Financial Aid Eligibility
Certain academic standards must be maintained for continued receipt of financial aid.
At present, there are two sets of requirements, one for TAP (Tuition Assistance Program), and another for Title IV Financial Aid, which includes Federal Pell, Federal SEOG, Federal Work Study and Federal Direct Loans.
Students who believe they are unable to meet the academic standards because of extraordinary extenuating circumstances, which can be documented, may request a waiver from the regulations in order to receive their financial aid payment. Suspension Appeals are granted through the Financial Aid Suspension Appeal Committee. Information on how to submit a request to this committee is available in the Financial Aid Office.
Students with grade point averages that fall below the required minimum will be placed on academic probation. They will also be placed on financial aid suspension and lose their eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs. Students on financial aid suspension will remain ineligible for Title IV federal student assistance until they take actions that once again bring them into compliance with the appropriate progress standard.
Students with grade point averages below 2.0 who are readmitted to the College are not eligible to receive student loans until their GPA is again above 2.0. Students who have extenuating circumstances, which can be documented, may apply for a waiver from this regulation. Information on how to submit a request for a waiver is available in the Financial Aid Office.
Impact of Withdrawal from all Courses
If a student completely withdraws from school during a term, the school must calculate according to a specific formula the portion of the total scheduled financial assistance the student has earned and is therefore entitled to receive up to that point in time. If a student receives (or the College receives on the student’s behalf), more assistance than the student has earned, the unearned excess funds must be returned to the U.S. Department of Education. If, on the other hand, the student receives (or the College receives on the student’s behalf) less assistance than the student has earned, the student may be able to receive those additional funds.
The portion of the federal grants and loans a student is entitled to receive is calculated on a percentage basis by comparing the total number of days in the semester to the number of days completed before the student’s withdrawal. For example, if a student completes 30 percent of the semester, the student earns 30 percent of the assistance he/she was originally scheduled to receive. This means that 70 percent of the scheduled awards remain unearned and must be returned to the federal government. A student has to complete more than 60 percent of the semester, in order to earn all (100 percent) of the scheduled assistance. If a student withdraws (either officially or unofficially) before this point, the student may have to return any unearned federal monies that may have already been disbursed to the student.
The College shares responsibility with the student for any excess funds, which must be returned. The College’s portion of the excess funds to be returned is equal to the lesser of:
- the entire amount of the excess funds, or
- the student’s total tuition and fee charges multiplied by the percentage of the unearned funds.
If the College is not required to return all of the excess funds, the student must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that are returned by the student must be paid according to the terms of the promissory note. If a student returns any grant funds, the law provides that the amount to be repaid is reduced by 50 percent. This means that a student only has to return half of any excess funds received.
Any amount a student returns is considered a federal grant overpayment. The student must either return that amount in full or make satisfactory arrangements with either the College or the Department of Education to repay the amount. These arrangements must be completed within 45 days of the date of the College’s notifying the student of overpayment. Any student failing to do so risks loss of eligibility for further federal financial assistance.
Financial Aid Census
Financial Aid Census Date (or Financial Aid Certification Date), is the date that John Jay College will take a snapshot of your enrollment for the semester. This snapshot is taken considering the classes for which a student is enrolled at the beginning of the day (12:00 am Eastern Time) on the Census Date in CUNYfirst. All class enrollment changes must be made prior to the Financial Aid Census Date for the semester, in order for classes to be counted toward a student’s Financial Aid enrollment level.
Please check the Deadlines on the sidebar to view the Census Dates for each semester.
- Since your enrollment level (full-time, 3/4 time, 1/2 time, or less than halftime) determines your grant eligibility for the term, this enrollment snapshot will determine what your actual grant and/or loan payment will be.
- In addition, if you drop below half-time by the Financial Aid Census Date and already received a payment at the full-time, 3/4 time, or 1/2 time level you will be considered to have been overpaid and will need to return funds to John Jay College.
- If you add classes after the Financial Aid Census Date, those classes will not be counted toward your Financial Aid enrollment level for grant and/or loan payment purposes.
- If you drop classes after the Financial Aid Census Date, those classes will be counted toward your Financial Aid enrollment level for grant and/or loan payment purposes (unless you do not attend the class). However, if you drop too many classes it could affect your Satisfactory Academic Progress status by lowering your completion rate. A complete drop/withdrawal of courses may lead to a proration of funds scheduled and/or disbursed. For information about complete drop/withdrawal please see the Impact of Withdrawal from all Courses section above.
Students in Dual Degree Programs (Bachelor/ Masters Programs)
This information pertains to dual programs which confer an undergraduate and graduate degree simultaneously upon completion of the program requirements. Students in any of the dual degree programs are considered undergraduates for the purpose of federal financial aid and billing until the term in which they begin with 120 or more credits earned. After they have earned 120 or more credits, they will be considered graduate students for federal aid purposes until the completion of their program. At this point, the student will no longer be eligible to receive federal grants (Pell, SEOG, etc.) and/or subsidized loans. The student would be eligible to receive unsubsidized loans only at the graduate level.
Contact Us
The Financial Aid Office
Mailing Address
524 West 59th Street
BMW, 607
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-663-7867
E-mail: financialaid@jjay.cuny.edu