Financial Aid
Taking less than 12-credit hours?
If so, the information on this web site will help you understand more about financial aid eligibility.
General Financial Aid Information
On the semester calendar, you will still apply for financial aid by the February priority date and will still receive a financial aid award prior to the beginning of classes in the autumn. Your financial aid award will still show you how much and what types of financial assistance you are eligible for; only now, your aid will be equally split* across two semesters instead of three quarters.
Financial aid will continue to be disbursed to your student account no earlier than 10 days prior to the first day of classes for each term. If you have more financial aid than what you owe directly to the University, you will receive a refund of this overage shortly after the funds have disbursed to your account. However, keep in mind that instead of receiving three refunds (autumn, winter, and spring quarters) you will now only receive two: autumn semester (late August) and spring semester (early January). If the primary use of your refund is to pay for living expenses, you will need to budget your money to last for about four months.
Financial Aid for Summer Term 2012
Financial assistance may be available if you are attending classes during the summer term. With the new semester calendar, there are a few important changes regarding your eligibility for financial aid for summer term:
1. Your cost of attendance** for summer term will likely be about 20-30% less than your cost of attendance for either autumn or spring semester. While the amounts that we use for the Tuition & Fees and Books & Supplies components of your cost of attendance will be the same for summer term, the amounts that we use for the Meals & Housing and Miscellaneous components will be less in the summer than during autumn or spring. This is simply because the summer term spans only two months while the autumn and spring semesters each span about four months meaning that you will have fewer living expenses during the summer term.
2. Your aid for the year will be split across three terms (summer, autumn, and spring) instead of two (autumn and spring). Your refund amount could potentially be the same for all three terms, but keep in mind that you will only need money for living expenses for two months during summer term and about four months during each autumn and spring semester.
3. Just like how it is now, Federal Pell Grant will not be available for spring semester if you are enrolled full-time during summer term and autumn semester. Your annual Federal Pell Grant*** award will only be equally divided into two disbursements: summer term and autumn semester (or summer term and spring semester if you do not attend autumn semester).
Satisfactory Academic Progress
Required cumulative GPA and required completion percentage will be evaluated for satisfactory academic progress annually at the conclusion of the spring semester.
Maximum time frame will continue to be monitored each semester since you may reach the maximum number of hours or the maximum number of terms allowed at any point in the academic year. You will be sent a warning notice when you are within approximately 24 hours or one term of reaching your program maximums.
The current satisfactory academic progress policy went into effect autumn quarter 2011 and was developed to work under both the quarter and semester calendars. Please review the SAP policy for further information.
Academic Sessions within the Terms
On the semester calendar each term includes multiple sessions for which you may enroll. Although your financial aid will be awarded for the academic year on the assumption of full-time enrollment, your aid will be disbursed to your student account each term based on the number of credits for which you are enrolled for the term. If you are enrolled in courses during multiple sessions within a term, your fees are assessed and your financial aid is disbursed based on the combined credits. If you drop or add a class at any point through that term's financial aid census date, your aid eligibility for that term will be reassessed.
The policies and processes supporting course drops and complete withdrawals with the implementation of academic sessions will be similar to how these actions were handled during previous summer quarters. We have listed some of the main points below but invite you to review our Summer Term Drops and Withdrawals webpage for more information.
The overall consequence of dropping courses depends on each of the following:
• the amount and type of aid you have been awarded for the term
• the number of credits and types of classes you retain (session-long or term-long)
• the tuition refund period in effect at the time of the hour drop
A withdrawal from all classes is an academic action that should occur only through a formal meeting with an academic advisor in your college office. Whether done through the formal process or through your dropping all of your classes via the web, a withdrawal from all classes can result in the reassessment of your university charges according to the university refund policy and the recalculation of your financial aid according to federal and state regulations and institutional policy.
As with dropping a class, the specific financial consequences of withdrawing for you depends on several factors:
• the amount and type of financial aid you have been awarded for the term
• the amount of initial charges, as well as adjusted charges
• the point in the term you withdraw (including the refund period in effect)
As a result of dropping or completely withdrawing from courses you could owe additional money to the university (which would be due immediately), or you could have additional funds returned to you from the university. In some cases, you could have aid adjusted for future terms.
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*Just as it is on the quarter calendar, most financial aid programs will be divided equally across the terms of enrollment. Programs subject to rules and regulations outside of the control of Ohio State University will be divided according to the rules and regulations of the organization giving the funds.
**Cost of attendance is the estimated average expenses for the period of enrollment that are used for determining financial aid eligibility. Actual tuition, fees, meals, and housing costs for 2012-2013 will be determined at a later time.
***Federal Pell Grant eligibility requirements and amounts are determined by Congress and the U.S. Department of Education and are subject to change.
