Concordia College

Important reminders for advisors regarding financial aid

• Pell Grant, ACG and SMART Grant recipients will have their grant calculated just once during each semester-at the end of the 10th day of class.

                    *If the student is taking fewer than 3.0 courses on this date, these grants will be reduced

                      and cannot be subsequently increased.

                         *Pell Grants are awarded to our most needy students.

                         *ACG (Academic Competiveness Grant) was new in 2006-07.  It is awarded to 

                           freshmen and sophomores who are Pell Grant recipients who meet other   

                           criteria(rigorous high school classes and, for sophomores, a cumulative GPA of   

                           3.0).  Student must be full time.

                         *SMART was new in 2006-07.  It is awarded to juniors and seniors who are Pell Grant

                           recipients who have a 3.0 cumulative GPA, who are majoring in certain subjects

                           (primarily math, science, and critical foreign languages) and who meet other criteria.

                           Student must be full time.

• Financial aid for all other federal and state grant programs will be awarded as of the day statements are run but they can be subsequently increased if the student increases his or her enrollment.

                       *This is particularly important for Minnesota Grant as the student must be enrolled   

                         in 3.75 courses to receive the full Minnesota Grant (for Minnesota Grant only, as

                         long as the student is in 3.0 academic courses, music lessons can bring them up

                         to 3.75-but not ensembles).

                              *If a student drops a class, their Minnesota Grant (as well as other federal

                                aid except Pell, ACG and SMART) will not be decreased as long as the

                                student attended the dropped class!

                       *Please see the attached for the information that is given to all recipients of

                         Minnesota Grant.

• If a student asks you to sign a drop slip, please note on the slip if the student did not attend your class.  We need to establish a procedure to determine if the student has attended the class nd this seems to be the easiest way.  The Registrar;s Office will reprint the drop/add slips to reflect this.
• Students must be full time academically to receive their merit-based financial aid (Full Tuition Scholarship, Presidential Distinction Award, Faculty Scholarship, Excellence Scholarship, Renewable Grant, Broader Horizons, and Performance Scholarships).  Concordia College defines full times as 3.0 academic courses (does not include music lessons or ensembles) so a student who is less  than 3.0 will not receive their merit-based scholarship.
• Students who drop below 3.0 in a semester will have their financial aid reduced to reflect the reduced tuition they are paying as a part time student.
• If a student repeats a class in which he or she earned a passing grade, the student is not eligible for financial aid for the repeated class.  Because we charge a flat tuition rate (3.0 to 4.25), this is only an issue if the student is taking 3.0 or fewer classes.
• If you fail a student, you must report his or her last date of attendance on the web when you electronically enter you grades.  This is used to determine if the student was an unofficial withdrawal or if the student "earned" the F.  If the student has all F's, we must determine the last date of attendance and drop the student as of that date. (If no one reports a date, we are required to use the mid-term of the semester.)
• Fifth year students will receive financial aid but it will likely be reduced-especially for the 10th semester.  Minnesota Grant is only available for 8 semesters.

JAW 5-29-07