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Financial Aid Rules, Rights & Responsibilities

1. Full-time student status (12 or more credit hours) must be maintained for full aid. A student must maintain at least 6 hours to receive any Financial Aid including Federal Direct Loans.

2. A student must be maintaining satisfactory academic progress as defined by the university to qualify for financial aid. For information on satisfactory academic progress guidelines, view the university website in the Financial Aid section.

3. The requires that a student maintain at least 6 credit hours to receive a one-half time rate payment, at least 9 credit hours to receive a three-fourths time rate payment, and at least 12 credit hours to receive a full-time rate payment. Students enrolled for less than 6 hours may receive Pell Grant funds if eligible.

4. All federal assistance awards are contingent upon clearance of the verification process as required by federal regulations. Failure to submit the necessary verifying documents and information required for verification by the established deadlines will result in the cancellation of this award.

5. If is part of your award, present the award letter with three documents that establish your identity to the Work-Study Office to sign your employment contract. If you do not accept the job offered, sign your contract late, or fail to work as assigned, the full amount of your Federal Work-Study award cannot be earned. Federal Work-Study award funds are not assigned at the time of registration but are earned monthly according to the number of hours worked. Work-Study is a job, and if you do not work, you will not be paid. I further understand that I will not be allowed to work until I am registered and have signed a Work-Study contract in the Student Financial Services Office. I also understand that I can only work the number of hours per week that my contract specifies and that the contract does not cover holidays and vacation periods.

6. The institutional financial aid award shall not result in a refund to the student when combined with other scholarship/grantoffers.Institutional financial aid will be reduced per academic year if any external scholarship/grantaward creates a credit balance for the student.I FURTHER UNDERSTAND THAT IF MY AWARD CONSISTS OF ONLY GRANTS,EXTERNAL OR INSTITUTIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS, I AM NOT ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND.

7. Financial Aid Awards, Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized Student Loans, and Direct Parent Loans, may only be used to pay educational costs incurred during the period covered by this award letter and MAY NOT BE USED TO SATISFY PAST INDEBTEDNESS TO TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY.

8. All loans are legally binding obligations that MUST BE REPAID. You may decline at any time the loan funds included in your award.

9. All funds, except/Federal Work-Study will be credited to the student’s account upon registration by the Bursar’s office.

10. The Office of Student Financial Services reserves the right to review/cancel awards due to changes in financial standing, academic or program status, failure to observe the University conduct code or the result of suspected fraudulent information.

11. All federal awards are contingent upon adequate appropriations. A reduction in the University’s funds for federal financial aid programs may necessitate a reduction in the individual’s award.

12. Each award recipient must re-apply each year by February 1 for consideration for aid. It is the student’s responsibility to secure and complete the application materials.

13. Any student receiving full room and board through the University scholarship program must reside on campus. You may purchase a meal plan if you have a room and board award but reside off-campus.

14. Students who are awarded housing scholarships will be eligible for double occupancy payment for our lowest housing residence hall.

15. Your award will be adjusted if you were awarded as an on-campus student and you move off-campus.


Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

ۿ۴ýUniversity is required by the Federal Law (668.34) to define and enforce the standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress in measurable standards to determine a student’s eligibility to receive financial assistance. Students who do not meet the standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress will not be eligible to receive federal financial aid.

  • Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) will be assessed for each student at the end of each academic year by the Office of Student Financial Aid to determine the student’s eligibility for continued financial assistance. Financial Aid Suspension is outlined in this policy (see Section 4 for the definition of these terms). An appeal procedure for verifiable mitigating; extenuating; or unforeseen circumstances is available to the student. ۿ۴ýUniversity will not waive the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirement for any student to receive federal financial assistance.
  • Graduate Students: Graduate; DVM and Ph.D. ۿ۴ý must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 during each academic year. Failure to do so will merit the student being placed on financial aid suspension. Graduate ۿ۴ý must complete their degree program in a maximum time frame of no more than 150% of the average length of the program which would be 54 hours for a graduate student and 96 hours for a Ph.D. or DVM student.
  • Transfer Students: Transfer ۿ۴ý are subject to the 75% Pace Completion Rate and the 150% maximum total attempted hours percentage requirements. All hours attempted while enroll and all transfers hours accepted are included in the SAP calculation. Scholarship Students: The academic requirements for scholarship ۿ۴ý are higher than the ones for a federal financial aid student.
  • Scholarship ۿ۴ý: must review their scholarship agreement letter to determine the eligibility requirement for the renewal of their award.
  • Earned Hours: Full-time ۿ۴ý are expected to pass at least 12 hours each semester. Part-time ۿ۴ý are expected to complete all hours enrolled in less than the 12 hours for a full-time student.

A student’s financial aid status may be changed before the suspension period if, as a result of a successful summer session enrollment, the deficiency in percentage rate or cumulative GPA is 2.0 or higher is attained. Students should be cautioned, however, that very little financial assistance is available for summer school.

  • Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)-A student who fails to earn a CGPA of at least 2.00 at the end of their freshman academic year and/or complete a 75% overall completion rate will be placed on financial aid probation. A student who fails to earn a CGPA of less than 1.00 at the end of any academic year will be promptly placed on financial aid suspension.
  • Time Frame to Complete Program-Eligibility is limited to six (6) years to complete a degree not to exceed 150% percent of the number of credits it takes to obtain a degree.​
  • Financial Aid Suspension-Whenever one or more of the following occurs, the student may be placed on financial aid suspension:
  1. The student fails to meet the 75% overall completion rate.
  2. The student fails to meet the minimum CGPA (2.0) requirement at the end of their Sophomore year.
  3. The student earns a CGPA of less than 1.00 at the end of any academic year.
  4. The student withdraws from the university for a second time.

A student on financial aid suspension may not receive financial assistance until after the student’s eligibility has been restored. If verifiable mitigating circumstances i.e. illness; death in the family; surgery etc. have caused the student to be placed on financial aid suspension for any of the above-listed reasons, the student has the opportunity to appeal (See Appeal of Financial Aid Suspension section below).

  • Re-establishing Eligibility -A student who has been placed on financial aid suspension may re-establish eligibility for future financial assistance by raising the cumulative hours passed to at least 75% and the CGPA above 2.0. Such action would have to be undertaken without the aid of student financial assistance.
  • Withdrawal and Dropping Courses-Any student who withdraws from the university for a second time will be placed on financial aid suspension. If verifiable mitigating circumstances are the cause of the second withdrawal, the student has the opportunity to appeal the financial aid suspension(See Appeal of Financial Aid Suspension section below).

Students are cautioned against dropping courses. Students who drop below full-time status (12 hours) may not only have their financial aid award reduced (if dropping to either ¾ or ½ of the standard 12 hours status occurs before the end of the refund period), but they will also jeopardize their eligibility for future financial aid due to a deficiency in the 75% completion rate.

  • Part-time Student -Students who enroll in less than 12 semester hours will be considered as less than the full time when they drop below 12 hours as either ¾ or ½ time when determining eligibility for financial assistance. A less than full-time student must earn credit hours on a pro-rata basis of the full-time requirement and the minimum specified CGPA must be maintained to be eligible for financial aid. The maximum time frame for a part-time student to complete a degree program shall not be greater than twice the maximum period specified for a full-time student inthe Time Frame Complete Program sectionabove.
  • Transfer Students -A student transferring to the University on a full-time basis is presumed to be making satisfactory academic progress, as ۿ۴ý with less than the required CGPA of 2.0 are not admitted to the University. The hours accepted by the University will be used to determine the classification of the student as well as the overall completion rate of 75%. Satisfactory academic progress will be first assessed for each transfer student at the end of the academic year, during which the student transferred.
  • Appeal of Financial Aid Suspension-A student must be able to document extenuating or unforeseen circumstances to appeal financial aid suspension. The procedure for appeal is to submit a Financial Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Form to the Chairperson of the Financial Aid Appeals Committee at least one month beforethe beginning of the term for which financial aid is requested.

A student must indicate in writing to the Chairperson of the Financial Aid Appeal Committee the reason(s) for failure to meet the necessary satisfactory academic progress requirement and why financial aid should not be suspended. DOCUMENTATION to support the appeal is required. Such an appeal must be filed within 10 days of the student’s notification that financial aid will be suspended.

  • Miscellaneous -The student’s grade point average at ۿ۴ýUniversity is calculated on a four-point scale from 0.00 to 4.00. The Office of the Registrar provides grades to ۿ۴ý after the semester session closes. Grades of A, B, C, and D will generate hours earned while a grade of F (failing) will not produce earned hours. Grades of I, WF, WP, P, F, U, and S are not used in the calculation of the grade point average.

The student will be notified either via mail or electronic e-mail of the decision regarding their appeal. All decisions that are rendered by the Appeals Committee will be final and not subject to further review.

A student could be placed on financial aid suspension as a result of incomplete (I) grade(s). If the student removes the grade(s) before enrolling for the next academic term, the student’s status will be adjusted as a result of the revised hours earned or revised CGPA. If the “I” grade(s) is/are not removed until after enrollment in the next academic term, the student’s status will remain unchanged until after the completion of the academic term.