Financial Aid Policies

 

Students should be aware of all financial aid policies that govern their eligibility to receive federal student aid. Several important financial aid policies are outlined below and are sent to students Tri-C email account each semester.

Attendance Policy for Financial Aid

The College’s Procedure for Student Attendance outlines the student attendance requirements that each student must follow. Students should become familiar with and adhere to these requirements to comply with federal regulations governing attendance. This procedure is applied to all credit courses whether or not student financial aid funds have been utilized to pay for the course(s). Failure to comply with attendance procedures may result in course being dropped for non-attendance.

The College is required to ensure that students receive financial aid only for the courses that they attend and complete. Students who are reported as Non-Attendance will be dropped from the course by the 16th day of the semester.  Students for whom attendance is not reported will have all financial aid funds held until attendance has been reported in all registered courses.

Eligibility for federal student financial aid is, in part, based on your enrollment status for the session in which you are enrolled. Federal regulations require that students attend all registered classes in order to receive federal financial aid funds. Students who register for courses but do not attend will be reported for non-attendance by Tri-C faculty. Your financial aid will be adjusted to reflect your financial aid eligibility only for those classes that you attend. Students who do not attend classes for the entire term are required to withdraw from the courses.

Students who attend a course and cease attendance at a later point, may be required to repay all or a portion of financial aid due to the student's failure to complete the course. Further, students who are withdrawn for courses due to non-attendance, as reported by the instructor, must obtain permission from the instructor to re-enroll in a course.

Students can view reported attendance in My Tri-C Space. If your attendance is not reported by the 15^th day of the semester, your financial aid will be held until your instructor confirms your attendance. Financial aid funds are applied to students’ accounts on the 35^th day of each enrolled course.

Repeated Courses and Financial Aid

In general, students may repeat a course in which a grade of B, C, D, E, P, NP or F has been previously earned.  When an identical course is repeated, the highest grade will be used in computing the cumulative GPA (note, however, that all grades remain posted on the official student transcript). Pass/No Pass courses are not counted toward GPA calculations therefore the Pass/No Pass option cannot be used when repeating a course.   Credit for courses will be awarded only once in the semester in which the highest grade was awarded for the course, unless the course description specifically states that additional credit may be earned. 

However, federal financial aid funds may be used only one time to repeat previously passed courses, for which students have already received credit. For example, if you have passed a course with a grade of D and have received credit for the course, you may only repeat the course one time and receive federal financial aid funds to repeat a previously passed course to improve your grade.  You may be required to retake the course as many times as necessary to achieve a C grade in order to advance to the level course, but you will not receive financial aid for the same course more than two times, for which you have received credit.

In some cases, it is still possible that the dollar amount of the financial award may cover your tuition balance. Your financial aid award will be calculated based on your eligible financial aid coursework excluding non-repeated courses. If you have student loans, you will have to be enrolled in at least six (6) credits non-repeated coursework to receive your student loan and to be eligible for your work-study awards.

Further, if you have not passed a course by receiving an F or WF grade or withdrawn (W) from a course and have not received credit, you will be able to receive financial aid to repeat the course, provided you are in compliance with the College's Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.

Financial Aid Award Year

Fall Semester will be the start of the financial aid award year. Students should complete the 2017-2018 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.gov to be considered for federal financial aid for the Fall 2017, Spring 2018, and Summer 2018 semesters. This includes all federal financial aid programs, Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplementary Education Opportunity Grant, Federal Work-Study and Federal Student Loans.

• If you plan to enroll as a full-time student for at least two (2) semesters during the 2017-2018 academic year, you may not have any remaining Pell Grant or student loans funds for the Summer 2018 semester. Therefore, students who plan to attend Summer 2018, may consider borrowing less student loans throughout the Fall and Spring semesters to reserve enough funds for the Summer 2018 semester.
• If you plan to attend part-time any semester or only attend one (1) semester during the 2017-2018 academic year for Fall 2017 or Spring 2018, you may use certain remaining financial aid funds for the Summer 2018 semester.

Students interested in applying federal financial aid toward the Summer 2018 Semester should contact the Student Financial Aid & Scholarships Office for more information about specific Summer financial aid eligibility.

Example Scenario: Student qualifies for a Pell Grant totaling $5,920 for the 2017-2018 Academic Year.

• Pell Grant Used for Fall 2017 = $2,960 
• Pell Grant Used for Spring 2018 = $1,480
• Remaining Pell Grant Available for Summer 2018 =$1,480 (if student enrolls in at least 6 hours during the Summer 2018 semester)

Any remaining funds will be re-awarded to students enrolled in the Summer 2018 Semester beginning March 2018.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

Federal regulations require that students "make measurable progress towards completion of their course of study" in order to continue to remain eligible for federal aid. Tri-C reviews the academic progress of all students and notifies students receiving federal financial aid each semester of their status. This includes students who have received or are applying for the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Work-Study and Federal Student Loans.

Financial aid students are required to maintain to meet ALL of the following to continue receiving federal financial aid:

1. Maintain an overall grade point average of 2.0 or higher;
2. Complete at least 67% of all courses attempted;
3. Meet all degree requirements within 150% of the published credits required for the program.

Failure to maintain compliance with these standards may result in loss or disqualification for future federal financial aid. Student Financial Aid & Scholarships reviews the academic progress of all students at the end of each semester, including summer. Students that become ineligible for financial aid will be notified. Please note: students that are either missing a grade(s) or have a grade(s) of ‘I’ as part of their academic history cannot have an accurate SAP Status determined and therefore will have financial aid eligibility suspended until the grade(s) have been recorded and the SAP status determined.

Students should review and be familiar with Tri-C's Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy to ensure compliance.

Financial Aid Disbursement Policy

Financial aid funds are applied to your tuition charges on your Tri-C account no sooner than 35 days after the start of every part-of-term (session). For example, if you are enrolled in a course during the Summer 2018 Full-term 10-weeks session and enrolled in a course during the second 5-weeks session (Session K ) your financial aid funds for your Full-term course will be applied to your Tri-C student account on or after July 1, 2018 and your financial aid funds for your Session K course will be applied to your Tri-C student account on or after August 5, 2018.

Based on the session for which you are enrolled, your financial aid will be applied to your Tri-C student account 35 days after the start of each session. For more information about when financial aid funds are released for the semester, students can view this link or check the Important Dates for all financial aid dates for the 2017-2018 academic year.

NOTE: Fourteen days after financial aid funds are applied to your Tri-C student account, a refund will be sent via the method that you selected on the BankMobile website.

Book Account Credit Line

At the start of each session, Bookstore Accounts are established on your My Tri-C card for use in the Barnes & Noble book stores for students who have a finalized financial aid award and who will have federal financial aid in excess of at least $100 above tuition and fee costs. To learn more about how to use Book Account, you can get more information on the Book Accounts - FAQ.

Consortium Agreements for Transient or Visiting Students

Cuyahoga Community College participates in consortium agreements as a host institution to allow transient or visiting students to attend Tri-C for one semester and plan to return to their former school for continued study. Students who are transient or visiting are not eligible for financial aid or scholarships at Tri-C but may include the courses taken at Tri-C in their financial aid award at the home institution, subject to approval by the home institution. Transient or visiting students should obtain the appropriate dean/faculty approval to take courses at Tri-C before a consortium agreement request may be approved.

Tri-C does not participate as a home school for the purposes of financial aid and therefore does not allow Tri-C students to receive financial aid awards for courses not taken at Tri-C. The exception for home school status is for approved study aboard programs.

Withdrawal Policy

The Withdrawal and Repayment Policy for Financial Aid outlines your financial responsibility should you change your enrollment status. Students who are considering withdrawing from all classes should contact both the Student Financial Aid & Scholarship Office and Enrollment Center to determine how a change in enrollment status will affect their aid eligibility. Because financial aid funds are paid based on a student’s attendance, any change in status, including a leave of absence, may require a student to repay federal financial aid funds already received. The College understands that unforeseen events may occur in student’s lives that result in a student’s withdrawal from school. Due to these situations, it is very important that students understand this policy and follow the appropriate steps to withdraw when necessary. Withdrawals may also impact students’ future eligibility for federal financial aid funds regardless of the reason for withdrawal. Students enrolled in certain health careers programs should work with the academic department regarding specific leave of absence procedures.

Non-Institutional Charges Policy

A student has the right to authorize Tri-C to use their federal financial aid award to assist with the costs of such non-institutional charges as parking or library fines, as well as other charges that are applied to their student account. Each student is asked to accept or decline this right during the initial application process and may rescind the decision at any time in writing to the Student Financial Aid & Scholarships Office. The Non-Institutional Charges Form is required to be able to make charges, such as books, meal plans, bus passes, and vending, to your student account.

Quality Assurance Policy

Cuyahoga Community College participates in the U.S. Department of Education's Quality Assurance program. As a result, a student may be asked at any time during the term to provide income and household information. If there are differences between your FAFSA application and the documents provided, Tri-C will make appropriate adjustments to your information. These adjustments may impact your current financial aid award(s). Failure to submit the requested materials may result in repayment of all federal funds.