Policies & Procedures
Table of Contents

Financial Aid Policies and Procedures

Enrollment

In order to receive most types of financial aid, students must be enrolled at least half time in an aid-eligible degree, certificate or certification program. Enrollment status is based upon the following credit load per term:

Undergraduate and Certification Programs
  1. Full-time12 or more credits
  2. Three-quarter time9 - 11 credits
  3. Half-time6 - 8 credits
  4. Less than half-time1 - 5 credits
Graduate Programs
  1. Full-time9 or more credits
  2. Half-time5 - 8 credits

Consortia Coursework and Financial Aid

In general, financial aid is only available for Silver Lake College courses. However, on a case-by-case basis, some pre-approved transfer courses may be considered for financial aid eligibility through a consortium agreement. Students must be in good financial standing as well as good academic standing.

To guarantee acceptance and application of the transfer course to the student's Silver Lake program, the student must complete a Credit Transfer Approval form prior to enrolling at the other school. These forms are available from the student's academic advisor.

Following pre-approval, undergraduate courses must be completed with a grade of "C" or better, and graduate courses must be completed with a course grade of "B" or better, to guarantee acceptance of the transfer course.

Financial aid consideration may be granted for the following reasons as verified by the student's academic advisor and the Academic Dean. The academic advisor has notified the student that the course:

  • Creates a scheduling conflict within his/her academic program.
  • Is not offered at the student's primary location.
  • Will not be scheduled prior to the student's program completion.

To be considered for financial aid for transfer credits through a consortium agreement, students must:

  1. Complete a Credit Transfer Approval form that includes their request for financial aid consideration. The Office of Financial Aid shall be notified of transfer credit pre-approval and will process requests for financial aid accordingly.
  2. Submit all required financial aid documents in a timely manner. This includes the Declaration of Degree Granting Institution (PDF).
  3. Be enrolled in a minimum of one (1) Silver Lake College course during the same term as the transfer course.
  4. Complete the course for transfer credits within the pre-approved term on which financial aid is based. The term is determined by the course end date reported on the Credit Transfer Approval form.
  5. Have enrolled in their first Silver Lake College course prior to or concurrent with the course from the other institution.

Please review the Consortium Student Checklist (PDF) for additional information. Questions about this policy may be directed to the Academic Dean or Office of Financial Aid.

Student Status: Independent or Dependent

A student's dependency status for financial aid purposes is determined by their answers to particular questions on the FAFSA. If a student answers "Yes" to at least one of these questions they are considered "independent" and must provide information for themselves and their spouse (if applicable).

In general, a student is considered independent if they are 24 years of age or older, a graduate or professional program student, married, have dependents other than a spouse whom they support, are an orphan or ward of the court, and/or are currently on active military duty or a veteran.

If a student answers "No" to all of these questions they are considered "dependent" and must provide information for themselves and their parent(s). Dependent students may be considered independent through the professional judgment of the Office of Financial Aid based on family circumstances.

Questions about dependency status and dependency overrides may be directed to the Office of Financial Aid.

Verification

Each year the Federal Department of Education selects a percentage of financial aid applications for review in a process called "verification". If your record is selected, you must provide the Silver Lake College Office of Financial Aid with certain financial records for review prior to the awarding and/or disbursement of your financial aid.

These records include signed copies of federal tax returns with W-2s from the previous calendar year for students and their parents and/or spouse, along with a completed and signed verification worksheet.

All materials will be held confidential and retained in a student's financial aid file for the required record retention period.

Student Loan Entrance and Exit Counseling

Federal Student Loan Entrance Counseling

All first-time undergraduate student loan borrowers are required to complete Loan Entrance Counseling prior to receiving their Federal Stafford Loan funds.

To complete Loan Entrance Counseling click here. If you are unable to complete counseling online, contact the Office of Financial Aid at financialaid@silver.sl.edu to schedule an individual session.

Federal Student Loan Exit Counseling

All students who have borrowed education loans while at Silver Lake College are required to complete Loan Exit Counseling.

To complete Loan Exit Counseling click here. Following all steps to ensure that your electronic confirmation of completion is submitted to Silver Lake College. If you are unable to complete counseling online, contact the Office of Financial Aid at financialaid@silver.sl.edu to schedule an individual session.

Financial Aid Release Dates

If your financial aid exceeds your direct charges (tuition, room and board, etc.) for the term a check for the credit balance will be given to you on or after the published aid release date. Consult the Guide to Financial Aid or contact the Office of Financial Aid for release dates for the current academic year.

Standards of Academic Progress for Financial Aid

By Federal regulation, Silver Lake College is required to apply both qualitative and quantitative standards in measuring academic progress for financial aid purposes. These standards apply to all students who receive institutional, state, and federal funds administered by the college. If a student in an ineligible status receives aid, full repayment will be required of all funds received, excluding Federal Work Study earnings. A student working on the Federal Work Study program will have their employment terminated.

Qualitative Standards

Undergraduate Students
Must have a 2.0 cumulative grade point average, or have academic standing consistent with the institution's requirements for graduation, as established by the faculty and monitored by the Registrar.
Graduate Students
Must attain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0.

Students who do not meet this requirement will be ineligible for further aid consideration. Eligibility can be regained by achieving the required cumulative grade point average at the student's own expense.

Quantitative Standards

Recipients of financial aid from any source are expected to complete a degree within 150% of the standard expected time frame for completion of their program. Students who do not successfully complete 75% of attempted credits in two consecutive semesters will be ineligible for further aid consideration. Eligibility can be regained by making satisfactory quantitative progress at the student's own expense.

Appeal Process

The Office of Financial Aid will notify students failing to meet the standards of satisfactory academic progress outlined above of the appropriate appeal process.

Refund Policies

An adjustment to tuition and other charges may occur when students change their credit load or withdraw from the college. A student must submit official written or verbal notification of intent to withdraw to the Registrar to initiate the tuition adjustment process. Delay in submitting a Change in Registration Form may reduce or cancel any possible refund of tuition and fees.

Tuition Refund Policy - Amount of refund depends upon when the Registrar is notified of credit changes:

  1. Notify Registrar prior to 2nd week of course*100% refund
  2. Notify Registrar up to 25% of course completed75% refund
  3. Notify Registrar after 25% of course completed0% refund
*Does not apply to short courses (weekend, one-week, etc.)

Financial Aid Refund Policy

Students receiving financial aid may have some of their aid returned to the aid source when withdrawing from a course or the College. For students who have received Federal Title IV Financial Aid and withdraw completely from the College, the percentage of federal aid funds returned to the aid source is based on the percentage of the academic term that the student has not completed. Federal refunds are allocated to the types of federal aid in the order listed below as required by federal regulation. The Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board requires that after federal refund requirements are satisfied, state aid programs have priority for any credit balance remaining from an institutional refund. Any remaining credit balance is refunded proportionally among remaining sources of initial payment.

  1. Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
  2. Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan
  3. Grad PLUS (Graduate Student)
  4. Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
  5. Federal PELL Grant
  6. Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
  7. National SMART Grant
  8. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

For students who withdraw completely but have not received Federal Title IV Financial Aid, or for students who withdraw from some but not all of their courses, the Tuition Refund Policy is used to determine any credit balance. If the student continues to meet eligibility criteria for an aid type, the credit is given to the student. If the student no longer meets eligibility criteria for an aid type, aid is refunded to the aid source. The percentage of aid returned to the aid source is based on the percentage of tuition refund from the Tuition Refund Policy. Refunds are allocated proportionally among sources of initial payment. For students who receive loan funds and become less than half-time, any remaining credit balance is refunded to their lender.

Examples of the application of these policies are available upon request from the Office of Financial Aid.
(Revised 2/5/2009)