You've been awarded financial aid. Now what?

While receiving student aid from SPU, you agree to the conditions below. Read this material carefully. Feel free to inquire if you have questions, and follow up as required to ensure that you receive the aid you have been awarded in a timely manner.

Reviewing Your Offer of Financial Assistance

The financial aid you have been offered is based on

• Results of your FAFSA
• Your eligibility for each of the programs
• The amount of funding available
• Student Financial Services' notice of outside financial assistance
• Institutional policies in awarding various types of financial aid

You must confirm your acceptance of this financial aid and attest to your understanding and compliance by signing and returning a Master Conditions of Financial Assistance form. Failing to return this form will subject awards to cancellation. You will not need to sign the Master Conditions of Award form for subsequent years but are subject to the policies, regulations, processes, compliance, and agreement of the conditions provided in the form. Keep a copy of it for your records.

Revisions to Your Offer of Financial Assistance

Sometimes, your financial aid offer will change after the initial award. Common reasons include

• Additional resources, such as scholarships from non-SPU agencies or employer/government assistance, are received.
• Your cost of attendance changes due to credit load, where you are living, or documentation of unique circumstances.
• Your eligibility changes due to new information.
• You request to cancel or reduce some or all of your aid (Example: loans).

You are required to notify SFS immediately if you are aware of changes in circumstance, housing arrangements, credit load, receipt of additional resources, or if you wish to change your award. Revision request forms are available in SFS and online at www.spu.edu/sfs under Forms. We will process changes based on eligibility and funding; notification of all revisions will be sent to your SPU email account. 

Federal and state regulations prohibit institutions from awarding any student more than his or her documented need or cost of attendance. Therefore, any changes in your resources or costs may result in a necessary change in your financial aid award.

Additionally, SPU and the Higher Education Coordinating Board of the state of Washington reserve the right to change, reduce, modify, or cancel any financial aid due to limited funding or information that affects your eligibility.

Enrollment as an Undergraduate Student

Your initial Offer of Financial Assistance assumes you will enroll for 12 or more regular undergraduate credits per quarter.

Credits are reviewed as of the fifth day of the quarter. Some courses added  between the fifth and 10th day (such as independent studies) will also count towards your enrollment for the quarter.

If you register for fewer than 12 credits, your Offer may need to be adjusted. If you plan to enroll for fewer than 12 credits for any quarter, notify us as soon as possible.

If you register for fewer than six credits (five or fewer), you will not be eligible for financial aid. Exception: Students who are otherwise eligible for Pell or Washington State Need Grant may qualify for these grants at less than six credits.

Enrollment as a Post-Baccalaureate/Graduate Student

Your Offer of Financial Assistance is based on the tuition costs associated with the credits you indicated on the Post-Baccalaureate/Graduate Information Sheet. Should your actual enrollment change, please notify SFS or complete a new Post-Baccalaureate/Graduate Information Sheet available at www.spu.edu/sfs under Forms.

To receive financial aid, you must be enrolled at least half time each quarter. Half time is three credits for graduate students and six credits for post-baccalaureate students.

Credits are reviewed as of the fifth day of the quarter. Some courses added between the fifth and 10th day (such as independent studies and internships) will also count toward your enrollment for the quarter.

You must be in a program leading to a degree or one of the following certificate programs to be eligible for financial aid:

• Initial teacher, principal, superintendant, or school counselor
• Program administrator
• Post-master’s nurse practitioner
• Medical family therapist
• Verification requirements

Each year, the U.S. Department of Education selects a group of financial aid applicants for verification of information reported on the FAFSA. You will be notified on your Student Aid Report and your Offer of Financial Assistance if you have been selected for verification. This process must be completed before any financial aid can be disbursed to you.

If your application is selected by the Department of Education for verification, you (and your parents if you are a dependent) will be required to submit documentation to support the information reported on your financial aid application. The documents you must submit are listed at the bottom of your Offer of Financial Assistance in the Banner Information System. You can download these forms at at www.spu.edu/sfs under Forms.

If the documentation you submit differs from the information reported on your financial aid application, a revision of your Offer of Financial Assistance may result. (You will receive only one paper Offer of Financial Assistance while attending SPU; all revisions and subsequent offers will be communicated electronically via your SPU email account.)

Satisfactory Progress

As a financial aid recipient, you are responsible to remain in good academic standing with the University and to make satisfactory progress toward your intended degree objective.

All students (current, past, or first-time financial aid applicants) who do not maintain satisfactory progress will forfeit their eligibility for financial assistance. Satisfactory progress is evaluated at least annually at the end of Spring Quarter, and for summer attendees at the end of Summer Session(s). Satisfactory progress is defined as follows:

• Complete (letter grade A, B, C, D, or P) at least 80 percent of all attempted credits each academic year.
• Maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA after the second year of enrollment, and by the end of each subsequent quarter.
• Some financial aid programs have additional requirements to maintain eligibility for future delivery of funds. See Disbursement of Financial Aid, State of Washington Satisfactory Progress, below.

Grades of E, G, N, or I do not receive any credit; therefore they do not count as completed credits each quarter.

Maximum Time Frame. Financial aid will be awarded to students enrolled in undergraduate programs for a maximum of 270 credits, and awarded to graduate and doctoral students for a maximum of six years.

Notification. You are responsible for being aware of this policy as stated in the SPU Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs. If you should become ineligible for financial aid due to lack of satisfactory progress, you will be notified by Student Financial Services (SFS); however, it is your responsibility to monitor your own progress.

Appeal Process. Appeals for reinstatement of eligibility for financial aid due to extenuating circumstances may be addressed to your SFS counselor.

State of Washington Satisfactory Progress

State Need Grant. To remain eligible for this grant, you must complete at least six credits each quarter. If you do not complete six credits, you will not be eligible to receive the grant for the following quarter. Additionally, if you do not complete the minimum credits required for your enrollment status (i.e., 12 credits for full time, nine credits for three-quarter time, or six credits for half time), you will be placed on probation for one quarter. During probation you must complete the minimum number of credits you attempt for your enrollment status or you will not be eligible to receive a State Need Grant the following quarter.

State Work Study. To remain eligible, you must complete at least six credits each quarter. If you do not complete six credits, you will not be eligible to receive work study the following quarter. If you do not complete the minimum credits required for your enrollment status (i.e., 12 credits for full time, nine credits for three-quarter time, or six credits for half time), you will be placed on probation. During probation you must complete the minimum number of credits for your enrollment status or you will not be eligible to receive work study the following quarter.

Washington Scholars. To remain eligible for this scholarship, you must maintain a cumulative 3.3 GPA, verified at the end of each quarter. This scholarship may be used for a total of 12 quarters.

Washington Award for Vocational Excellence (WAVE). To remain eligible for this grant, you must maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA, verified at the end of each quarter. This scholarship may be used for a total of six quarters.

Repayment for Drop in Credit or Withdrawal From School

Should you reduce your credit load or officially withdraw from school during a quarter for which you have already received financial aid, all or part of the funds that have been disbursed to you may have to be repaid.

The amount of the repayment will be determined according to the length of time you were in school. (For further information, refer to the Financial Information section of the SPU Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs.)

SPU Grants and Scholarships Limitations and Renewal

Institutional grant award recipients are required to file a valid FAFSA, complete an SPU financial aid file, and maintain half-time enrollment (six or more credits per quarter for undergraduates or three credits for graduate students) for quarterly and annual awards.

Additionally, University policy states that the quarterly total of institutional awards (grants, scholarships, and tuition discounts) cannot exceed a student’s quarterly cost of tuition. If total institutional aid for a quarter exceeds the quarterly cost of tuition, institutional aid will be reduced in this order: tuition discount, grant, scholarship. (This policy is in effect for students enrolling for the first time after Spring Quarter 2006 or admitted in the academic year 2006–07 and after.

SPU Scholars and students invited to be in the University Scholars program may receive institutional aid up to the cost of tuition and room and board as defined in the financial aid cost of attendance; athletes and peer advisors are covered under separate policies that allow institutional aid to exceed tuition.)

Full time (12 or more credits per quarter) and continuous enrollment are required to receive merit scholarships quarterly and annually. If you do not enroll in subsequent quarters, you will permanently forfeit your scholarship unless you have received exception from SFS prior to leaving SPU.

All institutional awards also have additional criteria for continued eligibility, which is detailed in the following chart. Once you begin receiving a scholarship, your eligibility will be evaluated automatically, and you do not need to reapply; grant awards will be evaluated automatically, but you do need to apply annually by filing a FAFSA.

* A student may receive no more than one of the awards noted with an (*) during the same academic year.