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The Department of Education has published regulations (34 CFR 668.2) which impact students who repeat courses. These repeat courses may impact a student’s financial aid eligibility and awards for Federal Title IV financial aid. This same policy has been implemented for students receiving State financial aid as well (MN Office of Higher Education 2016-17 State Grant manual, pg. 32). In order for a repeated course to count toward a student’s financial aid enrollment status for aid purposes, a student may only repeat a previously passed course once (a total of two attempts). If the student enrolls in a previously repeated course for a third time, this course will not count towards the student’s enrollment for financial aid purposes. This rule applies whether or not the student received aid for earlier enrollments in the course. The College of St. Scholastica (CSS) Financial Aid Office has developed the following policy statements for financial aid eligibility purposes. A separate academic repeat course policy is found at www.css.edu within the St. Scholastica Catalog/Academic Policies and Services.
- A student may receive aid when repeating a course for the first time, even if the first attempt was a passing grade.
- A student may receive aid when repeating a course that was previously failed or withdrawn from regardless of the number of times the course was attempted and failed as long as the student has not passed the course during one of those attempts. (Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy still applies)
- A student may receive aid to repeat a previously passed course one additional time. If a student fails the second attempt, no more financial aid will be given to repeat the course a third time. If the second attempt is a withdrawal then a third attempt is allowable and eligible for aid.
- Once a student has completed any course twice with a grade; the student is no longer eligible to receive aid for that course on a third attempt. If a student retakes a course that is not aid eligible, the credit hours will be excluded from the financial aid enrollment for that semester.
Examples
- Allowable: Repeated coursework may be included if the student received a falling grade or withdrew from the class. There is no limit on the number of repeats if the student has never passed the class as long as the student is still maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress.
- Allowable: A student takes Biology 110 and receives a grade of W or F. The student repeats the class and receives a D. The student has now passed the class. The student may repeat the class one more time and receive financial aid. If on this next attempt the student receives a W, then the student can repeat the class again with aid. If on the next attempt the student receives a grade of F, the student can choose to repeat the course again but would not receive financial aid for the course.
- Allowable: Courses that are intended to be repeated multiple times such as Choir, Band, Independent Study, Special Topics, Research, Thesis, etc., are eligible for financial aid as long as the majority of the course content is different each time it is taken.
- Not Allowable: A student takes Biology 110 and receives a D. The student repeats the course and receives a grade of B. The Biology 110 course cannot be considered for financial aid enrollment on the third attempt.
- Allowable: A student is enrolled in 12 credit hours, including 3 credit hours that are considered to be a third repeat. The third repeat course cannot be included toward financial aid enrollment and eligibility. Therefore, only 9 credits will count toward financial aid eligibility.