Federal Financial Aid Policies

General

The Office of Financial Aid will communicate with admitted and current students through use of your official UAH email account.  It is essential that you check your UAH email account frequently for information sent from our office and from others within the University.  If you prefer to opt-out of email notifications and electronic transactions, please notify our office in writing.

Federal financial aid recipients are selected in accordance with U.S. Department of Education guidelines governing distribution of Title IV funds. Limited funding programs such as Federal Work Study and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) are awarded to eligible students chronologically based on application completion date until funds are exhausted. In general, federal financial aid is awarded for fall and spring semesters and disbursed at or near the beginning of each semester.

You should understand that by accepting your federal financial aid award, you give UAH permission to use these funds to pay any and all direct institutional charges incurred incidental to enrollment.

Additional Awards - Students who receive educational awards from sources other than UAH must notify the Financial Aid Office immediately. Failure to do so may cause the student to be in an over-award status according to federal and state regulations. This may require an immediate repayment of funds that have been disbursed. You may report other assistance in the award for aid year section of the resources/additional information tab of your Student Banner Account

Change of Status - UAH reserves the right to adjust or cancel any aid if there is a change in the academic or financial status of any aid recipient.

Availability of Funds - All federal financial aid commitments are contingent upon the receipt of total federal and state allocations.

Drug Convictions Policy - By law, some students who have drug-related convictions under any federal or state law may be ineligible for federal student aid.

Primary Education - You must have a high school diploma or have completed the GED before you can receive federal financial aid.

Payment of Awards - Grant, loan, and scholarship proceeds will be credited to the student account at the beginning of each term according to applicable federal, state, and institutional rules and regulations.

Summer Terms - Students desiring assistance for a summer term may be required to complete a separate form for possible summer funding. Summer funding is generally limited to loans for students who have not borrowed the annual maximum for their classification during fall and spring term of that academic year.

Refunds - Federal financial aid and other refunds are issued by the Bursar's office. Financial aid is applied to the student's account and any resulting credit balance is refunded. Refund checks are available for pick up at the Bursar's Office, or if you wish to receive your refund via direct deposit, you can enroll in the direct deposit program. Refunds are generated about ten days after student aid disburses. 

 

Loans

You must at least enroll half time to receive student loans. Half time for financial aid purposes is a minimum of six undergraduate hours or four and a half graduate hours. Audit courses are not eligible.

Loan proceeds for first time UAH borrowers cannot be disbursed until the student has completed the loan entrance interview process. The  entrance counseling and promissory note must be completed before aid will disburse.

Student loan proceeds may be delivered to the student only for the period indicated on the loan disclosure statement sent by their loan servicer. If a student ceases to be enrolled at least half-time, loan proceeds must generally be returned to their loan servicer. To find out who your loan servicer is visit the https://studentaid.gov.

 

Grants

Effective July 2012, Pell Grants may be received for the equivalent of no more than six full academic years.

Your Pell Grant will be reduced proportionally if you enroll less than full time. If you withdraw, you will likely have to repay some or all of your federal aid.

Graduate students are not eligible for Pell Grants.

Students who are awarded a small full-time grant (less than $1176 annually) may not be eligible for less than full-time awards.

Repeat Courses

Note that the federal financial aid course repeat policy is different than the UAH course repeat policy. If a student has received a passing grade for a particular course, federal aid can be applied to the payment of that course only one additional term with the exception of certain required dissertation and thesis courses. Repeated courses beyond the initial retake will be excluded from the enrollment calculation and will not be paid for with federal financial aid (this includes student and parent PLUS loans). Additionally, repeated courses will be counted as hours attempted but not earned when calculating percentage of courses completed. Again, this is different from the UAH course repeat policy, which may be found in the UAH Catalog.  Courses which count toward federal aid enrollment status are required to be within the student's Course Program of Study (CPoS). 

Example 1

Period	Course	Result	Eligibility Status
Fall 2013	English 101	Fail	Eligible
Spring 2014	English 101	Pass	Eligible
Summer 2014	English 101	Pass (1st Repeat of Previously Passed Course)	Eligible
Fall 2014	English 101	2nd Repeat of Previously Passed Course	Not Eligible Toward FT Enrollment

Once a course is passed, the student has one additional time to take the course and the course count toward federal aid enrollment status. 

Example 2

Period	Course	Result	Eligibility Status
Fall 2013	Math 101	Pass	Eligible
Spring 2014	Math 101	Fail	Eligible
Fall 2014	Math 101	2nd Repeat of Previously Passed Course	Not Eligible Toward FT Enrollment

If a course is passed the first time it is taken, a student has one more attempt to improve the grade in which the course counts toward the student's federal aid enrollment status. 

Example 3 An institution can pay a student when repeating a course (or its equivalency) an infinite number of times if all previous attempts were failures. 

Period	Course	Result	Eligibility Status
Fall 2013	History 101	Fail	Eligible
Spring 2014	History 101	Fail	Eligible
Summer 2014	History 101	Fail	Eligible
Fall 2014	History 101	Allowed to be included in the definition of FT enrollment	Eligible Toward FT Enrollment

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Federal regulations require that each student receiving federal aid maintain satisfactory academic progress. 

SAP will be evaluated at the end of every semester, including summer. The first violation related to GPA or pace will result in the student receiving a warning. The second violation will result in loss of financial aid eligibility. All notifications will be sent to the student's official university email address.

The U.S. Department of Education has established three standards to determine satisfactory academic progress.

1.  GPA (Qualitative Measure)

In order to meet the required qualitative measure, the student must maintain a minimum overall UAH GPA as follows:

Student Type	Minimum UAH GPA required
Undergraduate Students	2.0
Graduate students	3.0

2.  Pace (Measurable Progress)

In order to maintain measurable progress toward the completion of their degree, students must successfully complete 67 percent of all credit hours attempted (hours attempted include non credit courses, dropped courses, withdrawals, and incomplete courses).

Click here for information about how to calculate your PACE (completion ratio). 

Example A: If you have attempted 32 credit hours and successfully completed 26 of those hours, dropped 3 hours and failed 3 hours, your PACE would be 26 hours earned divided by 32 hours attempted = 81.2 percent PACE. You meet the measurable progress component of this requirement.

Example B: If you have attempted 32 credit hours and successfully completed 20 of those hours, and dropped, failed, repeated, have an incomplete in, or withdrew from the other 12, your PACE would be 20 divided by 32 = 62.5 percent PACE. You do not meet the measurable progress component of this requirement and you are not eligible for federal financial aid assistance.

3.  Maximum Hours (Reasonable Length of Time) 

At UAH, reasonable length of time for the completion of a degree program is generally defined as no more than 150 percent of the hours required to complete a degree program. Coursework that transfers into a degree program will adjust the time frame accordingly.

Example A: If your degree requires that you complete 120 credit hours, your reasonable length of time will be 120 hours X 150% = 180. You will be within your reasonable length of time during your first 180 hours of attempted course work.

Example B: If your degree requires that you complete 120 credit hours, your reasonable length of time will be 120 hours X 150% = 180. If you have transferred in 54 hours, you will be able to attempt 126 hours at UAH before reaching the max time frame. 

Second Bachelors - When measuring compliance with the maximum hours policy, cumulative attempted credit hours (including hours from other postsecondary institutions) will be used regardless of whether or not financial aid was received.  When the student’s cumulative attempted hours exceed 240, the student must submit an appeal (including Program of Study information) in order for this requirement to be further evaluated.

Graduate Students - Graduate students are considered to be making satisfactory progress if they comply with the academic regulations and time frames described in the UAH Graduate School catalog.

 

Reinstatement of Federal Financial Aid Eligibility

If you are ineligible for federal financial aid because you have not maintained satisfactory academic progress toward completion of your degree, you may reapply for federal financial aid when your academic performance meets the required standards. When mitigating circumstances are involved, you may appeal this decision. 

Appeals should be submitted immediately.  

The SAP notification email will include information on how to submit a SAP appeal online.  The following information is required for the appeal process:

• Explanation of the reason(s) why satisfactory progress is not being met
• Description of corrective action taken to resolve the situation
• Documentation that supports the circumstances referenced in your appeal
• For Maximum Hours appeals, a Program of Study including the number of transfer hours applied to your current degree is required

The Financial Aid Appeals Committee will review your submission and a decision will be made within two weeks. Appeals may be approved without provision, or they may be approved provisionally - entailing a probationary period in which you must earn a given number of credit hours and/or specified GPA. Appeals may also be denied. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate any appeal for federal financial aid eligibility. Appeals for academic reinstatement granted by the UAH Registrar or other departments do not constitute reinstatement of federal financial aid eligibility.

Decisions of the Appeal Committee are final.

 

Return to Title IV Funds

Title IV funds are awarded to a student under the assumption that he/she will attend school for the entire period for which the funds are awarded. When a student withdraws from all his/her courses, for any reason including medical withdrawals, he/she may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds that he/she was originally scheduled to receive.  

A school is required to determine the earned and unearned Title IV aid as of the date the student ceased attendance based on the amount of time the student was scheduled to be in attendance.  

The return of Title IV funds is administered by the Office of Financial Aid.  This policy applies to students who withdraw (official or unofficially) or are dismissed from enrollment at UAH.  UAH will return all unearned Title IV aid as determined by the R2T4 Calculation.  The calculated amount of the Return of Title IV Funds that is required for students affected by this policy are determined according to the following definitions and procedures, as prescribed by regulation.  Therefore, the student may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges after the calculation is completed.

The Institution has 45 days from the date the institution determines that the student withdrew to return all unearned funds. The school is required to notify the student if they owe an overpayment via written notice. If a Post-withdrawal disbursement is a result of the calculation, the school must advise the student of the available post withdrawal disbursement and the student has 14 calendar days from the date the school sent the notification to accept a post-withdrawal disbursement. If a response is not received from the student within the permitted time frame or the student declines the funds, the school will return any earned funds that the school is holding to the Title IV programs. Post-withdrawal disbursement must occur within 120 days of the date the student withdrew.  

The Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) regulation does not dictate the institutional refund policy.  The calculation of Title IV funds earned by the student has no relationship to the student’s incurred institutional charges.  

If the student withdraws from all his courses prior to completing over 60% of a semester, he/she may be required to repay a portion of the federal financial aid that he/she received for that term. The Department of Education’s calculation is used to determine the amount of federal student aid funds he/she will have earned at the time of the withdrawal. Federal aid includes Federal Direct Loan (subsidized and unsubsidized), Parent Plus Loan, Graduate PLUS Loan, Pell Grants, SEOG Grants, and any other Title IV funds.  

The return of funds is based upon the concept that students earn their financial aid in proportion to the amount of time in which they are enrolled. Under this reasoning, a student who withdraws in the second week of classes has earned less of his/her financial aid than a student who withdraws in the seventh week. Once 60% of the semester is completed, a student is considered to have earned all of his financial aid and will not be required to return any funds.  

The Office of Financial Aid must perform a R2T4 to determine the amount of earned aid up through 60% point in each payment period. The Office of Financial Aid will use the Department of Education’s calculation to determine the amount of R2T4 funds the student has earned at the time of the official or unofficial withdrawal. After the 60% point in the payment period or period of enrollment, a student has earned 100% of the Title IV funds he or she was scheduled to receive during the period. The institution must still perform a R2T4 to determine the amount of aid that the student has earned.  

For a student who officially withdraws after the 60% point-in-time, there are no unearned funds. However, the Office of Financial Aid will still determine whether the student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement.  

A student's withdrawal date is determined by using one of the following:

• The date he/she officially withdrew with the Office of the Registrar’s office during the Registrar’s withdrawal period.
• The date the student was expelled/dismissed from UAH.

In the event that a student does not go through the proper withdrawal procedures as defined in the Office of the Registrar’s section of UAH’s catalog the student's unofficial withdrawal date is determined by using one of the following:  

• The date the student died, if the student passed away during the semester.
• The last date that the student attended class or participated in academic engagement, whichever is later.
• In the event a student does not earn a passing grade (A, B, C or D) the student is considered an unofficial withdrawal.  The student is given the opportunity to submit his/her last date of academic activity/participation in academic engagement.  The student is sent a written notice and a UAH email notification to report his/her last date of academic activity documentation by a given deadline.  If the student does not submit his/her last date of academic activity by the deadline, the R2t4 will be based on the Unofficial Withdrawal calculation provided by the Department of Education.

The Office of Financial Aid determines the return of Title IV funds percentage. Institutions are required to determine the percentage of Title IV aid earned by the student and to return the unearned portion to the appropriate aid program.  

The Office of Financial Aid will determine:  

• The total amount of Title IV aid disbursed for the semester in which the student withdrew. A student’s Title IV aid is counted as aid disbursed in the calculation if it has been applied to the student’s account on or before the date the student withdrew.
• The total amount of Title IV aid that could have been disbursed for the semester in which the student withdrew.

The number of calendar days completed by the student divided by the total number of calendar days in the semester in which the student withdrew. The total number of calendar day in a semester shall exclude any scheduled breaks of more than five days.  

Days Attended ÷ Days in Enrollment Period = Percentage Completed

If the calculated percentage exceeds 60%, then the student has “earned” all the Title IV aid for the enrollment period.  

In accordance with federal regulations, when Title IV financial aid is involved, the calculated amount of the R2T4 Funds is returned in the following order:  

 

1.   Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan
2.   Subsidized Federal Direct Loan
3.   Federal Direct PLUS received on behalf of the student
4.   Pell Grant
5.   Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grant
6.   SEOG Program Aid
7.   Other Title IV Aid

 

Loans must be repaid by the loan borrower (student/parent) as outlined in the terms of the borrower’s promissory note.  

The student’s grace period for loan repayments for Federal Unsubsidized and Subsidized Stafford Loans will begin on the day of the withdrawal from the UAH. The student should contact the lender if he/she has question regarding their grace period or repayment status.  

Institutional and student responsibility in regard to the Federal Return of Title IV Funds policy  

The Office of Financial Aid’s responsibilities in regard to the Return of Title IV funds policy include: 

• Providing each student with the information given in this policy;
• Identifying students affected by this policy and completing the Return of Title IV Funds calculation;
• Informing the student of the result of the Return of title IV Funds calculation and any balance owed to UAH as a result of a required return of funds;
• Returning any unearned Title IV aid that is due to the Title IV program.
• Notifying student and /or Plus borrower of eligibility for a Post-Withdraw Disbursement, if applicable;

The student’s responsibilities in regard to the Return of Title IV Funds policy include: 

• Becoming familiar with the Return of Title IV Funds policy and how withdrawing from all his courses effects eligibility for Title IV aid;
• Resolving any outstanding balance owed to UAH resulting from a required return of unearned Title IV aid.

Post-Withdrawal Disbursements

In the event a student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement based on the student's budget, awarded financial aid and Title IV funds and R2T4 calculations, a post-withdrawal disbursement must be made only after the following conditions are met.  

Student are notified by UAH email and letter of the availability of post withdrawal disbursements by the Office of Financial Aid within one week from the date of R2T4 calculation was completed.  The students are notified to indicate their acceptance or denial of available post-withdrawal disbursement amounts within a reasonable time deadline. The reasonable time refers to allowing sufficient time to school to process a post-withdrawal disbursement within the deadlines set by the Department of Education.

The Office of Financial Aid must track the notification and authorization to make the disbursement and meet deadlines as prescribed by Department of Education. A school must process Title IV aid within 120 days from the last day of the enrollment period.

The post-withdrawal disbursement must be applied to outstanding institutional charges before being paid directly to the student.  

The procedures and policies listed above are subject to change without advance notice.