2011-2012 Catalog
The purpose of financial aid is twofold: Financial aid assists 1) financially limited students who would not otherwise be able to pursue a college education and 2) students who demonstrate exceptional ability in academics, athletics, music, and/or campus leadership. Financial aid is communicated through an award package that includes scholarships, grants, loans, and/or employment.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used to determine eligibility for need-based aid. Students are not required to submit a FAFSA; however, the vast majority of our students choose to submit this form. A FAFSA may be completed online at the U. S. Department of Education’s website: . All students applying for need-based aid should complete the FAFSA listing Mount Vernon Nazarene University as the intended university. The University’s Federal School Code is 007085. Students are encouraged to submit applications for financial aid as early as possible, preferably by March 15.
Inquiries and requests should be directed to the Financial Aid Office. The University adheres to all state and federal regulations in administering student aid programs.
Types of Aid and Restrictions
Two types of aid are available to eligible students: 1) self-help which includes loans and employment, and 2) gift aid which includes grants and scholarships from federal, state, institutional and private resources. All financial aid is prorated over the entire academic year. No more than one-half of any aid award is applied to a student’s account for an individual semester.
Institutional gift aid for any academic year cannot exceed the cost of tuition. Institutional gift aid includes, but is not limited to, merit and need-based aid (academic and non-academic), athletic grants, artistic awards, and endowed scholarships, but does not include federal and state-funded grants, self-help (work-study, campus employment, and loans) and private scholarships.
Students cannot receive more than one ACT or SAT based academic scholarship in any given semester. If eligible for more than one academic scholarship, a student is awarded the scholarship with the highest dollar value.
Unless otherwise specified, all students receiving financial aid are required to enroll as full-time students for each semester (12 or more semester hours).
There are limitations on financial aid for semester-long Off-Campus Study programs. See the Financial Aid Office for details.
Satisfactory Academic Progress
To remain eligible for federal, state and institutional financial aid programs, students are required to make satisfactory academic progress toward a degree based on the policy noted below. Standards of satisfactory academic progress are applied to all students who wish to establish or maintain financial aid eligibility at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, regardless of whether or not they have received financial aid in the past.
Satisfactory academic progress standards are:
Academic progress is monitored at the end of the spring semester for students in the traditional undergraduate program, and at the end of each semester for students in the adult, non-traditional program. A student’s eligibility for financial aid may be in jeopardy for the upcoming academic term if the standards are not met. In addition, the Financial Aid Office reserves the right to use professional judgment to terminate eligibility if the student falls significantly below the standards and has no realistic opportunity to meet the requirements by the end of the academic year, or if a student receives all failing grades for a semester.
The University recognizes the following letter grades as passing: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, S, and EM. Grades of F, X, U, IP, I, W, WP, WF, NR, and CR are not considered as hours passed.
Attempted hours are assessed at the end of each term’s drop/add period (the tenth business day of a semester). Passed hours are assessed by reviewing the grades at the end of the term. Audited courses are not considered part of the satisfactory academic progress evaluation.
Pass/fail courses are considered toward attempted credit hours as well as the credit hour maximum. However, a GPA is not calculated based on pass/fail coursework and is not considered part of the calculation.
For hours transferred into the University, only courses and credit hours where the student earned grades of C- or better are accepted by MVNU and counted in the satisfactory academic progress evaluation.
Preparatory courses including ENG0083, MAT0083 and MAT0093 do not earn credit toward a degree, but are counted toward the 186 credit hour maximum. The grades are also counted toward the student’s cumulative GPA.
Cumulative Grade Point Average and Financial Aid
A student’s cumulative grade point average (GPA) at MVNU must meet minimum standards. The student must attain an average of 2.00 (2.50 GPA for adult, non-traditional in their major area of study) in order complete a bachelor’s degree. The GPA will be monitored throughout the student’s matriculation by the University Registrar’s Office. If the student’s GPA indicates probation with the University, then the student may be still eligible for financial aid. If the University dismisses the student, the student is not eligible for financial aid.
Review Procedures
After spring grades are posted, the Financial Aid Office will review academic history files of all students and notify students of their academic progress status for financial aid purposes. Whether a student has received financial aid in the past is not relevant.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Status |
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Satisfactory |
Alert |
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Probation |
Unsatisfactory |
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Deficiencies in Credit Hours
Financial aid awards may be reinstated if attempted hour deficiency has been cleared. To clear up an attempted hour deficiency, students could have a grade changed, complete coursework for an incomplete, or pass greater than 67% of all future attempted hours.
Appeal Process
Students who have received a status of Unsatisfactory may appeal for reinstatement of their financial aid eligibility. A written appeal and supporting third party documentation are required. Each request is considered on an individual basis. Appeal forms are available on the Financial Aid website at:
http://www.gotomvnu.com/preparing/forms/SAP_Appeal.pdf.
After the appeal has been reviewed, the student will be notified of the results of the decision. If a student’s appeal has been approved, he/she will be eligible to receive financial aid for the semester or year of his/her approval period. If a student is approved for a single term, his/her academic performance will be reviewed at the end of the term. Eligibility for future terms will be dependent upon meeting the conditions of the approval.
If the appeal is denied, the student must resolve the deficiencies to receive federal, state and institutional aid.
Dropping or Withdrawing from Courses
Changes in a student’s enrollment during any semester may have serious consequences. If a student is considering dropping one or all his/her courses after his/her financial aid has been paid or after the end of the drop/add period, the student should contact the Financial Aid Office to determine how this may affect his/her financial aid. This may include the following: [1] the student may be required to return some or all of the financial aid paid to his/her student account, [2] the student may become deficient in attempted hours; [3] the student may lose his/her grace period on federal loans if enrolled less than ½ time (or go into repayment if enrolled less than ½ time for a period of time greater than six (6) months).
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