Enrollment Status

You must enroll at Central Michigan University each semester to receive financial aid funds for that semester. Minimum enrollment requirements vary by financial aid program. Please contact the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid if you plan to enroll for less than full-time status.

Graduating Senior Proration: If you are a graduating senior (Undergraduate) who is attending only one semester (you will graduate at the end of the Fall semester), federal law requires CMU OSFA to prorate your loan(s) based on the number of credits for which you are enrolled. The proration is based on the annual loan limit, multiplied by the number of units needed for graduation divided by 24.

Internship Enrollment: Students enrolled in an internship must be enrolled at least half time at CMU to be eligible for Federal student loan funds.

Consortium Agreements

You must be enrolled on campus to receive financial aid, except under special circumstances. If your program of study requires a course(s) not offered at CMU you may apply for a Consortium Agreement to receive financial aid while enrolled at least half-time (6 hours undergraduate; 5 hours graduate) at another institution.

Repeated Coursework

Changes in federal regulations impact how financial aid can be used for classes taken more than once.

You can receive financial aid:

• To repeat a course that has already been passed (D- or higher) only one additional time. Any repeated attempts after that will not be eligible for financial aid. Note that this applies even if you earn a failing grade (F).
• As many times as necessary to repeat a course in which the only previous grade earned has been a failing grade (F).
• Even if a passing grade has been earned for certain repeat courses, such as Band or thesis hours, due to different subject content being studied in each term.

All courses previously taken, even if financial aid was not used, are compared against the current semester to determine if it is a repeated class and whether it can be paid for using financial aid. Your financial aid may be recalculated if you take a class that is not eligible for financial aid. This policy does not provide exceptions if the repeat courses are taken to meet the plan of study grade requirements, i.e. a grade of C or higher must be earned to count towards your major.

Examples:

Withdrawing From or Never Attending Classes

If you are a financial aid recipient and you drop some of your classes during the drop/add period (or indicate you never attended some of your classes), you may lose some or all of your financial aid eligibility. Before withdrawing, we suggest you speak with a financial aid counselor. Your enrollment status for financial aid purposes is determined as of the 9th day of classes each semester (file close).

If you are a financial aid recipient and you drop all of your classes before the start of the semester (or indicate you never attended), you are no longer eligible for financial aid for that semester. All scholarship, grant and loan payments (and refunds of financial aid) must be returned to Central Michigan University.

If you are a federal financial aid recipient and you completely withdraw from all your classes after the beginning of the semester, the law requires that the amount of federal aid earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you receive more federal aid than you have earned, the excess aid must be returned. The amount of federal aid you have earned is determined on a pro-rata basis. That is, if you completed 30 percent of the semester, you earn 30 percent of the federal aid you received. Once you have completed more than 60 percent of the semester, you earn all of your federal aid. If you are a recipient of University funds and you completely withdraw from all of your classes after the beginning of the semester, your funds will be reduced by the percentage of tuition refunded.

In accordance with federal and state regulations, the financial aid office must also monitor your academic progress at the end of each semester. If you withdraw from any of your classes, this may cause you to be in unsatisfactory academic progress for financial aid purposes. Students not making satisfactory progress may lose financial aid eligibility for future semesters. Reinstatement of financial aid may be considered by filing a Satisfactory Progress Appeal form.

Failing Grades (E and NC)

Instructors of any course in which a failing grade is assigned are required to provide the last date you attended the class or that you never attended the class. If the instructor verifies that the final exam was taken, no adjustment will be made to your financial aid for that semester. If the instructor indicates that you never attended the class, the OSFA will review your enrollment status and your eligibility for financial aid may be adjusted if you fall below full-time, three-quarter time, half-time or less-than-half-time status.