Course and Program of Study
The US Department of Education regulations require that a student be enrolled in a degree-seeking or eligible certificate program to receive federal financial aid. Aggregate lifetime limits exists for all aid programs; therefore, timely degree completion is critical. Due to this, students must be enrolled in courses that are applicable to the degree or eligible certificate to qualify for federal financial aid. This is refered to as the Couse Program of Study (CPOS) policy.
If a student is enrolled in courses that are not required, the federal financial aid award could be prorated or cancelled. Federal financial aid eligibility will be determined based on a student’s current program of study and course registration as of the financial aid freeze date.
PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY
All degree programs and teacher certification programs at Southern are eligible for federal financial aid, as well as many of our certificate programs. If a certificate program is not eligible for federal financial aid, it will be stated on the program application and in the program information published in the catalog.
The federal rules for dual majors or degrees are specific to the Pell and SEOG grant programs. For these programs, once the student completes all degree requirements for one major or degree, a student is no longer eligible for Pell or SEOG, whether the student has been conferred a bachelor’s degree or not. The student will remain eligible for other federal aid programs.
COURSE ELIGIBILITY
A course is eligible for federal financial aid if it satisfies a requirement in the student’s program of study. This includes classes that count towards a student's program, major, minor, or concentration. Students may consult their degree evaluation to review which courses will fulfill program requirements. Courses listed in the ‘Excess’ section are not aid eligible.
A repeat course may be eligible for federal financial aid depending upon whether the course was previously passed or not. Students may only repeat previously passed courses one additional time. There are no restrictions on the number of repeats for a previously failed course. More Info on theRepeat Coursework Policy.
A prerequisite course is eligible for federal aid programs if the course satisfies a degree requirement in the program of study such as a general education requirement (LEP) or an elective credit needed to meet overall program requirements..