Maintaining financial aid

Maintaining financial aid

Q. Must I maintain a certain GPA to ensure my financial aid?
Yes, a condition of all LMU undergraduate financial aid programs is that each recipient must make satisfactory academic progress. Undergraduate students must complete the required number of hours as outlined below and maintain a minimum 2.00 semester and cumulative grade point average. Students who do not meet these requirements are placed on financial aid probation, and, if the terms of probation contract are not met, risk losing eligibility for financial aid. Please refer to the information below for clarification and contact the Financial Aid Office if you have any questions.

Semester Hours to Complete
Terms	Minimum units that must be completed if:
	Full-time	Three-Quarter Time	Half-Time
Fall Semester	12	9	6
Spring Semester	12	9	6
Summer Sessions (Combined)	6	4	3

LMU funded sources of financial aid are available for a maximum of eight semester. Please refer to the Academic Degree Requirements and Policies section of the UNDERGRADUATE BULLETIN for information on the recommended course load to complete degree requirements in eight semesters(four years).

Academic Standards To Meet
Must maintain minimum semester and cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.00.
Note: Grades of A, B, C, D and CR will count towards determination of hours completed.
          Grades of F (Failure), NC (No Credit) and W (Withdrawal) will not.
          Grades of I (Incomplete) or NR (No Record) will not be credited until the final grade is posted.
 

Financial Aid Probation Process
All students receiving financial aid are reviewed for satisfactory academic progress at the end of each term of enrollment. Students enrolled for the Summer are reviewed after the end of the second Summer session. Students not making satisfactory academic progress are sent a Financial Aid Probation notice which they are required to sign and return to the Financial Aid Office.

Students have two semesters to regain eligibility. Students who have not maintained satisfactory academic progress for over two concurrent terms are denied further financial aid and must submit a written appeal to regain eligibility.

Q. What if I want to move off campus after my first year?
Changing your housing plans can affect your financial aid.  Please speak with a financial aid counselor to review the changes it may have.

Q. Will my eligibility for financial aid change if I change my enrollment status?
In order to receive most forms of federal, state, and institutional awards, you must be enrolled full time(12-18 units). To receive your financial aid as a full-time student, you must be enrolled in at least 12 units by the last day to drop or add course work for the term. If you are not enrolled in 12-18 units by this date, your financial aid award will be adjusted to reflect part-time enrollment. Awards that require full-time enrollment, such as LMU grants, LMU endowments, and the Federal Supplemental Grant will be cancelled. Because these funds are limited, they cannot be reinstated if you later add units to attain full-time status.
 
Q. Will I be eligible for less financial aid if I drop from full-time to half time?
In order to receive most forms of federal, state, and institutional awards, you must be enrolled full time(12-18 units). To receive your financial aid as a full-time student, you must be enrolled in at least 12 units by the last day to drop or add course work for the term. If you are not enrolled in 12-18 units by this date, your financial aid award will be adjusted to reflect part-time enrollment. Awards that require full-time enrollment, such as LMU grants, LMU endowments, and the Federal Supplemental Grant will be cancelled. Because these funds are limited, they cannot be reinstated if you later add units to attain
full-time status.

Q. What will happen if I take a Leave of Absence or Withdraw from LMU?
If You Take a Leave of Absence, Withdraw From LMU, or Drop All Courses

What to Do Should You Decide to Take a Leave of Absence, Withdraw, or Drop All Course Work?  Should you decide to take a leave of absence or withdraw, you are required to notify the Registrar’s Office. Your withdrawal date will be determined as the earliest date that you stop attending all classes.

If you stop attending all classes and do not notify the Registrar’s Office and receive Fs for all course work, we must consider the midpoint of the term as your last date of attendance and return federal funds accordingly.

Federal Funds
Federal funds, also referred to as ‘‘Title IV Funds’’ include the Pell Grant, Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Academic Competitiveness Grant, National SMART Grant, Perkins Loan, Stafford Loan, and Parent (PLUS) Loan.

Title IV funds are awarded with the understanding that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance was offered. However, should you need to take a leave of absence or withdraw*, you may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds awarded in your Award Notification.

LMU is required to determine the amount of federal funds that you can receive once your enrollment has ended according to a refund policy established by federal law. Any unearned funds must be returned to the federal government according to this law. There is no relationship between the federal refund policy and LMU’s refund policies for tuition, housing, or university meal plan.  For more information review the LMU Refund Policy.

How Your Financial Aid is Adjusted
The federal government provides financial aid offices with a schedule that is used to determine how much of your Title IV funds you have earned if you take a leave of absence or withdraw.

Based on the date you give notice of your leave of absence or withdrawal, the Financial Aid Office will determine what amount will be returned to the appropriate federal program. If you have completed 60% or less of a given semester**, the Financial Aid Office uses the schedule provided by the federal government to determine the amount of federal aid you are allowed to keep for the semester. If you have completed more than 60% of a semester, you are considered to have earned 100% of your Title IV funds for that semester.

For example, if you take a leave of absence after completing 40% of a semester, you are then eligible to keep 40% of your federal funds, and the remaining 60% of the federal funds will be returned.

The federal government requires that refunds be returned in the following order:
1. Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
2. Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
3. Perkins Loans
4. Federal Parent (PLUS) Loans
5. Federal Pell Grants
6. Academic Competitiveness Grant
7. National SMART Grant
8. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG).
* For LMU’s policy on taking a leave of absence or withdrawal, see the Undergraduate Bulletin.
** Each summer session is treated as one semester for purposes of determining the amount of earned Title IV funds.

LMU, State, and Private Funds

The Financial Aid Office uses LMU’s tuition and fee refund policy to determine how much LMU-funded financial aid you have earned. Eligibility for the Cal Grant and scholarships from private sources will vary based on the terms of each program.