by Alana Laanui |
Registration is always a stressful time of year, and swirling rumors about losing financial aid before you’ve quite finished college have only complicated things further. Each student’s case is different, so it is important to know where you stand and make sure your academic plans match up with your financial ones.
Financial aid may come in the form of institutional aid, federal loans, federal grants and a number of other sources. The purpose of financial aid is to help students obtain the required credits for degree completion. Often students who complete a degree early are not aware of the potential to lose their aid for future semesters
Janet Turner, director of Financial Aid, pointed out that confusion around loss of financial aid often occurs for students pursuing multiple degrees.
“Once the student has earned their first baccalaureate degree, they are no longer eligible for federal grant aid,” Turner said. “That’s why if they complete both their degrees at the same time, then they can continue receiving federal grant aid.”
Turner said that while students can lose federal grant aid, it is important to know that this is different from federal loans and institutional aid. Only a handful of students at UP are eligible for federal grants like the Pell Grant, and these students can make adjustments to their class schedule in order to consistently receive aid.
Things are different when it comes to institutional aid and federal loan aid. Institutional aid can be used by students for eight semesters, as long as they remain degree-seeking. While a student’s federal loan eligibility depends on if a student met their loan aggregates (the limit of how much a student can borrow per year and throughout the entirety of their college career) or not.
Turner said the financial aid office works with the associate deans of each school to communicate the different circumstances of students so that students can plan their academic schedule well and not lose their aid.
“I work closely with the associate deans so I think that they are pretty familiar with the requirements,” Turner said. “They are pretty knowledgeable and know when a student needs to talk to financial aid.”
Financial aid is often seen as being complex and a little scary, but it’s an important part of getting students to graduation day. Being knowledgeable about one’s financial situation can help students prevent any unwanted surprises and Turner says stopping by the financial aid office is a great way to stay informed about your financial situation.
“If a student is working on two majors or two degrees they should stop by financial aid,” Turner said. “Every student’s financial aid is unique to their own situation and we can see if they will need to save any core requirements to the end.”
Alana Laanui is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at laanui18@up.edu or on Twitter @AlanaLaanui.
