jibbyjib

Hi. This fall I will have completed all requirements of my B.S. degree. However, I was thinking of taking some additional courses in the spring and only then applying to graduate.

My current fin aid award package is for the entire 2012-13 school year, so is it possible that fin aid will notice that Ive already completed degree requirements and cancel some of my aid?

Currently have loans and grants (stafford, perkins, pell grant, SEOG grant).

thumper1

I don't know about your college...but many students stay that extra term and pick up a second major or a minor in terms of course requirements. My daughter could have graduated a full year prior to her actual graduation, but stayed to complete a required senior project, and picked up a second major.

You could inquire at your school to find out the specific answer.

swimcatsmom

For federal aid such as the Pell, you will not be eligible to continue receiving it once you have met the requirements to graduate. Pell in particular is only for students that do not already have a bachelors degree. For other aid, you will no longer be a degree seeking student as you will have already met the requirements for the degree. Some schools may not let you continue on once you have all the classes required for your degree. I know my son in law was double majoring and her had to be careful to not finish the one class he needed for his first major before he got to the end of his second.

If you want to take additional classes for say a minor, then you should delay taking the last classes required for your major. You might need to discuss this with your adviser and the FA department as classes that do not count toward your major or a declared minor might affect your FA.

swimcatsmom

The FSA handbook addresses this situation: The school will keep a close eye on this as they do not want to be in a position where they have to repay funds to the govt. So if you complete the degree requirements, the balance of the aid awarded for the year will be cancelled.

CuriousJane

Is there one class that's required that you could leave off until the spring?

arabrab

Interesting.

How does this work if a student can choose to either graduate, or graduate with honors by doing a thesis? If the student is finished with the rest of the coursework fall semester, but doesn't finish the (optional) thesis until spring, is spring still a covered semester? What if the optional thesis is a two semester course in which the first semester is an incomplete until the thesis is finished?

kelsmom

Schools can allow aid for this type of situation. We had a special group of dual-degree students who were allowed to continue receiving aid. You need to talk to your school's financial aid office in unusual cases.

But students who just put off applying for graduation are not eligible to continue receiving aid ...

ordinarylives

Our students register their major/minor. You'd have to be done with both before your program would be finished and the aid would stop (remember though, some forms of aid are good only for 4 years, finished or not, so if we're talking aid for a 5th year, things change). I'm afraid wanting to stick around and take a few more classes wouldn't put you in a position of being eligible for aid.