Federal Regulations require you to be degree seeking to receive financial aid, but the courses you take must also be required for your program. Essentially, only the coursework that counts toward your degree program will be used in determining your enrollment status for aid purposes.

With the exception of the Federal Pell Grant, you must be enrolled at least half-time in courses that count toward your program of study (6 credits for Undergrads and 3 credits for Graduate) for the payment period to be eligible for Federal Student aid. If you drop below half-time status before Federal aid disburses, the Financial Aid Office will cancel any pending Federal aid. Additionally, if you drop below half-time status OR withdraw from school, you will be expected to begin repaying any existing loans.

In order to be eligible for Federal financial aid, you must be:

• A U.S. citizen or national (by birth or naturalization)
  • Persons (except for the children of foreign diplomatic staff) born in the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and in most cases, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands - as are most persons born abroad to parents (or a parent) who are citizens - are considered U.S. citizens
  • Natives of American Samoa and Swains Island are not U.S. citizens but are nationals and therefore may receive federal student aid funds

• A U.S. permanent resident
• A citizen of the Freely Associated States: the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republics of Palau and the Marshall Islands
• An eligible noncitizen

Or

You must have an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94 Form) from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or other documentation to prove you are an eligible noncitizen. The classes of noncitizens are as follows:

• Refugee: You have Form I-94 or I-94A annotated with a stamp showing admission under Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) or you have an old Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571) or the new U.S. Travel Document mentioned above annotated with “Refugee Travel Document Form I-571 (Rev. 9-2-03)”
• Victim of Human Trafficking
• Asylees: You have an I-94 or I-94A with a stamp showing admission under Section 208 of the INA
• Conditional Entrant (valid only if issued before April 1, 1980): You have a stamp indicating you were admitted to the U.S. as a conditional entrant (DHS stopped using this category after 3/31/80)
• Parolee: You have a stamp indicating you have been paroled into the U.S. for at least one year, with a date that has not expired
• Cuban-Haitian Entrant: You have a stamp on the face of the I-94 indicating you have been classified as a “Cuban-Haitian Entrant (Status Pending).” This classification is valid even if the expiration date has passed

If requested, acceptable documentation to verify your citizenship includes any one the following:

• A copy of your birth certificate showing you were born in the United States
• A copy of a valid Form FS-240 (Consular Report of Birth Abroad)
• A copy of a valid Form FS-545 (Certificate of Birth Issued by a Foreign Service Post)
• A copy of a valid Form DS-1350 (Certificate of Report of Birth)
• A copy of a valid Form N-560 or N-561 (Certificate of Citizenship)
• A copy of a valid Form N-550 or N-570 (Certificate of Naturalization)
• A copy of a valid INS Form I-551 (Permanent or Resident Alien Card)
• A copy of your valid U.S. passport, which may be current or expired and indicates your U.S. citizenship

NOTE: The only document that may be expired is the passport. All other forms must be valid and current.

Your eligibility for federal student aid can be affected by incarceration and/or the type of conviction you have.  Please follow the link for specific information.

https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/eligibility/requirements/criminal-convictions#is-it-true-that-drug-convictions-might-affect-my-ability-to-get-federal-student-aid.

Courses in Program of Study for Financial Aid

Your enrollment does affect your eligibility for federal financial aid!

Federal Regulations require you to be degree seeking to receive financial aid, but the courses you take must also be required for your program. Essentially, only the coursework that counts toward your degree program will be used in determining your enrollment status for aid purposes.

Why does it matter if the courses are required for my degree?

The purpose of this federal policy is to ensure that students remain on track towards graduation and only receive the aid for which they are eligible.

What types of Aid are affected by this?

Federal Aid (Some examples: Pell Grant, Teach Grant, Direct Loans, Work Study and FSEOG) may only be paid for eligible courses that count toward your program of study. 

How is enrollment status determined?

At Shippensburg University, the following measure is used for enrollment status:

• Undergraduates: 12 or more hours is full-time, 9-11 hours is three-quarter-time, 6-8 hours is half-time, and 5 or less hours is less-than-half-time.
• Undergraduates taking a graduate level course to meet undergraduate requirements, work with your advisor to submit an exception form to the Registrar’s Office to allow the course to count for undergraduate credit.  We recommend submitting the exception form early.
• Undergraduates taking a graduate level course for graduate credit, that course will not count toward your enrollment status and may have an impact on your financial aid.
• Graduates: 6 or more hours is full-time, 3 hours is half-time (effective summer of 2022).

What and when will the process be run to identify courses not in the program of study?

In order to provide students with information that is as up to date as possible, the process will be run once daily from the start of scheduling through the end of the add/drop period. It is important that all changes affecting courses that count toward the program of study be made before the end of the add/drop period.  You may log into MyShip and click on the Course Program Of Study Link to review any courses that may be marked as "No" under the "Count in Program" column.

How will I know if the courses count?

To see if your courses are eligible, log in to MyShip, click on the Course Program of Study Link and select the current term. 

If you see  "Yes" this course will be considered for your Federal Financial Aid enrollment status.  If you see "No" this course will not be considered as part of your enrollment status. For example if you are registered for 12 credits and 9 have "Yes" and 3 have "No", your enrollment status is 3/4 time as an undergraduate.  If you are taking at least 12 credits as an undergraduate that are marked "Yes" your Federal Financial Aid enrollment status will remain full-time even if additional courses are marked "No".

Full-time graduate enrollment is 6 credits and half-time enrollment is 3 credits (effective summer of 2022).  You must be in at least 3 credits marked "Yes" to receive Federal financial aid (effective summer of 2022).

What steps should I take if my courses marked "No" impact my enrollment status?

Check with your advisor to ensure all exceptions have been forwarded and processed by the Registrar's Office.  Otherwise, these courses are taken at your discretion.  We highly encourage you to contact your advisor with any questions.

What do I need to do to ensure my correct aid amount disburses?

Since we disburse your federal financial aid 10 days before the start of the semester, we recommend you enroll in courses that are required for your degree program of study and declare your major or minor early.  

What about students who are going to change majors?

Only the current semester major will be used when evaluating the courses. Courses counting only toward future majors will not count toward the program of study.

What if I make a change to my schedule after my aid has been disbursed and I receive my refund?

The Financial Aid Office may need to re-evaluate your financial aid award depending on when the schedule change occurs. We would encourage you to contact our office prior to making any schedule changes after a semester begins. Schedule changes could affect the amount awarded or disbursed, causing you to owe a balance.

Eligibility Examples:

• If you are an Undergraduate student eligible for the Pell Grant and are enrolled in 12 credit hours, but only 9 are required for your program, you will receive federal aid for only those 9 eligible hours.
• If you are an Undergraduate student enrolled in 6 credit hours, but only 3 are required for your program, you will not be eligible for the student loan. Undergraduate Students must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 eligible hours for Federal Direct loans.
• If you are a Graduate student enrolled in 3 credit hours and those credit hours are not required for your program, you will not be eligible for the student loan.  Graduate students must be enrolled at least half-time (3 credit hours effective summer 2022) to be eligible for the Federal Direct Loan.

Am I still able to take courses not required for my degree?

Yes, you can take a course that is not required. Just know that the course will not count toward your financial aid enrollment status.

How will this affect Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)?

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is based on total hours taken and not federal aid eligible hours taken.  All hours will continue to count towards this as noted at Financial Aid Eligibility.

I have questions specific to my financial aid, who should I contact?

You should direct questions specific for financial aid to the Financial Aid Office. We are located in Old Main, Room 101. You may stop by during our office hours (8:00 to 4:30 Monday through Friday). You may also contact us by phone at 717-477-1131 or by email at finaid@ship.edu. 

You may also visit our website at www.ship.edu/Financial_Aid for additional information regarding Course Program of Study and Financial Aid. 

Prepare and register early to ensure your courses will be eligible for financial aid!

If you already received a passing grade of "D" or better in a course, you may only repeat the course one more time for it to be considered part of your enrollment for that particular semester. If you are enrolled in a semester taking a course that was previously taken two times (and passed at least once), that course will not be counted towards enrollment for financial aid purposes that semester, and aid may be adjusted accordingly.

Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress

Federal regulations require Shippensburg University to monitor the academic performance of its students for the purpose of verifying and maintaining their eligibility for federal financial aid.  If you do not meet the standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), your federal financial aid will be suspended. 

SAP is defined as sufficiently moving toward successful completion of degree requirements. Your SAP status will be reviewed at the end of fall term, the end of spring term, and after the final summer session. If you were enrolled on or after the first day of the term, you will have your SAP calculated at the end of the term.

SAP is measured in three ways:

• Cumulative Grade Point Average
  • Undergraduate- 2.0
  • Graduate/Doctorate- 3.0
• Percentage of Credits Earned (Pace)
  • 67%
• Maximum Time Frame
  • 150%

Financial aid recipients must maintain SAP in all three areas whether or not federal aid was received in the past.

If you have questions about your financial aid eligibility or need information on how to appeal the loss of your aid, you should review the complete SAP Policy.

PA State Grant Academic Progress

The Pennsylvania State Grant also requires students maintain academic progress for continued eligibility. The State Grant Program has different academic progress requirements from SAP.

View PA State Grant progress requirements.

Withdrawing from or dropping courses may affect your ability to meet federal and state satisfactory academic progress (SAP) requirements (see above). Withdrawing from all your courses may affect your financial aid award. Review the information on Withdrawing From A Term. Contact the Financial Aid Office at 717-477-1131 or finaid@ship.edu to find out more.

Federal regulations require that if you withdraw from all your classes officially or unofficially, a calculation must be performed (called Return to Title IV or R2T4) to determine how much of your aid must be returned to the government, and how much may be retained to pay for the charges you have incurred up to the point of your withdrawal.

NOTE: If you have been awarded federal aid, but withdraw before the first day of classes, 100% of any funds you received are returned to the federal government.

The Title IV programs that are covered by this law are:

• Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
• Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
• Federal PLUS Loan
• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal SEOG
• Federal Teach Grant
• Federal Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant

If a R2T4 calculation is done, aid is returned to the government in that order.

When you withdraw during the semester, the amount of Title IV financial aid that you have “earned” up to that point is determined by a specific formula. The amount of federal aid you earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if you completed 30% of the semester, you earned 30% of the financial aid you were originally awarded for the term. Once you have completed more than 60% of the semester, you have earned all the financial aid (100%) that you were scheduled to receive for that term, and no aid has to be returned to the government.

The R2T4 policies govern only the amount of Federal Aid that must be returned in the case of a withdrawal. The amount of your actual charges (tuition, fees, etc.) is governed by separate rules. More information on what you will be charged in case of a withdrawal from all classes can be found on the Student Accounts web page at: www.ship.edu/Student_Accounts/Refund_Schedule/.

Withdrawing from courses offered in modules:

A program is offered in modules if, for a payment period or period of enrollment, a course or courses in the program do not span the entire length of the payment period or period of enrollment. For all programs offered in modules, there are several scenarios that a student would be considered a withdrawal for Title IV purposes if the student ceases attendance at any point prior to completing the payment period or period of enrollment.

Students enrolled in the first module and drop the second module while still enrolled in the first module, are not considered withdrawals and a R2T4 is not required.

Students enrolled in both module 1 and module 2 but drop module 1, receive an email notification asking if the student intends to complete module 2.  If the student responds within a week indicating they plan to complete module 2, the student is not considered a withdrawal at that time, and R2T4 is not required.  In this case, the school will verify if the student began attendance in module 2.

• If the student does not begin attendance in module 2, the student is considered a withdrawal, and a R2T4 is required using the date the student withdrew from module 1.

• If the student does begin attendance in module 2 but withdrawals from module 2, the student is considered a withdrawal, and R2T4 is required using the date the student withdrew from module 2.

• If the student does begin attendance and completes module 2 after notifying the school that he/she planned on completing module 2, the student is not considered a withdrawal and R2T4 is not required.

Beginning May 17, 2021, students who are enrolled in module 1 and module 2, complete module 1 but withdrawal from module 2, are not considered withdrawals and R2T4 is not required.

• This is based on 34 CFR 668.22(a) which goes into effect on July 1, 2021, but allows schools to implement early but no sooner than September 2, 2020.

• 34 CFR 668.22(a) states that if a student completes a module that consist of at least 49 percent of the payment period not including breaks of more than 5 days or days in between modules, the student is not considered to have withdrawn. 

PA State Grants and Withdrawing from a Term

If received, the Pennsylvania State Grant award (PHEAA) will be adjusted based on Shippensburg University's policy of refund/reduction in tuition charges for a full University withdrawal or leave of absence for the term. For example, if you are withdrawing during the third week of the term at a 40% tuition charge you will only be eligible to keep 40% of your PA State Grant award for the term; if your State Grant award was $1,780 for the term you will only be eligible to keep $712 (1780 x .4) toward your charges for the term. The balance of your award for the term will be credited back to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA).

You should be aware that withdrawing from all courses during a term could have an effect on your Satisfactory Academic Progress. You should also be made aware that a return of funds to the federal government might create a balance due on your student account. You should check with the Student Accounts Office once your R2T4 has been processed and aid has been adjusted. You will receive a letter in the mail at your home address once your aid has been adjusted after your withdrawal. If you are considering withdrawing from all your classes you may want to make an appointment with a Financial Aid Counselor to discuss your situation prior to your withdrawal.

Unofficial Withdrawals

Federal policy requires students who have been awarded any type of federal aid to fulfill their academic requirements. If a student fails to earn a grade in at least one course he or she enrolled in for a semester, the Financial Aid Office must assume for Federal student aid purposes that the student has unofficially withdrawn, unless it can be documented that the student did complete the term.   An “unofficial withdrawal” occurs when a student stops attending all classes and stops participating in any academic activities beyond the date, he/she last attended classes.

Depending on the date of the student’s “unofficial withdrawal,” it may be necessary for the University and/or the student to return some or all the financial aid the student received during the term.