Financial Aid

Bethel College Financial Aid Policies

The college financial aid programs are, in general, awarded to students enrolled on a full-time basis. Under special circumstances, this requirement may be waived by the Financial Aid Office. All tuition-based grants or scholarships are awarded for up to 17 hours of classes each semester. Students enrolling in more than 17 hours of classes are responsible for the additional tuition charges. All students must maintain a minimum 2.00 cumulative grade point average each semester in order to receive college financial aid. Where indicated, certain programs require higher grade point averages.

Two Award Policy - Students who are eligible to receive more than two institutional grants or scholarships will only receive the two largest dollar awards. This applies to all institutional scholarships, with the exception of the Family Grant and Church Matching Scholarship.

Maximum Award Policy - In no case will a student receive more in grant and scholarship assistance than full time (12-17 hrs.) tuition costs. Grant and scholarship assistance used to pay tuition costs include institutional, private, federal, and state programs. Federal Pell grant funds may be permitted to be used for room and board as well as other non-direct costs such as books, supplies and miscellaneous expenses. Private scholarships that are not designated as tuition only awards may be used toward room and board costs at the discretion of the director of financial aid.

Outside/Private Scholarships–Any financial assistance that is received from sources other than federal, state or the college must be reported to the office of student financial services. This includes private scholarships, veterans’ benefits, vocational rehabilitation benefits and fee reduction remission benefits. All outside/private scholarships will be applied toward tuition costs. Adjustments may be made to your institutional financial aid awards if the additional grant and scholarship assistance causes you to receive more financial aid than actual tuition costs (see Maximum Award Policy).

Final Semester Policy–Students who are in their final semester of enrollment prior to graduation and are enrolled less than full time (12 hours) may be eligible to receive institutional scholarships at a pro-rated amount. In general, the equivalent percentage of discount created by institutional awards toward full-time tuition is applied toward part-time tuition charges.

Verification–Based on criteria established by the federal government, students who receive federal or state financial aid may be selected for verification. This process is designed to check the accuracy of the financial information the family provided when applying for financial aid. A copy of the student’s and parent’s income tax form, as well as a verification worksheet is required to complete the process. Additional information may also be required. In order to be considered for all financial aid, requested information must be submitted within 30 days of the college’s written request. In no instance will verification information be processed beyond the student’s enrollment period.

Appeals–Any questions or appeals concerning financial aid policy must be made in writing, by the student, to the college financial aid committee and submitted to the office of student financial services.

Scholarship Guidelines

Students Rights and Responsibilities

A student has the right to know

A Student’s Responsibilities

Return of Title lV Financial Aid

The Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term. The federal Title IV financial aid programs must be recalculated in these situations.

If a student leaves the institution prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term, the financial aid office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula:

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:

If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution would be required to return a portion of the funds and the student would be required to return a portion of the funds. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a debit balance to the institution.

If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the institution would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid within 120 days of the student's withdrawal.

The institution must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of the determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal.

Unearned Title IV financial aid must be returned to the appropriate programs in the order listed below. The Title IV portion of a refund is repaid to the various programs from which the funds were awarded. The repayment is allocated, using the following fixed priority:

  1. Stafford Student Loan
  2. Perkins Loan
  3. PLUS Loan
  4. Pell Grant
  5. FSEOG

If the Title IV portion of the refund is large enough, the entire amount of an award received is first returned to the highest priority program from which an award was made. The full amounts are similarly returned.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students receiving financial aid must maintain good academic standing with the college in order to qualify for continued financial awards. To maintain eligibility for Federal Title IV and/or other college-administered financial aid assistance the following conditions must be met:

Quantitative Progress Standards
  1. A student enrolled full time (12 hours per semester) must earn at least 24 credit hours per 12-month period. A student enrolled three-quarter time (9-11.5 hours per semester) must earn at least 18 hours per 12-month period. A student enrolled half time (6-8.5 hours per semester) must earn at least 12 credit hours per 12-month period. Credit hours completed during summer enrollment are counted toward fulfillment of the above requirements.
  2. Example: A full-time student completes 23 of 24 hours during the fall and spring terms. The student enrolls in and passes 3 hours during the summer term. These 3 hours are counted toward the preceding fall and spring term.
  3. A student who changes status within the 12-month period will have his/her status averaged (e.g., in the fall semester the student is full time, then in the spring semester the student enrolls for half-time hours. The student would be considered a three-quarter time student for the year and would need to have completed the appropriate number of hours for that status).
Cumulative Progress Standards
  1. The normal time to complete a bachelor’s degree is 8 to 10 semesters of full-time enrollment. A student is allowed a maximum of 12 semesters of full-time study and may receive financial aid up to this maximum. Students enrolled in fewer than 12 hours per semester, but at least 6 hours per semester, are expected to complete their degree requirements in proportion to the full-time requirements. Students in an academic program with a program length of 120-140 hours who have attempted 180 credit hours toward a degree will be ineligible for student financial aid.
  2. Graduate students in a program length of 30 credit hours have 5 years to complete their degree and a maximum of 45 attempted credit hours. Graduate programs of longer than 30 credit hours have a maximum of 7 years to complete and maximum attempted credit hours not to exceed 150% of the program length. Students who are enrolled in a second degree program which is equal to or lower than a degree already earned, will have officially accepted credit hours which are specifically applied toward the student's current certificate or degree program counted in the maximum number of allowable credit hours for financial aid eligibility. Note: A student will not be considered to have reached the credit hour maximum until the semester following the one in which the student reaches or exceeds the maximum semester hours attempted.
Qualitative Progress Standards

The student must maintain satisfactory academic grades. The following scale is used to determine satisfactory progress for all students:

SATISFACTORY UNSATISFACTORY DISMISSAL
2.0 or above 2.0 to 1.20 Below 1.20

Failure to meet the above criteria will place the student on academic probation for one semester. The student may receive financial aid while on probation, but not for more than two such semesters during the normal 8 to 10 semester college career. The admission on probation status is not considered as part of the two-semester probation rule.

  1. Students who enroll in a course and are given an incomplete grade must complete the course requirements no later than the time grades are due the following semester. If the course is not completed, it is counted as hours attempted but not passed, and the criteria in paragraph one is applied.
  2. Classes that a student enrolls in and withdraws from, receiving an authorized grade of W, are not counted as hours attempted. However, a semester of financial aid eligibility will have been used.
  3. When an “F” is received for a course, that course may be repeated. Courses that are repeated will count in the calculation of hours attempted and completed hours earned if the student receives a passing grade. Only repeated courses taken at Bethel will affect the grade point average (GPA) and will include the new grade on the transcript. Thus, if a course is repeated at another institution only the actual credit(s) earned will transfer.
  4. A maximum of 5 noncredit remedial courses will be considered as successful completions unless enrollment in additional courses is approved by the vice president of academic services.

REVIEW and APPEALS

  1. Academic progress is reviewed at the end of the fall and spring semesters. An appeal process is available to students who wish to have a review of their circumstances and/or request an exception to any of the above conditions. The request must be in writing, addressed to the Financial Aid Committee, stating the reasons that justify the request. The Financial Aid Committee will review the request and will respond through the Director of Financial Aid.
  2. Students who are granted waiver of the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy are allowed one additional semester to re-establish their eligibility. If at the end of the semester the student has not met the standards they are allowed to resubmit an appeal as stated above. Waivers will be granted based upon the student’s ability to show progress from the beginning of the first waiver period. A student is limited to two appeals of the policy.