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General Policy

Lifetime Eligibility Limit For Federal Pell Grant

Federal law limits the amount of time a student can receive Federal Pell Grant funds to a lifetime limit of up to 6 full-time years (600%), which is equivalent to 12 full-time semesters. The Federal Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used federal law applies to all Federal Pell Grant eligible students regardless of when the student's first Federal Pell Grant funds were received.

Although students may receive Federal Pell Grant funds for no more than 12 semesters of full-time enrollment or the equivalent, once a student has earned a Bachelor Degree, he/she is no longer eligible for a Federal Pell grant even if he/she has not received Federal Pell Grant for the 12 semesters of full-time enrollment.

If a student has exceeded the 12 semester/600% maximum, he/she will be ineligible for any additional Federal Pell Grant and other federal and state funds. There is not a grandfather clause nor an appeal process for this federal regulation. This regulation is in effect even if a student has had an appeal approved for failure to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress in a past semester. It supersedes any prior offer of aid and there is no appeal or exception.

How Is My Federal Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) Calculated?

You can log on to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) using your FSA ID and password to view your Pell Grant LEU percentage.

Repeated Coursework Policy

PASSED COURSE(S): Per federal regulations, a student may repeat a previously passed course (grade of "D" or better) on additional time. Repeat courses are included in total attempted earned hours.

FAILED COURSE(S): Credit hours in which a student receives a grade of "F," "WF," or "R" are included in the number of attempted hours, but do not count toward successfully completed hours. In addition, these grades negatively affect GPA. Students with failed grades may have difficulty meeting the satisfactory academic progress standards.

Academically, a student is allowed to repeat a course to eliminate a failing grade in an attempt to earn a higher grade and receive transcript credit for the higher grade. For financial aid purposes, all credits attempted/ completed and grades will be used when evaluating Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards. Financial aid does not do grade replacements.

Clock Hour Programs

Definition

Certain vocational programs of study are considered to be clock hour programs for Title IV purposes. A program is considered to be a clock hour program if:

  • The program must measure student progress in clock hours to receive state or federal approval or licensure;
  • The completion of clock hours is required for graduates to apply for approval to practice applicable occupation.

Payment Periods and Disbursement Procedure

Financial aid for students enrolled in clock hour programs will be disbursed based on clock hours rather than on semester credit hours and will be divided into two or more payments depending on the length of the program. A payment period is defined as clock hours and weeks of instructional time. Students must successfully complete the clock hours and the weeks of instructional time in a payment period to progress to the next payment period.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students enrolled in clock hour programs will have satisfactory academic progress (SAP) evaluated at the end of each payment period. At the time of review, students must have successfully completed both the clock hours and weeks of instructional time required for the payment period. Maximum Time Frame is measured in cumulative clock hours required to complete the program and expressed in calendar time. Note: a student in a clock hour program cannot receive aid for hours beyond those in the program; the maximum time frame applies to the amount of calendar time the student takes to complete those hours. For example, if the program is 1200 clock hours and meets 30 clock hours per week, that means the program is 40 weeks in length. 150% of 40 weeks is 60 weeks. A student may receive aid while enrolled in this program for up to 60 weeks to complete the 1200 clock hours required for graduation.

Consortium Agreement

A Consortium Agreement is a contract between two colleges/universities that recognizes your registration at each location for financial aid purposes. It also certifies only one of the two institutions can administer Title IV and State financial aid.

This Consortium Agreement refers to the two colleges/universities as the "Home School" and the "Host School:"

The Home School is the school where the student is enrolled in a degree or certificate, which is the school that will grant the student a degree.

The Host School is where the student temporarily takes courses, whose credits will be transferred back to his/her "Home School."

Student Checklist

There are specific guidelines you must meet to complete this process:

  1. Complete Section I of the Financial Aid Consortium Agreement.
  2. Meet with your Academic Advisor to have Section II completed. Please make sure you meet the following requirements:
    • You are enrolled at CCCC in an eligible program of study
    • The courses approved to take at the host school are required for your program of study
  3. Meet with a representative of CCCC's Financial Aid office to have Section III of this agreement reviewed and signed.
  4. CCCC's Financial Aid office will submit the consortium agreement to your host school for authorized signature(s). The host school faxes the completed form to CCCC Financial Aid for processing.
  5. After completing the consortium term, you must request an academic transcript from the host school to be sent to the CCCC Registrar's office no later than 30 days after the end of the consortium term. Please note: Satisfactory Academic Progress could be impacted if the transcript is not received or the courses are not successfully completed.
  6. A consortium agreement will not be processed for any student who is in a "Suspended or Probationary" Satisfactory Academic (SAP) status.

For more information, please read the student checklist and certification section of the Financial Aid Consortium Agreement Form