College credit
September 18, 2009 4:50 PM Subscribe
Too many credit hours for Federal Student Financial Aid? I am going to Ohio State for a BS in Crop Science, I already have a general studies BS from another school. Now with 268 credit hours, I'm over the 207 allowed to receive federal aid for a Bachelors. What up with this? Anyone every deal this this? Thanks!
yeah, my community college financial aid office told me to go pound sand since I already have a degree from twenty years ago.
posted by Palamedes at 5:16 PM on September 18, 2009
posted by Palamedes at 5:16 PM on September 18, 2009
In some states, after you get a certain number of credit hours you are charged out-of-state tuition. It seems that some legislatures, both state and federal, do not see the net benefit to society of subsidizing a number of credit hours well in excess of that needed for one bachelor's degree.
posted by grouse at 5:19 PM on September 18, 2009
posted by grouse at 5:19 PM on September 18, 2009
The Financial Aid office at your school might be able to help you. As others have said, things like Pell Grants only apply to your first bachelor's degree, because there's a limited amount of money available and they want to give everyone a chance to get one undergrad degree, rather than some people getting a bunch of them.
Stafford Loans and other federally-guaranteed loans didn't use to be limited in the same way, but I've been out of the university administration loop for a long time, so that may have changed.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:29 PM on September 18, 2009
Stafford Loans and other federally-guaranteed loans didn't use to be limited in the same way, but I've been out of the university administration loop for a long time, so that may have changed.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:29 PM on September 18, 2009
I'm at OSU for a 2nd bachelor's too - same thing happened to me. You can try to round up scholarships and/or private loans, get your employer to provide tuition reimbursement, or just pay out of pocket.
posted by HopperFan at 7:07 PM on September 18, 2009
posted by HopperFan at 7:07 PM on September 18, 2009
I work in a financial aid office at a community college. This is my school's policy; YMMV.
At my school, majors are assigned Maximum Time Frame hours. Each degree is broken down by the number of credit hours needed to complete the program and the Maximum Time Frame is 150% of the baseline credit hours for degree completion. For an arbitrary example, say an Associates Degree in General Studies takes 60 credit hours to complete. Once you have accumulated 90 credit hours, you have met the MTF for that degree.
At my school, once a student hits his MTF, he goes on financial aid suspension. That means he's not eligible to receive federal funds until he submits an appeal to the financial aid office.
The thing is, you can hit the Maximum Time Frame at my school if you have transferred hours from another school for credit. Your transfer hours, plus any classes you take for credit, can quickly push you up against the MTF rules.
If your school offers it, it's worth it to pursue the appeal. Students that are are earnestly seeking degrees, who aren't taking a lot of superfluous classes, pretty commonly get their aid back. For students whose MTF appeals are approved, they are only supposed to take classes specifically for their degrees because, ultimately, federal financial aid is about helping students get degrees.
A couple of other thing's about my school's policy is that we require the MTF students re-appeal their financial aid for each semester, with an eye on keeping them on track for graduation. The appeals process is supposed to suspend financial aid to those few students who might otherwise linger in school forever without ever actually graduating.
I recommend you look into your school's financial aid policy. There should be information about MTF suspension available in the course catalog and, most likely, online.
Let me know if you would like to know more.
posted by omphale27 at 8:07 PM on September 18, 2009
At my school, majors are assigned Maximum Time Frame hours. Each degree is broken down by the number of credit hours needed to complete the program and the Maximum Time Frame is 150% of the baseline credit hours for degree completion. For an arbitrary example, say an Associates Degree in General Studies takes 60 credit hours to complete. Once you have accumulated 90 credit hours, you have met the MTF for that degree.
At my school, once a student hits his MTF, he goes on financial aid suspension. That means he's not eligible to receive federal funds until he submits an appeal to the financial aid office.
The thing is, you can hit the Maximum Time Frame at my school if you have transferred hours from another school for credit. Your transfer hours, plus any classes you take for credit, can quickly push you up against the MTF rules.
If your school offers it, it's worth it to pursue the appeal. Students that are are earnestly seeking degrees, who aren't taking a lot of superfluous classes, pretty commonly get their aid back. For students whose MTF appeals are approved, they are only supposed to take classes specifically for their degrees because, ultimately, federal financial aid is about helping students get degrees.
A couple of other thing's about my school's policy is that we require the MTF students re-appeal their financial aid for each semester, with an eye on keeping them on track for graduation. The appeals process is supposed to suspend financial aid to those few students who might otherwise linger in school forever without ever actually graduating.
I recommend you look into your school's financial aid policy. There should be information about MTF suspension available in the course catalog and, most likely, online.
Let me know if you would like to know more.
posted by omphale27 at 8:07 PM on September 18, 2009
Omphale tells it straight. This happened to me and my husband -- we had both transferred from city college, and both changed our majors from a liberal art to a science.
You just have to appeal. For students whose MTF appeals are approved, they are only supposed to take classes specifically for their degrees. That was the deal we had -- we had to plan out the remainder of our degree requirements, and could take only those classes.
I believe it is more-or-less automatic you'll be reinstated, once you prove to them that you are not just screwing around. Sit down with your major advisor and figure out exactly what you need to graduate, and when you can take it (BSKTWVG 11 is offered only in Fall, BSKTWVG 75 is offered only every other Spring...) Submit the paperwork, and you'll be fine.
posted by Methylviolet at 8:57 PM on September 18, 2009
You just have to appeal. For students whose MTF appeals are approved, they are only supposed to take classes specifically for their degrees. That was the deal we had -- we had to plan out the remainder of our degree requirements, and could take only those classes.
I believe it is more-or-less automatic you'll be reinstated, once you prove to them that you are not just screwing around. Sit down with your major advisor and figure out exactly what you need to graduate, and when you can take it (BSKTWVG 11 is offered only in Fall, BSKTWVG 75 is offered only every other Spring...) Submit the paperwork, and you'll be fine.
posted by Methylviolet at 8:57 PM on September 18, 2009
On non-preview, I didn't say that right:
we had to plan out the remainder of our degree requirements, and could take only those classes.
No, we could take anything we wanted, financial aid would only pay for our degree requirements.
posted by Methylviolet at 9:01 PM on September 18, 2009
we had to plan out the remainder of our degree requirements, and could take only those classes.
No, we could take anything we wanted, financial aid would only pay for our degree requirements.
posted by Methylviolet at 9:01 PM on September 18, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:08 PM on September 18, 2009 [2 favorites]