2012-2013 Federal Regulations That May Affect Your Financial Aid

In late December, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 was signed into law. This legislation impacts federal financial aid programs and student eligibility for the 2012-2013 academic year.

Pell Grant Eligibility

Some students who received the Pell grant in the past may no longer be eligible for the reasons below:

• The new law also reduces the duration of a student's Pell grant eligibility to a 12-semester lifetime limit. Students who have received Pell grant funds for the equivalent of 12 full-time semesters will not be eligible to receive this grant for future semesters. Full-time enrollment is defined as 12 or more credits per semester.

How will a student know if he/ she is nearing their lifetime limit? To determine remaining eligibility, the Department of Education (DOE) must review all Pell grants awarded since the program began. Beginning in mid-April, the DOE will send emails to all 2012-2013 FAFSA applicants who appear to be nearing their lifetime limit. It is possible that students may be awarded for the 2012-13 academic year before the DOE makes a final eligibility determination. If you are awarded Pell grant funds and later found to have exceeded the lifetime limit, the award will be canceled and the student could be responsible for any resulting balances.

Gateway's Financial Aid Office is awaiting more specific guidance pertaining to these changes from the Department of Education. When more information becomes available, we will communicate it with students.

Repeated Coursework

Federal regulations limit the number of times a student may repeat a course and receive financial aid for that course.

• A student may receive aid to repeat a previously passed course one additional time. Once a student has completed any course twice with a passing grade, he/she is no longer eligible to receive aid for that course.
• A student may receive aid when repeating a course that was previously failed, regardless of the number of times the course was attempted and failed.
• If a student retakes a course that is not aid eligible, a recalculation of aid is done to exclude the credits for the repeated course. If a balance is due after the recalculation, the student must make payment in order to retain the course.
• This rule applies whether or not the student received aid for earlier enrollments in the course.