or if the date is after the midpoint of the semester, then the last attendance date will be used for the calculation. This date will be considered as their Withdrawal Date for the purposes of determining the percentage of the payment period that a student was actively participating over the whole semester and subsequently the amount of unearned Title IV aid that must be returned to the Federal Government. The institution will review each student on the All Fail report on a case-by-case basis. Any questions regarding the Return of Title IV Aid calculation process should be addressed to Financial Services. Institutional Tuition Refund Policy The Tuition Refund Policy of our university system can be viewed in our online Student Handbook by clicking here. A student must officially notify APUS when he/she intends to withdraw from the school. The official withdrawal date is the date that the student notified the school by completing the withdrawal request form. Detailed information about the Drop/Withdrawal Policy at our universities can be viewed in our online Student Handbook by clicking here. APUS definition of Completion Rates The APUS calculated completion rate for each group is as follows:
Student Right-to-Know Act U.S. Department of Education regulations require that we must make available, to current and prospective students, no later than July 1, 2008, the rates for the cohort for which the 150% of the normal time for completion elapsed between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007. Based on the required calculation rate, 2% of our students meet the criteria of certificate- or degree-seeking, full-time, first-time undergraduate students. American Public University System has a student population that is military or service-related. The vast majority transfer into either American Military University or American Public University and attend on a part-time basis; their completion rates are not reflected in the cohort as specified by the U.S. Department of Education. American Public University System, has computed graduation rates for our entire student population. The data for these calculations and the cohort year calculations are available from the university should you wish to review them. You may contact Chip Woodward, Director of Financial Aid Regulations & Compliance at cwoodward@apus.edu for this information. Preferred Lender List Discloser APUS firmly acknowledges and explicitly states that borrowers always have a choice in selecting a FFELP lender. APUS cannot deny borrowers that choice. It is also our belief that it is our goal to provide choice to students and parents in selecting lenders that have been carefully evaluated on an objective set of quality and price criteria. Therefore, our list of preferred lenders meets high standards of quality, customer service and generous benefits to help not only our student borrowers but parents who borrow on the behalf of undergraduate students. The following criteria were the basis of determining the lenders chosen for our preferred lender list: 1. Experience & longevity
2. Best value & benefits
3. Customer service investment
4. Flexible repayment options
5. Technology investments
If you have any questions on why a specific lender is on our preferred lender list, please feel free to send your question to the Financial Services office at finaid@apus.edu. | ||||||||||||||||||
