Financial Aid: Don’t Run Out of Funds!
 If you receive financial aid, the award letter that is sent to you in the fall normally lists your awards for the whole academic year. But if you don’t manage your eligibility carefully, you might find yourself in a crunch. Each semester, a large number of students run out of financial aid eligibility before finishing their degree or certificate. When that happens, some of their awards have to be reduced or even canceled.
Scary thought, huh? Well, don’t panic … the Financial Aid Office has some helpful hints you can follow to avoid being one of those students.
According to the Financial Aid Office, most students run out of eligibility for two main reasons:
- dropping or repeating too many classes
- taking classes that are not required to complete the degree or certificate
To avoid running out of financial aid before you are finished with your program:
- You should always enroll only in courses that are part of your program.
- Before dropping a class, make sure you check with your financial aid counselor and your academic advisor to find out what effect the drop will have on your ability to complete your program.
- Never borrow a student loan for more than what you actually need to pay for going to school. If you plan to go on to a university, you need to save as much of your loan eligibility as possible to pay for the higher costs you’ll face at a four-year school.
- Be aware that changing programs can cause you to lose hours and use up the limited amount of financial aid eligibility that you have to complete your program.
Have questions? Contact the Financial Aid Office at your college.
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