Lemoore College Financial Aid office put on a workshop that talked about the financial impact on students if they drop their classes.
The workshop started out talking about how a student’s academic progress affects their financial aid. Sometimes, it takes students more time to get through their time at West Hills and if they exceed the 90 units max time allotted to financial aid then they need to fill out a form that explains why it happened. There are some extenuating circumstances that students should know about when it comes if they have to drop a class. Qualifying circumstances include personal medical or psychological issues, death in the family, or a family emergency. These are usually something that a student can’t control. Circumstances that don’t qualify include adjusting to college, difficulty of a course, and a dislike of an instructor.
There are levels to your status of being a student who needs financial aid and they each have a requirement for each one. The first one is satisfactory which requires the student to do good in school in order to continue to get their aid. A warning is given to the student that they are not excelling and will still get their aid for the next semester. Denial happens when a student doesn’t continue to excel or fill out the appeal paperwork that they need to which will result in having to challenge the decision.
Finally, if a student doesn’t listen to the previous warnings they will be on probation from receiving aid and will have to make progress in school. The financial aid office has to go back to Title IV to review those students who have withdrawn from a class which determines if a student will be eligible for financial aid.
Everything that is involved with receiving financial aid depends on the circumstances.
Instructors will not always drop students from a class and students should drop themselves from the class. If the student does not personally withdraw themselves from the class then they could possibly receive an F in the class.
Students are also advised to completely read their student AID Report that they receive from FAFSA or on their website to make sure they understand what they are getting and all of the circumstances that comes with it. A tip that was given was that the Federal Government has videos and information of understanding grant money that students receive on their website.
The Financial Aid Office, located in the Administration Building, is always willing to help if students have any question!
