How Adding or Dropping Classes Affects Financial Aid
A student's financial aid is, in part, determined by the total number of credits for which they are enrolled and therefore may be affected by changes to that number. There are multiple situations that may cause a student's financial aid to be adjusted due to changes in credit load.
Enrollment FAQs
-
To receive Federal Direct Student Loan or Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) funding students must take at least six credit hours a semester.
Students may receive a Federal Pell Grant even if they take just 1 credit. However, the amount of the grant is pro-rated based on the number of registered credits.
-
Students may retake any previously passed course only once per course. For this purpose, "passed" means any grade higher than an "F," regardless of any higher qualitative grade required by school policies.
If a student fails a course and receives Title IV funds to retake it, they remain eligible for Title IV aid. However, if a student withdraws from a course they had previously passed and retakes it with Title IV funds, and then fails it, that counts as their allowed retake. They cannot receive Title IV funds for retaking the course a third time.
If a school mandates retaking all coursework for a term after failing a course, only the first retake of any previously passed course is Title IV aid eligible. A student is considered withdrawn for Title IV purposes if they withdraw from all Title IV eligible courses and continue attending non-Title IV eligible courses.
If a student with an incomplete in a prior term completes the coursework in a subsequent term to remove the incomplete, they are not considered enrolled in the course for that subsequent term. Thus, they cannot receive Title IV funds for completing the course. However, if they retake the entire course for credit in the subsequent term, they can receive Title IV funds.
Retaken classes may impact Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and are subject to SAP requirements. Additionally, the one-year academic limitation on noncredit and reduced-credit remedial coursework still applies. Therefore, for instance, a student repeating a remedial course beyond the one-year limitation cannot include the class in their enrollment status.
-
No, waitlisted courses do not count toward a student's enrollment status. Only courses in which a student is officially registered are counted.
-
No, audited courses do not count toward a student's enrollment status. Only remedial courses or courses for which credit can be earned are counted.
When a student chooses to audit a course, they are agreeing that they will not be graded, and that they will not receive credit for the course. The course does, however, appear on the academic transcript noted as an audit.
-
A student's cost of attendance and financial aid amounts directly correspond to the enrollment status indicated on GrizPortal. As long as a student is enrolled in at least six credits, they will see their loan credited to their registration bill as "confirmed future aid" to help complete the bill payment process. However, until they are registered for at least the minimum number of credits indicated by their enrollment status, only the Federal Pell Grant will disburse, and it will be pro-rated.
If a student's enrollment status needs to be adjusted to fit their actual credit load, they need to contact Student Financial Services to request a change to their enrollment status. That change needs to be fully processed before a student's aid (other than the Federal Pell Grant) will pay.
If a student registers for more credits than indicated by their enrollment status, their aid will disburse but at the levels originally indicated. A student in this situation would still want to contact Student Financial Services to adjust their enrollment status as the higher credit load may increase their aid eligibility.
-
If a student reduces their credit load after their Federal Pell Grant has paid, but before the 16th class day in the semester, the grant amount may be adjusted down and the student would be required to repay the returned portion of the grant. If a student drops or adds a class after the 15th class day, the Federal Pell Grant will not be adjusted down or up.
-
Students receiving a Federal Pell Grant must begin attendance in all their classes. If at the end of the semester a student's recorded grades show they received one or more 'F', 'NF', 'W', 'WF', 'WP', 'I', or 'MG' grade, they may have to repay some or all of their Federal Pell Grant.
-
Per the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy (SAP), students are required to earn at least 70 percent of the credits attempted cumulatively. Dropping a course after the 15th class day or withdrawing from the university at any point after the term begins will result in 'W' grades and will lower their percentage for the Pace calculation.
-
If it is past the 15th class day of the semester and a student drops a course, as long as they began attendance in the course, their current semester aid should not be affected. If a student drops a course before the 16th class day of the semester, their aid may be reduced. The reduced amount is owed to UM immediately. While not required, it is recommended that students planning on dropping one or more of their classes contact Student Financial Services prior to doing so.
If a student withdraws from all of their semester courses, they may be required to repay some or all of that current semester's financial aid. If a student is planning on withdrawing from all of their semester courses, they read the UM Withdrawal Policies. Students who stop attending all of their classes, but do not withdraw, may also have to repay a portion or all of their aid.