Financial Aid Policies

Federal Financial Aid

Financial aid is a resource for students seeking monetary assistance to help defray the costs of higher education. Eligible students may receive assistance from private entities or from the federal government in the form of grants, loans, and/or scholarship funds. CSU Global is currently eligible to administer the following Federal student aid programs:

• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal Direct Loans (Subsidized and Unsubsidized)
• Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans
• Federal Direct Grad PLUS Loans

Students may obtain more information from Student Financial Services or by visiting CSUGlobal.edu.

Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s Degrees, and Graduate Certificate Programs

Financial Aid at CSU Global is processed based on a standard term structure, where an Academic Year is defined as 32 weeks and 24 credit hours for undergraduate students or 12 credit hours for graduate students. Each academic year comprises two payment periods, which are based on the academic trimester. A student’s academic year begins with the trimester in which the student takes his or her first course, and includes two consecutive trimesters.

Since our undergraduate certificate programs are less than a full academic year, these programs operate under a non-term structure in which a student’s academic year is 24 weeks and 18 credits in length. Students will have two payment periods, the first payment period covers completion of half the program credits (9 credit hours) and weeks (12 weeks). The second payment period will not begin until the student has successfully completed at least 9 credit hours and 12 weeks

Federal Financial Aid Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for federal financial aid, students must meet all of the following requirements:

• Be a citizen of the United States or an eligible non-citizen.
• Have a high school diploma or GED.
• Be enrolled as a degree-seeking student.
• Students cannot be in default on prior student loans, have borrowed in excess of the loan limits under the Title IV programs at any institution, or owe an overpayment on any Title IV loan or grant programs.
• Maintain good academic standing in your program and make satisfactory progress toward the degree sought (see Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for more information).
• Be enrolled at least half-time at the time of disbursement; undergraduates students must attend at least 6 credits and graduate students must attend at least 3 credits.

Federal Financial Aid Application Steps

1. To be considered for financial aid, students must be accepted for admission in a degree program.
2. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) every year. Students may apply online at https://studentaid.gov/.
3. When prompted, the CSU Global school code for the FAFSA is 042087.
4. Once the FAFSA has been processed, students will receive a Federal Student Aid Report (SAR) from the U.S. Department of Education, and an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) will be submitted electronically to all the schools listed on the FAFSA. The ISIR is utilized to determine your eligibility for federal financial aid.
5. Students whose data has been selected for verification will be required to submit documentation based on the items selected by the Department of Education. All required documentation will be available in the document center of the Student Portal. The deadline to submit verification documentation is 10 days prior to the start of the trimester in which the student wishes to receive financial aid. Students that submit documentation after this deadline may not be eligible for disbursement until the following trimester or, at minimum, disbursements may be delayed for the current trimester.
6. Once all required information is received, eligible students receive a financial aid award offer. Reasons students may not receive financial aid include:
   1. Not enrolled in a degree-seeking program
   2. On SAP probation
   3. In default on a federal student loan
   4. Owe money on a federal student grant and have not made satisfactory arrangements to repay it
   5. Ineligible non-citizen or not a permanent resident of the United States
   6. Convicted of a drug charge that affects eligibility (contact an advisor).
7. Students who wish to borrow federal student loans must complete Entrance Counseling and the Direct Loan Master Promissory Note through StudentAid.gov before loans will be approved.
8. Students that are re-entering the University, placed on SAP warning, or getting close to their aggregate loan limits during their program are required to complete Financial Awareness Counseling through StudentAid.gov.

Professional Judgments

Students should contact Student Financial Services if they have unusual circumstances in order to apply for a professional judgment. A professional judgment allows the Financial Aid Office to review the student’s circumstances and determine if an adjustment to their financial aid package can be made. Students should contact their advisor if they have unusual circumstances in order to apply for a professional judgment.

Enrollment Status for Financial Aid Purposes

Students who begin attendance in a trimester as less than half-time will not qualify for a financial aid disbursement. To qualify for a financial aid disbursement during that trimester, they must achieve an enrollment status of half-time attendance or higher.

Undergraduate Students:

• Full Time: 12 credit hours per trimester
• Three-Quarter Time: 9-11 credit hours per trimester
• Half Time: 6-8 credit hours per trimester
• Less than Half Time: less than 5 credit hours per trimester

Graduate Students:

• Full-Time: 6 credit hours per trimester
• Three-Quarter Time: 4-5 credit hours per trimester
• Half Time: 3 credit hours per trimester
• Less than Half Time: less than 3 credit hours per trimester

Verification

CSU Global Financial Aid Office will complete verification on all students that have been selected by CPS for verification and may be eligible for need-based funding (undergraduate degree programs). We do, however, reserve the ability to select any student that we feel may have submitted incorrect or inaccurate information on the FAFSA application, or if there is conflicting information that must be resolved on the application.

Exclusion From Verification

The following are situations in which verification will not be completed at CSU Global, unless there is conflicting data or we choose to complete verification for students on an individual basis.

• Death of the student.
• Student is not an aid recipient – student has stated that he or she will not use financial aid.
• Applicant is eligible to receive only unsubsidized student financial assistance – graduate level students and some undergraduate students. Note: This exclusion does not apply to students selected for the V4 and V5 tracking groups because that is verification of identity that is required to be completed.
• Post Enrollment – student was selected for verification after ceasing to be enrolled at our school and student is not eligible for any late disbursements.

Student Expectations and Deadlines

Students are expected to submit documentation at least 10 days prior to the term in which he or she is applying for aid. Documentation received after this deadline will be reviewed if time permits; however, packaging of aid may be delayed for that term. Students will be notified by email on the day that the ISIR was received, or on the date that the student is enrolled if the ISIR was received prior to admission that their FAFSA was selected for verification. Students will complete the verification process and submit all required documentation through the verification portal. Students are required to use their CSU Global email address and password to log into the verification portal.

Students are asked to submit documentation within five business days. However, they will have up until 10 days before the start of the term to submit the required documentation and still be eligible for timely packaging. We will not award aid, nor will they receive notice of awards until after verification has been completed.

Required Verification Items and Documentation

The items that will be verified are based on the group the student was assigned to by the Department of Education in the Federal Register notice published for the award year. CSU Global uses a customized verification portal that will guide students through the correct worksheets and documentation needed based on dependency status and the assigned verification group.

Special Situations

Extensions: Students (spouses or parents) that filed an extension must provide the IRS Form 4868 Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. In addition, students must provide a copy of the Wage and Income transcripts, and any other income documentation that they will use to file taxes, and a signed statement with the amount of their AGI and U.S. income taxes paid.

Filers of joint returns who are no longer married: Students (or parents) who filed jointly but are no longer married due to separation, divorce, or a widow must provide W-2 information for the person whose information is required on the FAFSA.

Amended Taxes: If a student, spouse, or parent is or was required to file an amended tax return, student must submit the Tax Return Transcript from the IRS along with a signed copy of the 1040x form that was filed to amend the return.

Victims of Identity Theft: These individuals are unable to use the DRT and must call the IRS’s Identity Protection Specialized Unit (IPSU) at 1-800-908-4490. Once the individual has authenticated his/her identity they can ask that the IRS mail an alternate paper tax return transcript called the Transcript Database View (TRDBV).

Conflicting Information

In addition to these five elements, the application information will be reviewed for conflicting information. Below are the data elements that will be reviewed for conflicting information during the verification process.

• Inconsistent filing status on tax return (married student filed head of household, married student filing as single, etc).
  • Need an amended tax form 1040x or statement from a certified tax preparer explaining why the filing status is accurate.
• Amount of household income is less than child support paid for a child outside of the house.
  • Need statement explaining the discrepancy.
• There is zero household income.
  • “Verification of Nonfiling” form from IRS for student, spouse, and/or parent(s).
  • Need statement explaining how the student is supporting self and/or family.

Reporting Results for Verification Tracking Flags V4 and V5

We will report on results through FAA Access to CPS Online for any student that was selected by CPS with a V4 or V5 tracking flag. This will be done at the beginning of each term for students that attend CSU Global.

Cost of Attendance

Our cost of attendance is based on the required components established in the Higher Education Act (Sec. 472), and we use the budget parameters established by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) to determine some of the indirect costs associated with our cost of attendance. Since we only offer 100% online degree programs, we do not include transportation as part of our cost of attendance. We review our student population and costs annually to determine if the costs suggested by the CCHE are still considered reasonable allowable costs for our students.

The cost of attendance includes direct costs, which are tuition, books, and estimated loan fees, as well as indirect costs, which include housing, food, and personal expenses. Students that enroll less than half-time for more than one trimester will have a budget that excludes housing and food. For students that are enrolled less than half-time, their budgets will not include a room and board allowance. Further, students that are living on a military base or who receive Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) will not have a housing allowance included in their budget. This applies to students where a member of the household (student, spouse, or parent) is receiving BAH during the academic year. Incarcerated students will only have tuition, books, and fees included in their budgets.

Tuition and books are calculated on a per-credit-hour basis, whereas the other elements (housing, food, personal expenses, and loan fees) are calculated on a per-month basis. Original budgets and packaging is based on the assumption that students would attend the same number of credits per term based on their current registration at the time of packaging. For students that begin a new program or academic year in the middle of a trimester (C or D terms), they will have a budget based on six months of attendance since they would not have the opportunity to attend the first portion of the trimester. The calculation for each component is described below and is followed by a chart of amounts for each element.

A student’s combined federal aid and non-federal funding sources must not exceed the student’s cost of attendance (COA) for a given academic year. If a student receives additional funding after financial aid has been packaged, it is possible that an adjustment, including a reduction of funds, may need to be made. If a reduction in funds is necessary, CSU Global will always seek to reduce fund sources that are the least advantageous to a student first. For example, a student packaged with Pell Grant, subsidized loan, and unsubsidized loan who later receives a scholarship that causes the total funding to exceed COA will see their unsubsidized loan reduced first to remain within COA as this loan has the least benefit to the student in this scenario.

Students may request a professional judgment if they have special circumstances related to their cost of attendance. Items, such as a need for a computer or childcare costs, may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Estimated Cost of Attendance Components

Cancellation of Federal Financial Aid

Students will receive a notification within 30 days of direct loan disbursements posting to their student account, and have up to 14 days from the date of the notification to cancel any funds. Further, students may request cancellation of funds at any time during their academic year. Requested refunds and cancellation of funds disbursed cannot be processed after 120 days from the date of the disbursement.

Federal Financial Aid Counseling

Federal Direct Loan Entrance Counseling

All students using Direct Stafford Loans at CSU Global will be required to complete the online entrance counseling through StudentAid.gov.

Federal Direct Loan Exit Counseling

Any student that withdraws, graduates, or drops below half-time will receive an email asking the student to complete the online exit counseling through StudentAid.gov. In addition, students will receive the Direct Loan Exit Counseling Guide to both their school address as well as their personal address on file to ensure that they receive the Exit Counseling materials.

Federal Direct Loan Awareness Counseling

Students that are re-entering the university, are placed on SAP warning, or those who are getting close to their aggregate loan limits during their program are asked to complete the Financial Aid Awareness Counseling through StudentAid.gov prior to additional loans being processed. This ensures that students have a clear understanding of their total indebtedness and ability to complete their program.

Federal Financial Aid Disbursements

Financial Aid disbursement occurs when funds have been received from the Title IV program by the school and have been posted to a student’s account. Disbursements are scheduled to be processed on or after day 10 of each term. For standard term programs, financial aid awards are scheduled each term within the trimester to coincide with financial charges. For non-term programs, disbursements are scheduled to be processed on or after day 10 of the student’s first course, and the second disbursement will be processed once the student has successfully completed half of the program credits (9 credits) and half of the weeks of instructions (12 weeks). Disbursement amounts and dates are subject to change based on changes to a student’s enrollment status, credit load, and/or cost of attendance. Disbursements (posting of the aid to a student’s account) will not occur until after the census date of each term. A student will not receive a Direct Loan disbursement during a payment period unless they are attending or have successfully completed courses and would be considered half-time.

Students admitted under conditional or provisional admission status without all official transcripts cannot receive financial aid disbursements until all official transcripts have been processed. Conditional Admit students must be fully admitted into the program before they will become eligible for a financial aid disbursement. Students will be responsible for all tuition charges for any term(s) in which they are not eligible to receive financial aid.

In order for a student to be eligible for a disbursement of Federal Direct and Federal Direct PLUS loans, the student must have a valid ISIR on file; have completed a Master Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling; be attending at least half-time for the payment period. For standard term programs, a student’s enrollment status for the payment period is comprised of all courses the student is currently attending plus any courses that were successfully completed (grade of D or better) during the payment period. If a student decides to take a term off within a trimester, aid eligibility will be reviewed to determine the amount of aid the student may still qualify for in the payment period.

In order for a student to qualify for a Federal Pell Grant disbursement, the student must have a valid ISIR on file, have submitted all required verification or clearance documents, and meet the enrollment status based on courses attended for the payment period.

Credit Balance

In the event that financial aid exceeds all the expenses for a term, a credit balance is created in the amount due back to the student. Credit balances are disbursed within 14 days of the credit appearing on the student’s account. CSU Global uses a third-party service to process all credit balance requests. Students should visit RefundSelection.com and use their personal code to select a refund preference. Students who do not select a preference automatically receive a paper check in the mail 21 days after the refund was processed through the third-party service. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their mailing address on file is accurate.

Book Allowance Vouchers

Students who are eligible to receive Title IV funds and are expected to have a credit balance, who have submitted all required documentation, and are registered ten days prior to the start of each term will be eligible to receive a Book Allowance Voucher. The book allowance voucher is a tool that allows Title IV recipients to charge the purchase of their books to their student account and can obtain their books within the first week of the term prior to financial aid disbursements. Students who choose to use the book voucher to obtain books are providing authorization to have the book and shipping charges posted to their student account and the student assumes all responsibility for payment of the charges. Use of the book voucher does not guarantee that you will have enough Financial Aid to cover all charges; it is a tool to assist students in receiving their books before financial aid is processed. Students are not required to use the book voucher and may choose to opt-out of this method and obtain books from other sources at their own expense. Issuance of a Book Allowance Voucher does not guarantee financial aid funds will cover the cost of the books. Students are responsible for all book costs charged to their accounts.

Authorization for Use of Title IV Funds

Recipients of Title IV Federal Student Aid have options regarding how their funds are applied to their Student Account by CSU Global, including but not limited to authorizing funds be utilized for fees associated with SSA and PLA alternative credit options and book vouchers for Non-Pell eligible students. Students must complete the Financial Aid Authorization form to authorize the university to apply these additional Title IV funds to their account. Students may request to rescind or grant these authorizations at any time by submitting a new authorization form or other written notification. For compliance purposes, CSU Global must assume any blank response or failure to submit the form implies that authorization has not been granted. Authorizations or changes become effective on the date the written notification is received and cannot be applied retroactively.

Federal Direct Loan Repayment

After you graduate, withdraw, or drop below half-time enrollment status, you will have six months before you begin monthly repayments. This is your grace period. During the grace period for all Direct Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized) disbursed after July 1, 2012, interest will accrue.

The Direct Loan Program offers you a choice of repayment plans. You have the option to change the repayment plan.

• The Standard Repayment Plan requires a fixed payment each month of no less than $50 for up to ten years. The length of the repayment plan and the monthly amount will depend on how much you have borrowed.
• The Extended Repayment Plan allows students with high loan amounts to repay federal loans over 12-30 years.
• The Graduated Repayment Plan allows your monthly repayment to be artificially low at first but increasing at least every two years. The repayment length will range from 12-30 years.
• The Income-Based Repayment Plan creates an affordable monthly payment based on income and family size. Loan principal is forgiven after 25 years of repayment.
• The Income Contingent Repayment Plan bases your monthly payment on income, family size, interest rate, and loan amount. Loan principal is forgiven after 25 years of repayment.

Failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to when you signed the promissory note will result in a status called default. In many cases, default can be avoided by submitting a request for deferment, forbearance, or cancellation and by providing the required documentation before you reach the point of default.

The consequences of default are severe. Action may be taken to recover the money, including notifying national credit bureaus of your default. This may affect your credit rating for up to seven years. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) might withhold any U.S. individual income tax refund and apply it to the amount that is owed. Additionally, the agency holding your loan may ask your employer to deduct payments from your paycheck. If you decide to return to school with an active default on your account, you will not be eligible for any additional federal student aid until your loan has been repaid or satisfactory payment arrangements have been made.

For more information regarding repayment please visit https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment

Deferment Requests/NSLDS Reporting

Students who have loans from prior schools may choose to complete the In-School Deferment Form (obtained from their lender) and submit it to their Student Finance Advisor. An in-school deferment request will not be certified until the student is enrolled at least half-time for the trimester.

Enrollment statuses are reported to NSLDS every 30 days. Students who are not attending courses during a trimester are reported as less than half-time for that trimester. Enrollment status reporting through NSLDS can affect eligibility for in-school deferments and grace periods on federal Direct loans.

All Title IV student loan and grant information is reported to the National Student Loan Data System. Students have access to review their information by visiting nsldsfap.ed.gov. This system can be accessed by guaranty agencies, eligible lenders, and eligible institutions of higher education for legitimate program operations, such as the need to verify the eligibility of a student or potential student, or parent for loans. The system does prohibit non-governmental researchers and policy analysts from accessing personally identifiable information. For more information about the information that is collected, how it is used, and how it is protected, visit https://nsldsfap.ed.gov/

Financial Aid Withdraw and Refund Policy

Students who unregister for classes during the drop period within each term will receive a 100 percent tuition refund for that term. Financial Aid eligibility will be calculated for students that attend during the add/drop week but then drop the course before census. Students will be notified of any eligibility for financial aid funds during this week. Students will be notified of any post-withdrawal eligibility through their CSU Global email account, and students must notify the Financial Aid Office in writing of the amount they wish to accept within 14 days of the notification. Students who withdraw after the drop period for each term will incur tuition charges, regardless of eligibility for financial aid funds (Military students and their families who are residents of Iowa should contact Student Accounts regarding refunds and compliance with Iowa Code Section 261.9(1)g).

Students who are Title IV funds recipients are considered to be withdrawn for financial aid purposes and are subject to the Federal Return of Title IV funds calculation if one of the following conditions applies:

• The student withdraws from all courses during a term and does not submit in writing his or her intent to attend a future term within the trimester.
• The student does not earn any academic credit(s) from all attempted courses during a term and/or the trimester (F grades are considered to be a completed credit for determining a withdrawal status).
• The student officially withdraws from the university.

The Return of Title IV funds calculation determines the amount of aid the student earned based on the percentage of time the student participated in coursework during the trimester and is completed within 30 days of the date of determination. If it is determined that the student has not earned the full amount of the financial aid that was disbursed, CSU Global will return the unearned portion of funds to the U.S. Department of Education within 45 days from the date of determination. This may create a balance of unpaid charges with the university for which the student is responsible.

Treatment of Title IV Aid When a Student Withdraws

The following questions are used to determine if the student is considered to be withdrawn and whether or not the Return of Title IV funds must be calculated:

1. After beginning attendance in the payment period, did the student cease to attend or fail to begin attendance in a course he or she was scheduled to attend?
   NO: not a withdrawal. YES: go to question 2.
2. When the student ceased to attend or failed to begin attendance in a course he or she was scheduled to attend, was the student still attending any other courses?
   YES: not a withdrawal. NO: go to question 3.
3. Did the student confirm attendance in a course in a module beginning later in the period?
   YES: not a withdrawal unless the student does not return. NO: is a withdrawal and must complete calculation.

The Return of Title IV funds calculation determines the amount of aid the student earned based on the percentage of time the student participated in coursework during the term. If it is determined that the student has not earned the full amount of the financial aid that was disbursed, Student Financial Services will return the unearned portion of funds to the U.S. Department of Education. This may create a balance of unpaid charges for which the student will be responsible.

Steps in the Return of Title IV Funds Policy

• Determine the amount of Title IV aid that the student was eligible to receive and whether the aid was disbursed or could have been disbursed during the payment period.  All aid scheduled for the payment period, regardless of the term it was scheduled for should be included in the calculation.
• Calculate the percentage of Title IV earned as follows:
  • Formula: The number of days attended divided by the number of days scheduled during the trimester.
    • Determine the number of days to use in the numerator – the number of days attended is based on the student’s last date of academically related activity.
    • Determine the denominator – the total number of days the student was scheduled to attend during the trimester.
      • If student was registered for a future term within the trimester at the time of withdrawal, you will use the total number of days in all of the terms that were scheduled.
      • If student withdrew from a future term before the withdrawal date, the future term days will be excluded.
      • If student is registered for the future term at the time of withdrawal, the future term days are included in the calculation.
  • If the percentage calculated is 60% or more, the student will have earned 100% of their Title IV aid. For percentages less than 60%, the student’s Title IV aid earned is equal to the calculated percentage.
    • This percentage is also the percentage of aid earned.
    • Any credit balance will be disbursed to the student as soon as possible, but no later than 14 days after the calculation of the R2T4.
  • Aid to be returned:
    • Total Aid that was disbursed or could have been disbursed multiplied by the percentage of earned in the previous step.
    • If the aid already disbursed is greater than the earned aid, the difference must be returned to the appropriate Title IV aid program.

Official Withdrawals

Students who withdraw for the term or trimester are considered “official” withdrawals for financial aid purposes, and the withdrawal date for the calculation will be the date that the school was notified of the student’s intent to withdraw or the date the student withdraws themselves from all courses within the term or trimester. The calculation for official withdrawals is based on the percentage of time attended in the payment period prior to the date of withdrawal. For students who officially withdraw, and receive grades of W for all courses within a term or trimester, the amount of assistance earned is determined on a pro-rata basis using the last date of academically related activity. For example, if a student completed 30 percent of the trimester, they earn 30 percent of the assistance originally scheduled to receive. Once more than 60 percent of the trimester is completed, the student earns all the assistance scheduled to receive for that period.

Unofficial Withdrawals

Students who earn all grades of W or WA for a term or a trimester are considered to have “unofficially” withdrawn. F grades are considered completed credits for Title IV purposes because they are earned grades at CSU Global; therefore, students who earn all F grades will be considered to have completed the courses and will not be treated as unofficial withdrawals. The last date of academically related activity is used to determine the percentage of aid earned during a term or trimester for all unofficial and retroactive withdrawal. If a student (or school or parent on the student’s behalf) received less assistance than the amount earned, the student may be able to receive those additional funds. If more assistance was received than earned, the excess funds must be returned by the school and/or the student.

If the student did not receive all of the funds earned, they may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If a post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the student must give permission before the funds can be disbursed. The student may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that additional debt is not incurred. Students will receive a letter providing the amount of loan funding they qualify for and must return the signed form within 14 days from the date of the letter in order to receive the post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds. If a student qualifies for a post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds, CSU Global will automatically apply these funds toward tuition and books, course materials, supplies and equipment; student permission is required to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If the student does not provide permission, the funds will not be processed. It may be in the student’s best interest to allow CSU Global to keep the funds and reduce their debt to the school.

Some Title IV funds scheduled for disbursement may not be disbursed once the student withdraws because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if a student is a first-time borrower and has not completed the first 30 days of their program before withdrawal, the student will not receive any Direct Loan funds that would have normally been received if enrolled past the 30th day. Another example is if a student has already received a disbursement of Direct Loans within the payment period the student would not qualify for a subsequent disbursement of funds.

If a student (or school or parent on the student’s behalf) receives excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, the school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

• The institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds
• The entire amount of excess funds

The school must return this amount even if it didn’t keep this amount of Title IV program funds. Funds that are returned to the federal government are used to reimburse the individual federal programs from which a student has received the aid. Financial aid returned (by CSU Global and/or the student or parent) must be allocated, in the following order, up to the net amount disbursed from each source:

• Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan
• Federal Subsidized Direct Loan
• Federal Direct PLUS (Parent) Loan or Grad PLUS Loan
• Federal Pell Grant
• Other Federal Loan or Grant Assistance

If CSU Global is not required to return all of the excess funds, the student must return the remaining portion. Returned loan funds from the student (or parent for a PLUS Loan) must be repaid in accordance with the terms of the promissory note with scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time.

Any amount of unearned grant funds that the student must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that must be repaid is half of the grant funds the student received or was scheduled to receive. Students do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. Students are responsible to make arrangements with CSU Global or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.

The requirements for Title IV program funds when a student withdraws are separate from any refund policy of the school. Therefore, the student may still owe funds to CSU Global to cover unpaid institutional charges and may also be charged by CSU Global for any Title IV program funds that the school was required to return.

Students who have questions about Title IV program funds should call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). Text Telephone (TTY) users may call 1-800-730-8913. Information is also available on Student Aid at www.studentaid.ed.gov.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Impact on Financial Aid

Federal and state regulations require that all students receiving Title IV federal financial aid at the university meet standards for satisfactory academic progress to maintain eligibility for their financial assistance. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) applies to all students and denotes successful completion of coursework towards a degree in each payment period. Students who fail to achieve minimum standards for grade point average and/or course completion rate (CR) in a Maximum Time Frame (MTF) will face loss of eligibility Title IV federal financial aid. SAP is calculated after grades post for the last term of the trimester. Students who are not meeting SAP are notified by email of the status and how it impacts their Title IV financial aid funding. The following table outlines Title IV fund eligibility based on a student’s academic status:

* Financial aid students in Academic Probation status will be moved to a Financial Aid SAP Termination status, and are not eligible for Title IV funds unless a student appeal has been approved by the institution. The university will only approve a financial aid appeal if it determines that the student should be able to meet the minimum standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress during the next trimester or if the student is placed on an academic plan developed by the institution.

SAP Requirements

Students must meet the following minimum qualitative and quantitative standards of SAP in order to be eligible for Financial Aid.

Qualitative – Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA):

• Undergraduate students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.00.
• Graduate students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00.

Quantitative – Completion Rate (CR) & Maximum Time-frame (MTF):

• Completion Rate (CR): A student enrolled at the University must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 66.66 percent of the credit hours attempted. Satisfactory completion is defined as receiving a passing grade of “D” or better for courses attempted. Any transfer credits accepted by the university will count as attempted and earned courses in this calculation. Courses dropped within the drop/add period will not count against the completion rate percentage.
• Maximum Time-frame (MTF): Students at the University may attempt a maximum number of semester hour credits while pursuing a degree. Students will be allowed to attempt a maximum of 150 percent of the number of hours required by the degree-granting program. Maximum semester credit hour limits for each type of degree-granting program are as follows:
  • Certificate Program requiring 18 semester hour credits: 27 semester hour credits
  • First Bachelor’s Degree requiring 120 semester hour credits: 180 semester hour credits
  • Second Bachelor’s Degree requiring 30 residential semester hour credits: 45 semester hour credits
  • Graduate Programs requiring 36 semester hour credits 54 semester hour credits

Guidelines

• All CSU Global credit hours attempted and earned are counted in the evaluation of SAP.
• All transferable credits are counted as credit earned and will count towards MTF and CR but not in the cumulative GPA calculation.
• Incomplete grades in courses will count as credits attempted but not earned until the final grade has been posted, at which point SAP will be re-calculated for MTF, CR, and cumulative GPA with the final grade.
• All repeated courses count as credits attempted but not earned and count toward MTF and CR. Repeated courses do not count toward cumulative GPA except for the final grade received on the last repeat of a course.
• Course withdrawals (grades of W) count as credits attempted but not earned, and count toward MTF and CR but not toward cumulative GPA.
• For students who change degree programs, all credits attempted and earned that count toward the degree-granting program, count in MTF, CR, and cumulative GPA. Students on SAP Probation may be ineligible to transfer to another program until SAP has been met or an appeal has been approved.
• All periods in which a student attempts credits, even during periods in which the student has not received Title IV aid, are counted toward a student’s satisfactory academic progress.

Failure to Meet SAP Requirements for Financial Aid

Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements are reviewed on a trimester basis, regardless of the number of credit hours attempted during the trimester.

Students who do not meet the SAP minimum requirements will be placed on a financial aid warning status for the following trimester in which they attempt credits. If at the end of the warning trimester the student still has not met the minimum SAP requirements, the student is no longer eligible for financial aid and their SAP status will be updated to SAP FA Termination. A student may appeal a SAP FA Termination status in order to regain eligibility for one additional trimester (or the length of the academic plan).

Appeal Process

Students may appeal their Financial Aid Termination if an extenuating circumstance that was beyond the student’s control occurred and prevented the student from successfully completing their coursework. Examples of extenuating circumstances include documented health issues that unexpectedly occurred, a death of a family member, or a natural disaster. Other circumstances may be considered if documentation is provided to the committee and the student demonstrates that the circumstance was outside of the student’s control.

In order to appeal, the student must (1) submit an appeal of the termination, stating the reasons for the appeal, and (2) be able to reasonably meet SAP within the following trimester. If the student cannot meet SAP in one trimester, he or she may be eligible to have two trimesters with an appeal and a specific, approved academic plan on file.

• Students who are approved for a Financial Aid SAP appeal will be moved to a SAP FA Probation status and will be eligible to receive financial aid during the following trimester and/or the length of their academic plan as long as they meet all of the terms and conditions.
• If a student is unable to successfully appeal, or fails to meet the obligations of an approved appeal, the student will not qualify for financial aid until they have met all of the SAP standards.
• Students who have been suspended and are eligible to re-enter under a SAP Probation II status will not qualify for financial aid until they have met all of the required SAP standards.

Retention of Financial Aid Records

CSU Global retains student records in compliance with state and federal authorities. All records are securely maintained in an electronic format through the university’s Student Information System (CampusVue).

CSU Global retains the following types of student financial aid records for at least the minimum duration listed:

• Pell and TEACH Grants, Campus-Based Programs: Three years from the end of the award year for which the aid was awarded.
• Fiscal Operations Report (FISAP) and supporting records: Three years from the end of the award year in which the report was submitted.
• Records related to borrower’s eligibility and participation: Three years from the end of the award year in which the student last attended.
• All other records, including any other reports or forms: Three years from the end of the award year in which the report was submitted.
• Academic records and other student information is retained in compliance of the associated university policies for these record types.

Student Financial Aid Conflict of Interest Policy

This policy applies to all employees in Student Financial Services and all other CSU Global employees who have responsibilities related to education loans or other forms of student financial aid. Agents of the university with responsibility for education loans or other student financial aid are also expected to abide by the terms of this policy.

Institutional Policy Regarding Education Loans and Student Financial Aid

• Revenue-Sharing Arrangements. CSU Global will not enter into any revenue-sharing arrangement with any lender.
• Interaction with Borrowers. When participating in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), CSU Global will not assign a first-time borrower’s federal loan, through award packaging or other methods, to a particular lender. CSU Global will not refuse to certify, nor delay certification of, any federal loan based on the borrower’s selection or a particular lender or guaranty agency.
• Revenue-Sharing Arrangements: Private Loans. CSU Global will not request or accept from any lender any offer of funds to be used for private education loans(as defined in the Federal Truth in Lending Act), including funds for an opportunity pool loan, to students in exchange for the university providing concessions or promises regarding providing the lender with (i) a specified number of federal loans; (ii) a specified federal loan volume; or a preferred lender arrangement for federal loans.
• Co-Branding. CSU Global will not permit a private educational lender(as defined in the Federal Truth in Lending Act) to use the institution’s name, emblem, mascot, logo, or any other words, pictures, or symbols associated with CSU Global to imply endorsement of private educational loans by that lender.
• Staffing Assistance. CSU Global will not request or accept from any lender any assistance with call center staffing or financial aid office staffing. Nothing in this section, however, prevents CSU Global from accepting assistance from a lender related to (i) professional development training for its staff; (ii) providing educational counseling materials, financial literacy materials, or debt management materials to borrowers, provided that such materials disclose to borrowers the identification of any lender that assisted in preparing or providing such materials; or (iii) staffing services on a short-term, non­recurring basis to assist CSU Global with financial aid-related functions during emergencies, including State-declared or federally declared natural disasters, federally declared national disasters, and other localized disasters and emergencies identified by the Secretary of Education.

Employee Code of Conduct

• Conflicts of Interest
  • No employee shall have a conflict of interest with respect to any education loan or other student financial aid for which the employee has responsibility.
  • No employee may process any transaction related to his/her own personal financial aid eligibility or that of a relative. For the purposes of this Policy, a “relative” is defined as an individual with whom an employee has a relationship by blood, marriage, adoption, domestic partnership, or other personal relationship in which objectivity might be impaired.
• Gifts. No employee may accept any gift from a lender, guarantor, or servicer of education loans. A gift to a family member of an employee or to any other individual based on that individual’s relationship with the employee shall be considered a gift to the employee if the gift is given with the knowledge and acquiescence of the employee and the employee has reason to believe the gift was given because of the employee’s position at the university.
• Prohibited Contracting Arrangements. No employee shall accept from any lender or affiliate of any lender any fee, payment, or other financial benefit (including the opportunity to purchase stock) as compensation for any type of consulting arrangement or other contract to provide services to a lender or on behalf of a lender relating to education loans.
• Advisory Board Compensation. No employee who serves on an advisory board, commission, or group established by a lender, guarantor, or group of lenders or guarantors may receive anything of value from the lender, guarantor, or group of lenders or guarantors in return for that service. The employee may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in serving on such boards, commissions, or groups.

Policy Violations

Violations of this Policy may result in disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

Procedures

In the event that an employee is found to have violated this policy, a meeting will be held with Human Resources to determine the course of action to be taken.

Definitions

• Conflict of Interest: A conflict of interest exists when an employee’s financial interests or other opportunities for personal benefit may compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, the independence of judgment with which the employee performs his/her responsibilities at the university.
• Gift: Any gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan, or other item having a monetary value of more than a de minimus amount. The term includes a gift of services, transportation, lodging, or meals, whether provided in kind, by purchase of a ticket, payment in advance, or reimbursement after the expense has been incurred. The term “gift” does not include any of the following:
  • Standard materials, activities, or programs on issues related to a loan, default aversion, default prevention, or financial literacy, such as a brochure, a workshop, or training.
  • Training or informational material furnished to the university as an integral part of a training session that is designed to improve the service of a lender, guarantor, or servicer of educational loans to the university, if such training contributes to the professional development of the university’s employees.
  • Favorable terms, conditions, and borrower benefits on an education loan provided to a student employed by the university if such terms, conditions, or benefits are comparable to those provided to all students of the university and are not provided because of the student’s employment with the university.
  • Entrance and exit counseling services provided to borrowers to meet the university’s responsibilities for entrance and exit counseling under federal law, so long as the University’s employees are in control of the counseling, and such counseling does not promote the products or services of any specific lender.
  • Philanthropic contributions to an institution from a lender, servicer, or guarantor of education loans that are unrelated to education loans or any contribution from any lender, guarantor, or servicer that is not made in exchange for any advantage related to education loans.
  • State education grants, scholarships, or financial aid funds administered by or on behalf of a State.
• Opportunity pool loan: A private education loan made by a lender to a student attending the university or the family member of such a student that involves a payment, directly or indirectly, by the university of points, premiums, additional interest, or financial support to such lender for the purpose of such lender extending credit to the student or the family.
• Revenue-sharing arrangement: An arrangement between the university and a lender under which (a) a lender provides or issues a loan to students attending CSU Global or to their families; and (b) CSU Global recommends the lender or the loan products of the lender and in exchange, the lender pays a fee or provides other materials benefits, including revenue or profit sharing, to CSU Global or its employees.