Maintaining Your Financial Aid

Satisfactory Academic Progress

For you to continue to receive federal or state financial aid, you must demonstrate that you are making satisfactory academic progress towards a degree or certification program.

Satisfactory academic progress means that you must make adequate grades and receive credit for a reasonable number of hours.

* Less than the percent indicated results in financial aid suspension. You must appeal to receive financial aid again.

Maximum Time Frame

Undergraduates:
5-year program (160 hrs x 150%) = 240 hrs
4-year program (128 hrs x 150%) = 192 hrs
Associate Degree (64 hrs x 150%) = 90 hrs.
Graduate Students:
MSW (65 hrs x 150%) = 98 hrs.
Counseling (48 hrs x 150%) = 72 hrs.
Ed. Admin. (39 hrs x 150%) = 59 hrs.
All others (36 hrs x 150%) = 54 hrs.

* Once you have reached the maximum hours, your financial aid will be suspended. You must appeal if you have reason to believe you should still receive it.

Return of Federal (Title IV) Financial Aid for Students Who Withdraw (Officially and Unofficially)

Title IV is the series of federal regulations that govern the federal financial aid program for education. The Financial Aid Office and the university are directly responsible to the federal government and must account for all of the money sent by the federal government to the university for individual student aid. As a student who receives financial aid, you are also accountable for all the money you are given.

Thus, if you withdraw from the university (officially or unofficially), you may have to pay back all or some of the financial aid you did not earn. It may be determined that you owe the federal programs or you owe the school. It is very important to return any funds that are due, because you will not be able to receive any other financial aid at this school or any other until these funds are repaid.

If a student has received any of the following aid programs (in this order) the R2T4 process must be completed: Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) or Direct Unsubsidized Loans; FFEL or Direct Subsidized Loans; Federal Perkins Loans; FFEL PLUS loans; Federal Pell Grant; Federal SEOG; Academic Competitiveness Grant; National SMART Grant; and in some cases certain State grants.   

Official Withdrawals:
Official Withdrawals occur when a student initiates the process of withdrawing from all classes at the University.  The student must go through a series of offices and obtain signatures before this withdrawal is processed. The financial aid office will use the date that the student uses to begin the process of withdrawing as the last date of attendance and will calculate the Return to Title IV based on that information.

Unofficial Withdrawals:
At the end of each term, the Financial Aid Office will receive a roster from the Registrar’s Office that lists all students who did not complete any credit hours.  If a student receives all F’s in their courses, the Financial Aid Office is required to follow up with the student to determine if the student “Unofficially” withdrew (ceased attendance during the semester, before the last official day of classes).  Students will be notified by mail or email, and they must respond within 2 weeks with official documentation from their instructor of record regarding their last date of attendance for that class. At that point, the FAO will determine whether it is an unofficial withdrawal; if determined it is an unofficial withdrawal, it will be subject to the Return to Title IV policy.

Financial Aid Probation, Suspension, and Appeals

Your academic records and financial aid disbursements are reviewed each semester to determine your eligibility for future aid. If you fall below the minimum grade point or accumulate fewer credit hours than required for Satisfactory Academic Performance, you will be suspended from receiving Financial Aid and must file an appeal or reapply when your academic status has improved.

The Financial Aid Appeal Request Form is available in the Financial Aid Office. You are asked to provide reasons and evidence why you did not maintain Satisfactory Academic Performance. The Appeal Committee meets at the beginning of each semester and evaluates appeals. Financial Aid Packaging will not be completed until appeals are resolved by the committee.

Scholarships Appeals

There is a separate Appeal Review Form for students who have received scholarships. Students on academic scholarships may first be placed on Financial Aid Probation if their grade point or number of credit hours drops below that required for their scholarship. Scholarship recipients may be allowed one semester to bring up grade point or make up hours.
If students do not sufficiently meet the scholarship criteria during the probationary period, they will receive a Suspension Letter. The student may appeal the suspension by completing the Appeal Review Form available in the Financial Aid Office and returning it within two weeks (or 15 days) from the date of the Suspension Letter. You should provide reasons for your appeal and evidence why the appeal is necessary.

There is no appeal process for students on a “bridge” scholarship program (the first semester of enrollment before eligibility for NM Legislative Lottery Scholarship is awarded). A student cannot appeal the Lottery scholarship if they have never received it.

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A Financial Aid Package is prepared for you after all components of your application are reviewed by a Financial Aid Advisor. Your package may be different from another’s as the Financial Aid process is individualized based on your particular living and financial circumstances; our office will insure you have a Financial Aid Package that best fits your situation. Once the semester is underway and you are registered for all you classes; the awards in your financial aid package will be credited to your Student Account in the Business Office to offset the charges of tuition, fees, on-campus housing, and other charges (i.e. Bookstore charges). Amounts that exceed your charges will be reimbursed to you.  Use these funds wisely, as they are intended to help you for the duration of the semester. Plan a budget ahead of time.

Applying for Financial Aid is simply a matter of accurately completing forms and getting paperwork submitted. You can get help with this process, so do not let the application forms scare you away.

Remember also, that the process is largely created through paperwork. Therefore, you should keep copies of everything you send or deliver, as well as records of any relevant dates. Do not give the Financial Aid Office original income tax forms or other important documents. Make copies and have the copies dated by the Financial Aid Office in order to ensure that materials have been received.