Financial Aid Policies

What is an academic year?
The Financial Aid Office uses a standard academic year that spans two enrollment terms (semesters). These two terms total at least 30 weeks of instruction. A full-time student is expected to complete at least 24 credits during an academic year.

The standard academic year starts with the fall semester and finishes at the end of the spring semester. Summer sessions may be added to the end of the standard academic year. The 2012-2013 standard academic year begins on August 27, 2012, and ends May 13, 2013. The summer session begins on May 20, 2013 and finishes on August 9, 2013.

What is full-time and part-time status?
Full time enrollment is defined as taking 12 or more credits a semester. Part‑time is taking fewer than 12 credits. For financial aid purposes, a student must be enrolled for at least 6 credits a semester in an eligible program to qualify for financial aid consideration, and only the Federal Pell Grant is available for qualified students taking fewer than 6 credits a semester.

Verification
Verification is a procedure in which some students are requested to document certain data elements on the FAFSA—including but not limited to income and family size. Primary documents collected are the IRS tax transcripts for the student (and spouse, if married), and for the parents if the student is a dependent. A verification worksheet also must be completed. PDF forms are linked below.

Cabrini College verifies all students who are flagged by the Department of Education, and may use its discretion in selecting students for verification. Verification of untaxed income, family size, and students/parents who are non-filers is done through the verification worksheet. If submitted, W-2 forms and tax schedules are reviewed for conflicting information, but are not required as long as the Federal verification worksheet has been submitted.

Students selected for verification have 30 days from the date of notification to submit the required documentation. Failure to do so may result in loss of all federal financial aid, as well as any other aid that could be affected by the result of the verification process.

No Federal financial aid funds will be credited to a student’s account until the verification process is complete.

Students will be notified of the result of verification via an updated award notice, even if the verification process resulted in no change to their financial aid.

• Dependent Verification Form (PDF)

• Independent Verification Form (PDF) 

Satisfactory Academic Progress
In order to maintain eligibility for financial aid, a student must make adequate academic progress toward his degree. Satisfactory academic progress for federal financial aid (Title IV funds) is determined using both a quantitative and qualitative measure.

These measures are taken at the end of each payment period. A payment period is defined as the period of time during the school year when a student can receive a disbursement of financial aid funds—typically this is a semester.

Duration of Eligibility
Eligibility for financial aid is terminated if a student takes longer than 150% of the established time to complete his course of study. Full-time undergraduate students cannot take more than six years to meet their degree requirements, nor can they attempt more than 184.5 credits to meet their degree requirements.

To ensure that a full-time student’s pace of progression will allow him/her to complete all necessary credits within the maximum time, the student must complete at least 10.25 credits toward his/her degree for each semester of enrollment.

Actual pace of progression can be measured by dividing the number of cumulative credits the student has successfully completed by the cumulative number of credits the student has attempted.

Graduate students cannot take longer than 150% of the established length of their program, or eligibility for financial aid will be terminated. To ensure a graduate student’s pace of progression, he/she should complete a percentage of credits toward the degree equal to the number of semesters necessary to complete the program.

Quantitative Measure
Students must successfully complete 123 credits toward their degree to graduate. To meet financial aid satisfactory academic progress, a full-time student must successfully complete 10.25 credits per semester. Part‑time students must successfully pass 5.125 credits per semester.

Qualitative Measure
All students must achieve the following grade point average (GPA) to maintain financial aid satisfactory academic progress:

• Zero to 29 credits must hold a GPA of 1.75
• 30 to 75 credits must hold a GPA of 1.90
• Above 76 credits must hold a GPA of 2.0

Financial Aid Warning 
A student’s satisfactory academic progress is measured at the end of each payment period (semester). Students who do not meet the satisfactory academic progress measures described above will be given a “Financial aid Warning.” The student will keep this Warning Status for one full semester, during which he/she is expected to bring their academic standing up to the required standard.

The student may receive financial aid for this semester. If the student succeeds in bringing up his/her academic standing to the appropriate level, he/she will continue to be eligible for federal financial aid. However, if the student fails to meet the satisfactory academic progress measure at the end of the Warning Period, he/she will no longer be eligible for federal financial aid.

Example:

Appealing the Financial Aid Measure of Academic Progress/Financial Aid Probation
A student who fails to meet satisfactory academic progress after having a Warning Period may appeal to have their financial aid continued.

If the appeal is accepted by both the College’s Office of Academic Affairs and the Financial Aid Office, the student will have one more semester on Probation. The student is to use this probationary semester to bring his/her academic standing up to the required standard, and may receive financial aid during this semester.

If the student succeeds in bringing up his/her academic standing to the appropriate level, he/she will continue to be eligible for federal financial aid. However, if the student fails to meet the satisfactory academic progress measure at the end of the Warning Period, he/she will no longer be eligible for federal financial aid.

An appeal to be put on Financial Aid Probation must include:

• An explanation by the student why he/she failed to make satisfactory academic progress.
• What has changed that will allow the student to make satisfactory academic progress by the next evaluation.

An appeal must also include a credible academic plan approved by the Office of Academic Affairs that clearly shows how the student can successfully complete the program of study within the appropriate amount of time.

Students may receive only one Warning and/or Probationary period during their enrollment at the College.

Balances Owed to the College
Most aid awards do not cover a full year's college costs. Parents and students should expect to contribute toward payment of education. Balances not covered by financial aid can be paid using the PLUS or alternative loan programs, or parents and students may opt to go on a monthly payment plan.

The College offers such a plan through Tuition Management Services (TMS). Many students take advantage of this program to pay in 10 monthly payments the portion of college costs not covered by financial aid.

The first payment is usually due in July before the start of fall classes. A small fee is charged. For more information and an application, contact the Cabrini College Business Office at 610-902-8279.

Appealing Your Financial Aid Award
The federal formula that determines a student's financial aid eligibility is based on the most recent year that a tax return can be filed. This is known in financial aid as the Base Year.

For the 2012-2013 academic year (July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013) the base year is 2011. However, there are occasions when a family's financial situation changes during the school year from what it was in the Base Year. Upon request, the Financial Aid Office will review such changes (known as "special circumstances") in the hope of providing a more accurate reflection of the family's financial situation for aid purposes.

Not all changes in family income are accepted by the Financial Aid Office as a "special circumstance." To qualify, a special circumstance must cause an unexpected or unplanned reduction in the family's finances, or be the result of circumstances beyond the family's control. Examples include employment layoff or the death of a wage earner.

A situation is not a special circumstance if it includes expenses that the family has been paying regularly for several years (such as medical expenses), expenses that involve lifestyle choices or expected family events (weddings, retirement), one-time increases in the family's income (lottery winnings, inheritance), or elementary or high school tuition for other family members.

Appeals must include the following:

1. An appeal letter. This letter must include your estimate of 2011 income and provide an explanation how your estimate was derived. Failure to explain your numbers may cause your appeal to be denied.
2. Documentation authenticating the special circumstance (e.g. letter of job termination, death certificate)
3. Signed copy of parents' and student's IRS tax transcript for 2011
   If no tax return was filed, you will indicate as such on the Verification Worksheet
4. Completed Verification Worksheet
5. For job loss: documented unemployment benefits
6. For job loss or death of a wage-earner: provide copies of all W-2 forms for both the parents and student

Appeals will not be accepted for the 2012-2013 school year after December 1, 2012. Appeals filed after December 1, 2012 will be considered for the subsequent 2013-2014 academic year. There is no specific turnaround time for a response to an appeal. This is because appeals are so varied by nature.

No appeal is final without confirmation from the Financial Aid Office, and while an appeal is in process all students must proceed with their financial aid award as it currently stands. Family wage earners who stop being employed must remain unemployed for a minimum of 10 weeks before filing an appeal based on loss of job.

Return all paperwork to Cabrini College Financial Aid Office, 610 King of Prussia Road, Radnor, PA 19087-3698.

Phone: 610-902-8188, Fax: 610-902-8426

Financial Aid Probation
Students who do not meet the satisfactory academic progress measure described above may be put on financial aid probation. The probation is for the length of the next semester of enrollment (typically the fall semester).

Students may receive financial aid for the semester on which they are on probation. However, if at the end of the probation semester the student has not raised academic performance to meet the standard described above, no further financial aid funds will be awarded.

If at a later time the student does meet the satisfactory academic progress measure, his/her financial aid eligibility may be reinstated, provided that funds are still available.

Reinstatement of aid cannot be applied retroactively to any semesters where academic progress was not met.

Withdrawing from Classes/Clean-Dropping
For financial aid purposes, a student is considered to have withdrawn from a class when:

• the student stopped attending after it started, and still has a monetary obligation to the college for that class, and a record of the class will be reflected in the student’s academic transcript

• the student chose not to take a class he/she is registered for after the semester began, but before that particular class has started (See “Modular Classes” below.)

“Clean-Dropping” is a term used for when a student dropped from a class at the decision of the College, and has his/her actual record of being registered for the class erased, causing all charged to be removed, and leaving no record of the class on the academic transcript.

Policies

1. Students must be enrolled for at least 6 credits a semester to qualify for most financial aid.
   (Pell Grant is the sole exception.)
2. Classes that are clean-dropped cannot be counted toward financial aid.

Modular Classes
Modular classes are courses that do not run the full length of the payment period (semester). If a semester has started and the student withdraws prior to attending a modular class because that class starts late in the semester, then that class cannot be counted for financial aid purposes.

1. If a student withdraws from a modular class, then confirms attendance in a later modular class within the same payment period, the student is not considered a withdrawal. However, the student is considered a withdrawal if he/she drops an early modular class and does not attend a later class within the same payment period.

2. If a semester has started and the student withdraws from a class that has not yet begun because it occurs later in the semester term, then that class cannot be counted for financial aid purposes as of the date of the withdrawal.

Withdrawal Examples:

1. A student registers for 6 credits in the fall semester, and both classes start at the beginning of the semester. The semester starts, and the student withdraws from one of the classes.
    
   Impact: The Business Office will still charge for the dropped class, and the transcript will reflect that the class was attempted. The student may still receive financial aid for the class, provided the aid was received and posted to the student’s account prior to the withdrawal from the class. The student may even receive a refund of financial aid funds, if applicable, provided the refund is received prior to the withdrawal from the class. If the refund occurs after the withdrawal, the funds are returned to the student’s lender, and his/her loan obligation is reduced accordingly.

2. The student starts a class, but then the college decides to clean-drop the student from the class due to an unusual circumstance.
    
   Impact: The Business Office will not charge for that class, nor will it appear on the student’s academic transcript. The student cannot receive any financial aid for this class. Depending on the timing of the action, it is possible that financial aid funds already received for the class will be returned to the lender, and may result in the student owing a balance to Cabrini College.

3. Modular Class Example: A student registers for 6 credits, but one of the 3-credit classes starts in Summer I and the other starts in Summer II. Prior to the start of Summer II, the student drops the Summer II class. 
    
   Impact: The student was eligible for financial aid while registered for the 6 credits. All aid transactions, including disbursement of funds and potential refunds to the student, may occur. However, once the student dropped the Summer II class, he/she no longer qualifies for financial aid because he/she is registered for only 3 credits.
    
   Any aid received prior to dropping the class can be kept. But the student cannot receive any additional aid, and if a refund is owed but hasn’t yet been sent, that refund must now be returned to the bank.

Withdrawing from College and the Return of Title IV Financial Aid
For financial aid purposes, a withdrawal from the College occurs when a student ceases to be enrolled as a matriculated student pursuing a degree, by formally withdrawing from the college, dropping out, by taking fewer than the required number of credits per term to qualify for federal financial aid, by being dismissed, or by taking a leave of absence prior to completing at least 60% of a payment period or term, usually defined as a semester. The Federal Title IV financial aid programs must be recalculated in these situations.

Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV Funds formula:

The percentage of the payment period is the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date. This percentage is divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) The resulting percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:

Aid to be returned (which is 100% of the aid that could be disbursed minus the percentage of aid actually earned) is multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.

If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution would be required to return a portion of the funds and the student would be required to return a portion of the funds. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a debit balance to the institution. If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him or her, the institution would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid with 120 days of the student’s withdrawal.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

1. Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan/Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
2. Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan/Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan
3. Federal Perkins Loan
4. Graduate PLUS Loan/Direct Graduate PLUS Loan
5. Federal Parent (PLUS) Loan/Direct PLUS Loan
6. Federal Pell Grant
7. Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant
8. National SMART Grant
9. Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
10. Other assistance under the Federal title IV programs (e.g. LEAP)
11. Modular classes

For financial aid purposes, modular classes are courses that do not run the full length of the payment period (semester).

If a student withdraws from a modular class and attends no other class in the payment period, he/she is a withdrawal and the Federal Recalculation of Title IV Funds is required.

If a student withdraws from a modular class but returns to attend a subsequent class offered within the same payment period, he/she is not considered a withdrawal and no Federal Recalculation of Title IV funds is required.

Cabrini College Funds
Cabrini College funds, both merit awards and need-based grants, are retained at the same percentage rate that tuition is retained. For example, if a student withdraws and owes 40 percent of the semester’s tuition, 40 percent of his/her Cabrini funds will be retained to help pay down the obligation.

PHEAA State Grant
The PHEAA State Grant is retained at the same percentage rate that tuition is retained, similar to Cabrini College funds.

Aid From Other Sources
Aid from other sources includes outside scholarships, grants, loans, and employee tuition reimbursement. Funding from outside sources may be listed on the Financial Aid Award notice, but these amounts are estimates. Sponsors of outside aid usually have their own eligibility requirements. The Financial Aid Office will complete any paperwork required to assist in the application.