Current Students :: Financial Aid::Academic Progress

Financial Aid :: Academic Process

Introduction

To insure compliance with federal regulations, the following students attending MSU-Bottineau requesting Federal Student Financial Assistance are effective with the beginning of classes for the 2006-2007 academic year.

A. Maximum Earned and Attempted Credits

Students enrolled at MSU-Bottineau are eligible to receive federal student assistance for the maximum number of earned and attempted credits specified below:

One Year Program: 50 credits
Two Year Program: 92 credits

All earned credits transferred to MSU-Bottineau and all attempted credits at MSU-Bottineau will apply toward the maximum number of credits specified above.

B. Maintaining Satisfactory Progress

Students who are suspended from MSU-Bottineau for failure to meet the institution’s minimum academic standards are not making Satisfactory Progress.
In order to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress for federal financial aid purposes, undergraduate students must complete a minimum of two-thirds (i.e. 66%) of the credits attempted in an academic year, and reflect a cumulative grade point average of 1.6 after the first academic year and 2.0 after the second academic year. Grades of failed (F), Unsatisfactory (U), Incomplete (I), Course Repeats (R#), Withdrawn (W), and Not Reported (NR) count as credits attempted but not completed, and will be applied toward the maximum number of credits specified in A.

C. Criteria for Re-Establishing Eligibility for Financial Aid

Students who have failed to meet those standards of satisfactory progress and who meet one of the following conditions may make formal application to re-establish eligibility for financial aid. (Note: Students placed on academic suspension must follow standard university procedures for re-admittance.)

Students may re-establish eligibility by completing a minimum of 12 credit hours with a grade of “C” or better at MSU-Bottineau. During the semester(s) this is accomplished, the student must also complete at least two-thirds of the total credits attempted.
Students may re-establish eligibility following a three-year period of non-enrollment at MSU-Bottineau
Students who have failed to make satisfactory progress may appeal to re-establish financial aid eligibility on the basis of medical, legal, or emotional reasons, or other extenuating circumstances. Such appeals will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. If an appeal is approved, the student's eligibility for financial aid will be reinstated for a period not to exceed one year. During this probationary period, the student’s progress will be reviewed at the end of each semester. Failure to satisfy the minimum requirements while on probation will result in termination of eligibility.
If incomplete (I) grades are a factor in failure to maintain satisfactory progress, subsequent completion of these credits may be used to re-establish eligibility for aid. Such credits must be successfully completed and recorded on MSU-Bottineau records no later than June 30 to qualify for a re-evaluation of eligibility.
Students who have eligibility reinstated under the above provisions will be provided assistance based upon availability of funds at the time of reinstatement of eligibility.

D. Appeal and Reinstatement Procedure

Students who believe they meet the criteria set forth in Section C, #3, may appeal the decision to terminate financial aid by submitting a Review of Satisfactory Academic Progress form to the Director of Financial Aid within 30 days of the date on the letter of notification of termination of eligibility. Further appeals of the decision of the Director of Financial Aid may be in writing to the Associate Dean for Student Services within 15 days of the notification of denial of the first appeal. The Associate Dean for Student Services will notify the student of the decision within 15 days of the receipt.

Reinstatement of eligibility for federal aid based upon ANY of the conditions specified under C, 1 through 5, above is not automatic. (IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILTY TO CONTACT THE FINANCIAL AID OFFICE TO INITIATE THE APPEAL OR REINSTATEMENT PROCESS.)

E. Definition of Terms

Attempted credits are defined as the number of hours for which a student is registered as of the date indicated below, plus the net additional credits (i.e. courses added, minus withdrawals) up to the end of the drop-add period for each term. The dates that will be used to measure your attempted credits for the 2006-2007 academic year are as follows: Fall Semester, September 7, 2006; Spring Semester, January 24, 2007.
Academic year is defined as the period from August to May (fall and spring semesters). If a student is enrolled for one semester only for an academic year, satisfactory progress is evaluated on the basis of that semester only.
Federal student assistance encompasses all federal Title IV student aid programs (i.e. Federal Pell Grants, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Educational Loan Programs, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Federal Work Study, Federal Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students, and State Student Incentive Grants.)

F. What These Standards Mean to You

1. The following example is offered to illustrate the calculation of the percentage of credits completed.

2005-2006

2005-2006

Total

Fall Sem

Spr Sem

For Year

Registered credits at aid disbursement

14

12

26

Subsequent withdrawls, failed courses, incompletes, etc

6

3

9

Credited completed

8

15

17

Percentage Completed: 65%

In this example, the student would not be qualified because he/she successfully completed only 65% of the credits attempted during the full year. It is especially important that you carefully consider your decision to drop credits once you have registered. Substitution of one course for another should not be a problem - unless you subsequently fail the course or receive an incomplete instead of a passing grade.

2. Under the new procedures you will receive aid only up to a set maximum number of credits attempted. If a student was pursuing an Associate Degree in Forestry and has completed a total of 75 credits at the beginning of the 2005-2006 year and had attempted 96 credits, that student would be ineligible for further aid - even if he/she had completed more than 66% of the credits attempted.

3. These standards will apply to you even if you did not receive aid while enrolled at MSU-Bottineau. Thus, in the example above, this student would not qualify for aid in 2005-2006 even if he/she had not received federal aid during 2004-2005.

Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid Eligibility

Scholarship Application (in Word)

Applying for Financial Aid

Types of Financial Aid Available

Links to Financial Aid Sites

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