(This policy does not apply to Loyola merit, need, or non-need grant funds)
Federal regulations allow a student to receive federal assistance for courses that count towards the completion of your degree program requirements. Federal aid includes Pell Grant, Direct Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), TEACH Grant, and Work Study. Classes that can be included when determining federal financial aid eligibility are those that:
- Count toward degree or general education requirements;
- Are required for the major;
- Are required for the minor; and
- Fulfill elective requirements up to the number of elective credits required by the degree
Once a student has satisfied the courses required by their program of study, any additional courses in which they enroll cannot be included when determining enrollment status or cost of attendance for federal aid. Excluding courses may therefore result in receiving less or no federal aid. Course enrollment is monitored and if any aid adjustments are required, students will be notified at their Loyola email address.
For example, students must enroll in a minimum of 6 credit hours to be eligible for federal direct loans. But to be considered for your maximum financial aid eligibility, students must take at least 12 credit hours, which is full-time enrollment status. If you enroll in 15 credits but 6 of those credits are not required for your major, the federal aid may be adjusted based on only the degree applicable courses, which in this example is 9 credits. This policy only applies to federal aid, so in this example, all 15 of the student’s credits would still count for Loyola merit and Loyola grant funds.