General Financial Aid Information
UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG INDEX

Recipient Certification
All loan, grant, and federal work-study applicants are required to sign an affidavit stating that all funds received through those programs will be used to meet educational costs directly related to their attendance at Mountain State University, that they are properly registered with the Selective Service or are exempt from such registration, and that they are not in default on and do not owe a refund of any federal or state financial aid program.

Disbursement
Grants and loans are disbursed by the Student Accounts Office, with half the annual award credited each semester. Work-study earnings are paid by check twice a month.

Withdrawal, Dismissal, and Dropping Courses
In accordance with federal regulations, students who withdraw, are dismissed, or drop courses after receiving financial aid may be required to repay part or all of their aid immediately. Aid recipients who are considering dropping a course or withdrawing should contact the Financial Aid Office before making any change in their enrollment.

Summer Students
Loan applicants who plan to attend only one summer session must enroll for at least 6 credit hours during that session.

SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS
Federal regulations require that financial aid recipients meet established standards of satisfactory academic progress. At MSU these standards include three areas: your completion rate, your cumulative grade point average, and your total hours measured against a maximum time frame calculated for your program of study. The standards for completion rate and grade point average apply to all students; the maximum time frame applies only to financial aid recipients. These standards apply to all undergraduate students at MSU, although a slightly different set of standards and processes apply to those in nondegree certificate programs (as described later in this section).

Completion Rate
At the end of each academic year, the number of credit hours you have attempted is measured against the number of credit hours you have earned (that is, the hours for which you have received a grade of A, B, C, or D). This comparison includes any course in which you remained after the add-drop period. You must meet the following standard to maintain satisfactory academic progress:

Withdrawals, incompletes, and failures are considered attempted but not earned hours. Passing credits for pass/fail courses are considered attempted and earned hours; failing grades in pass/fail courses are considered attempted but not earned. Repeated courses and courses for which you have been granted academic forgiveness are included in the calculation of both attempted and earned hours.

Audited courses and those taken in English Language Training (ELT) are not considered credits attempted or earned.

Transfer work graded C or better that applies to your program of study is included. Transcripted transfer credits of W, F, or D do not count in the calculation of either attempted or earned hours.

Credits taken during a consortium agreement with another institution are not considered as attempted unless they are transferred to MSU. Consortium credits from another institution taken at MSU are considered in satisfactory academic progress calculations.

Cumulative GPA
Your cumulative grade point average is reviewed at the end of each academic year (including summer sessions, fall, and spring terms). This comparison includes any course in which you remained after the add-drop period. You must meet the following standard to maintain satisfactory academic progress:

Grades of A, B, C, D, and F are used to calculate your cumulative GPA. The first attempt of a repeated course is counted toward your cumulative GPA. Incomplete grades are not counted until an actual grade is awarded for the course.

Maximum Time Frame
At the end of each academic year, your total credit hours will be checked against the maximum allowed for your program of study. Undergraduate students are not eligible to receive financial aid once they have attempted more than 150 percent of the credits normally required for their degree. For example, if your program requires 120 credit hours for graduation, you are eligible for financial aid during your first 180 attempted hours as an undergraduate.

All attempted hours are counted, whether or not you received financial aid or successfully completed the course. If you have changed majors, are pursuing a double major, or are pursuing a second degree, you can appeal a financial aid suspension under this standard (see the section on Financial Aid Appeals later in this chapter).

Satisfactory Academic Progress for Students in Nondegree Certificate Programs
If you are enrolled in a nondegree certificate program, your completion rate and grade point average will be reviewed when you are halfway through your program requirements. To maintain satisfactory academic progress, you must have successfully completed at least 67 percent of your attempted credit hours and have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better. If you are placed on financial aid probation for failing to meet satisfactory academic progress standards, your probationary period will be for the next 12 credit hours you attempt.

Financial Aid Probation and Suspension
The Office of Financial Aid reviews all financial aid recipients at the end of each academic year after grades have been posted. All three elements of satisfactory academic progress — completion rate, cumulative grade point average, and maximum time frame — are evaluated. Students who do not meet the standard for all three elements are placed on financial aid probation during their next semester of enrollment and are notified of their probation by letter. The probationary period is one semester. At the end of the probationary period, students who have met both cumulative GPA and completion rate standards are removed from probationary status. Those who have not done so are suspended from receiving assistance from federal, state, and institutional sources and receive a financial aid suspension letter.

Financial Aid Appeals
If you are placed on financial aid suspension, you may appeal for a one-term extension of aid. To file an appeal, submit an online appeal form (available on the financial aid section of the MSU website) to the Financial Aid Office within 30 calendar days of notification.You may appeal because of extenuating or mitigating circumstances — a serious illness, the death of a close relative, loss of employment, divorce, or other hardships.

Reinstatement
If you have been placed on financial aid suspension, you can raise your GPA and satisfy credit deficiencies by taking additional coursework at MSU without receiving financial aid. Completing coursework at another institution (without receiving aid at that institution) can eliminate credit deficiencies but not GPA deficiencies. Coursework must be transferable to MSU and cannot have been earned before the term in which you incurred the deficiency. If the removal of an incomplete or another grade change results in the removal of your deficiency, you can verify these changes by submitting a copy of your MSU transcript and a financial aid appeal form.

Financial Aid Student Rights
As a recipient of federal student aid, you have certain rights, including the following:

• You have the right to know what financial aid programs are available at Mountain State University.
  
• You have the right to receive a listing from the Financial Aid Office of the agency in each state you may contact regarding grants available to residents of that state.
  
• You have the right to know the deadlines for submitting applications for each of the financial aid programs available.
  
• You have the right to know how financial aid will be distributed, how decisions
  on that distribution are made, and the basis for these decisions.
  
• You have the right to know how your financial need was determined. You have the right to know what resources (such as parental contribution, other financial aid, your assets, etc.) were considered in calculation of your need.
  
• You have the right to know how much of your financial need, as determined by the institution, has been met.
  
• You have the right to request an explanation of the various programs in your student aid package.
  
• You have the right to know your school’s refund policy.
  
• You have the right to know what portion of the financial aid you received must be repaid and what portion is grant aid. If the aid is a loan, you have the right to know the interest rate, the total amount that must be repaid, the payback procedures, the length of time you have in which to repay the loan, and when repayment is to begin.
  
• You have the right to know how the school determines whether you are making satisfactory academic progress and what happens if you are not.
  
• If you have a loan and the lender transfers the right to receive payments (“sells” the loan), you must be sent a notification telling you to whom you must now make payments.
  
• Lenders must provide you with a copy of the complete promissory note.
  
• You have the right to prepay a loan without penalty. This means that you may at any time pay in full the loan balance and any interest due without being charged a penalty by the lender for early payment.
  
• If you cannot meet a loan repayment schedule, you may request forbearance from the lender under which the payments may be reduced for a specific period of time.
  

Financial Aid Student Responsibilities
As a recipient of federal student aid you have certain responsibilities, including the following:

• You must complete all application forms accurately and submit them on time to the right place. You must reapply annually for financial aid.
  
• You must provide correct information. The intentional misreporting of information on financial aid application forms is a criminal offense that could result in indictment under the U.S. Criminal Code.
  
• You must return all additional documentation, verification, corrections, and new information requested by either the Financial Aid Office or the agency to which you submitted your application.
  
• You must notify the Financial Aid Office of any financial aid received from sources outside the University.
  
• You are responsible for reading and understanding all forms that you are asked to sign, as well as keeping copies of them.
  
• You must accept responsibility for all agreements that you sign.
  
• You must perform the work that is agreed upon in accepting Federal Work-Study (FWS). Even though you may be eligible for FWS, no student is guaranteed a job. Jobs are based on the University’s award of federal funds and job availability. An FWS award is an opportunity to seek, interview for, and obtain a campus work-study job in the same way that a job is obtained under normal circumstances.
  
• You should be aware of the school’s refund policy.
  
• You must be aware of and comply with the deadlines for application or reapplication for aid.
  
• All schools must provide information to prospective students about the school’s programs and performance. You should consider this information carefully before deciding where to attend school.
  
• If you have a loan, you must notify the lender if any of the following occurs before the loan is repaid: graduation, withdrawal from school or less than half-time attendance, change of address, name change (maiden name to married name, etc.), or transfer to another school.
  
• You must repay your loan in accordance with the repayment schedule.
  
• You must notify the lender of any occurrence that may affect your eligibility for a deferment.
  
• You must notify the Financial Aid Office of changes in your family’s financial situation or your financial situation.
  
• You must contact the Financial Aid Office before registering for individualized study classes. Even though you are given four months to complete these classes, some financial aid programs require that they
  be completed in a shorter period of time.
  
• You must use the proceeds from your financial aid disbursement for educational purposes only.
  

Withdrawal and Refunds for Financial Aid Recipients
Federal regulations require that the Financial Aid Office recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence before completing 60 percent of a payment period or term. Under the federal formula for recalculation, the percentage of the payment period or term completed equals the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.

Federal funds to be returned are calculated by subtracting the percentage of earned aid from 100 percent, then multiplying the resulting percentage by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.

If you have earned less aid than was disbursed to you, MSU is required to return a portion of the funds and you are required to return a portion. This requirement may result in your owing a balance to MSU. If you earned more aid than was disbursed to you, MSU must pay you a post-withdrawal disbursement within 120 days of your withdrawal.

Federal financial aid being returned is allocated in the following order:

• Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
  
• Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
  
• Federal Parent (PLUS) Loans
  
• Federal Pell Grants for which a return of funds is required
  
• Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants for which a return of funds is required
  
• Other assistance for which a return of funds is required

The same refund calculation applies to all courses. Since individualized study, team learning (cohort) programs, and online classes have unique beginning and ending dates, the refund will be calculated on the 60 percent point of the individual term.