Course Program of Study

Overview

Federal regulations stipulate that schools can only consider classes that count towards the student's program requirements when awarding federal financial aid based on the student's enrollment status. This is called Course Program of Study.

Instructions

Students may view course program of study results in My Degree Audit.  Any courses the student registered for that do not count toward their program will be listed in the section titled Free electives – courses DO NOT count towards Program of Study in degree audit.

What does this mean to my student?

If a student has registered courses in the section titled Free electives – courses DO NOT count towards Program of Study, then this class cannot be counted as part of the student's enrollment status when federal financial aid eligibility is determined. 

If a student has registered courses in the section titled Free electives – courses DO NOT count towards Program of Study AND IS receiving federal financial aid AND can answer YES to all of the following questions, then a Graduation Requirements - Degree Audit Exception Form needs to be submitted to the Registrar's Office at the latest 2 days prior to the end of drop/add.

1. They have registered courses in the section titled Free electives – courses DO NOT count towards Program of Study AND
2. The registered courses in the section titled Free electives – courses DO NOT count towards Program of Study are required for a major, concentration or minor requirement AND
3. The registered courses in the section titled Free electives – courses DO NOT count towards Program of Study are required to graduate and therefore should be eligible for financial aid.

For additional assistance on troubleshooting student CPOS issues, please refer to the Course Program of Study - Assisting Students page on the myShip portal.

The following situations are not considered eligible for an exception (this is not an all-inclusive list):

1. They want, or need, to be considered full-time for any reason (e.g., insurance, housing, etc.). Remember, if they are taking at least 12 credit hours a semester, they will be considered enrolled as a full-time student, even if all 12 registered credits are in the section titled Free electives – courses DO NOT count towards Program of Study.
2. They want to take classes to help make them be a more desirable candidate for enrollment in a future degree program (e.g., graduate school, etc.).
3. They are an undergraduate student taking graduate level classes that will only apply to a future graduate program (These classes are not counting towards any of their current undergraduate requirements).
4. They wish to take additional, non-required, classes for exploratory purposes and they already have earned over the minimum number of credit hours to graduate (generally 120).

If student has registered courses in the section titled Free electives – courses DO NOT count towards Program of Study AND they are NOT receiving federal financial aid, no action is needed. These courses do not count toward their graduation requirements and are taken at their discretion.