Policies

Enrollment Status

Financial aid is awarded based on the intended enrollment status indicated by the student on the FAFSA or other correspondence. Financial aid eligibility may be different for full-time (at least 12 credits for undergraduates, 9 credits for graduates), half-time (at least 6 credits), and for undergraduates three-quarter-time (9 credits). Students must notify the Financial Aid Office immediately of any change in enrollment status, so that financial aid may be adjusted. Please be aware that the definition for half-time and full-time status is the same for summer as for fall and spring. If students are enrolled less than half-time (6 credits) for any semester, including summer, they are not eligible for financial aid for that semester. Exception: PELL-eligible undergraduates may be eligible for partial PELL grants even if enrolled less than half-time. Students who are registered for extended thesis or manuscript are not eligible for financial aid.

If students have ever received financial aid while attending Naropa, and drop below half-time status, withdraw, take a leave of absence or graduate, they must contact the Financial Aid Office immediately, and complete an exit interview before leaving the university.

Appeals

All students have the right to appeal a financial aid ruling, or appeal for more aid than was awarded in the financial aid eligibility letter. All appeals must be made in writing to the Financial Aid Office.

Supporting documentation may be requested as necessary. The Financial Aid Office will review the appeal and notify students if the appeal has been approved or denied. If any changes are made to their financial aid eligibility, they will receive a revised financial aid eligibility letter. Decisions made regarding an appeal apply to the current academic year only.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

It is essential that students familiarize themselves with the following policy, as it affects not only current financial aid eligibility, but future aid as well.

Enrollment status compared to hours completed
  • A student enrolled in a full-time course load must complete at least a full-time course load per semester.
  • A student enrolled in a 3/4 time course load must complete at least a 3/4 time course load per semester.
  • A student enrolled in a 1/2 time course load must complete at least 1/2 time course load per semester. Courses taken for credit for which a student does not receive an "I/F", "NR", "W" or "F" are considered completed courses. For graduate students, a course grade must be at least a B- to be considered complete. Students may receive financial aid for retaking a course because of unsatisfactory grades only once per course.
  • If a student completes no credits in any given semester, the Financial Aid Office reserves the right to suspend a student from aid eligibility
Minimum grade point average per semester
  • An undergraduate must maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.0 per semester.
  • A graduate student must maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.7 per semester.
Maximum Credits for completion of degree

There is a maximum number of credits students may accumulate toward the completion of their degree. Students who continue to take courses beyond the maximum are no longer eligible for financial aid at the university.

Maximum credits for:

Undergraduate Students
150 credits: Any credits beyond 120 credits must be necessary for and count toward the degree.

Graduate Students
125% of credits required to graduate. For example, if the program requires 60 credits to graduate, 75 credits would be maximum allowable.
Any credits beyond the number of credits required to graduate must be necessary for and count toward the degree.

Financial Aid Probation Status

If a student fails to make satisfactory progress as defined above during a semester, the student is put on financial aid probation status. This status is intended to serve as a warning to the student and does not affect the student’s financial aid eligibility. The student may regain satisfactory academic progress by, for example, completing incomplete classes for the semester in question and receiving satisfactory grades. In this way, the student’s probation status is cleared and the student is, once again, making satisfactory academic progress.

Financial Aid Suspension Status

If a student on financial aid probation status fails to clear up her or his status for the semester in question and, furthermore, fails to meet satisfactory academic progress criteria in a subsequent semester as well, financial aid eligibility is suspended and the student is put on financial aid suspension status. If the student on financial aid suspension maintains good academic progress the next semester, without receiving financial aid, suspension is removed and the student regains financial aid eligibility. The student remains on probation, however (remember, probation status, in itself, does not affect aid eligibility). The student may also regain aid eligibility by clearing up one or both of the two probationary semesters.

Withdrawals

Withdrawals and Return of Title IV funds
If financial aid is received (other than College Work-Study) and the student terminates enrollment on or before 60% of the semester has elapsed, federal financial aid (Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans, Federal PLUS loans, Perkins loans and Federal Pell and SEOG grants) must be repaid according to the following schedule.

Withdrawal on or before the first day of classes
All cash disbursed to the student, and any aid on your Bursar account is considered an overpayment of financial aid, and must be returned to the financial aid accounts.

Withdrawal during the semester
The student’s withdrawal date is the date the student began the withdrawal process by turning in the Withdrawal Request form or the Leave of Absence Request form to the Registrar’s Office (first step of process). Forms are located in the Registrar’s or Advising Office. If the student leaves without notifying the university, the last date of attendance will be defined as the midpoint of the semester or the last date the student can be documented to have participated in an academically related activity.

Refunds of tuition and fee charges will be calculated based on the policy as outlined in the catalog in the section entitled Paying the Bill, Refunds for Dropped/ Withdrawn Courses—Fall & Spring. Institutional aid (Naropa grants and scholarships) will be reduced in proportion to the reduction of tuition according to the policy referred to above. For example, if tuition is reduced by 50%, institutional aid will also be reduced by 50%.

Title IV or federal aid is earned in a prorated manner on a per diem basis, up to and including, the 60% point in the semester. Title IV aid and all other aid is viewed as 100% earned after the 60% point.

The school is responsible for returning any portion of the student’s unearned aid that was applied toward the student’s tuition and fees. This may create a bill for the student for any tuition and fees still owed after returning the necessary federal aid.

The student is responsible for repaying any unearned federal aid the student received as a cash exchange check.

Example:
Kerry withdraws from Naropa on the 15th day of classes of the fall semester which consists of 103 days, total. Hence, Kerry attended 15 completed days/103 total days = 15% of the semester. Therefore, Kerry earned 15% of the Federal aid awarded to her. If she received $4,000 in Federal aid, then the amount of earned aid is $4,000 x 15% = $600. Since $600 is earned aid, the remainder ($4,000 – $600) of $3,400 must be returned. Assume that institutional charges (tuition and fees) totaled $3,600 for the semester. The school is responsible for returning the lesser of:

The unearned Title IV disbursements ($3,400), or
The unearned percentage times institutional charges (85% × $3,600=$3,060)

In this case, the school returns $3,060 and the student returns $340 to the Federal Aid Programs. At Naropa, if the student withdraws anytime from the 8th through the 15th day of classes, they are entitled to an 80% reduction in tuition ($3600 x 80%), so tuition would be reduced to $720 ($3600 x 20%). Since Naropa originally applied $3600 of the student’s Federal aid to the tuition, and then returned $3060 to the Federal Aid Programs, Naropa now has only $540 applied to Kerry’s tuition. This means that Kerry owes Naropa $180 ($720–$540) towards tuition. If Kerry’s federal aid consisted entirely of loans, then she may return the $340 she owes to the Federal government in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. She will need to contact the bursar’s office to settle her outstanding tuition bill, however.

Order of Refunds
Once the reduction in tuition is determined, the refund amount is returned in the following order:

  • Federal Unsubsidized Stafford loans
  • Federal Subsidized Stafford loans
  • Federal Perkins loans
  • Federal PLUS loans
  • Federal PELL grants
  • Federal SEOG
  • Other Federal Aid programs

Borrow only what you need
Borrow only what you absolutely need. If you borrow more than you need, Naropa University will not return excess funds on your behalf. You can request additional aid (up to the amount on your eligibility letter) during the semester if you need to.

Forms and Information

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