The dire state of the U.S. economy struck again as new federal regulations sweep over Eastern Michigan University’s financial aid policy this fall.
Kelly O’Connor, a senior financial adviser at Eastern Michigan University, and Cynthia Van Pelt, the financial aid director at EMU, agree “these changes are not unexpected with the reduction in federal and state funding along with the growing number of students applying for aid and qualifying.”
On July 1st, the new financial aid regulations following the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act went into effect, potentially creating unaccustomed obstacles for students entering or returning to EMU on financial aid this fall.
O’Connor and Van Pelt recall the “previous SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress) policy allowed students two semesters on a warning status while they worked to improve their academic progress.”
“The new regulations require us to limit our warning period to one semester,”the department said. “While the shortened warning period may motivate some students to improve their academic performance more quickly, there will be students who are unable to recover from a bad semester in time to meet the SAP requirements within one semester.”
The Eastern Echo previously reported Van Pelt said 74 percent of EMU’s student body received varying amounts of financial aid during the winter 2011 semester.
Of these 17,000 students, 2,000 were on pre-cancellation 1, a probationary warning allowing two months for the students in question to improve grades, and 480 were on pre-cancellation 2, the more severe probationary warning, which allows them one month.
Not only do the semesters of warning inconveniently decrease, but additional obligations apply, including the need to complete at least 67 percent of attempted credits and maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 for undergraduates and 3.0 for graduate students, referring to the prior semester, which includes transfer credits.
The system also takes into account the length of time taken to complete credits and the number of credits geared toward one’s major. The surveillance of these factors aims to speed up the degree completion process. These aspects of a student’s academic performance will be reviewed every semester.
Students at Washtenaw Community College have already begun to feel the sting of the new enforcements. According to Annarbor.com, 160 students on financial aid have filed for appeals since last week, which trumps the usual number for this time of year by dozens.
When submitting an appeal, the student in question must give the financial aid provider an explanation for the inadequate work and offer a recovery plan. The student’s most recent semester is reviewed to search for improvement.
O’Connor and Van Pelt predict EMU will most likely experience an increase in appeals after the fall semester due to students failing to meet the recent SAP requirements.
According to O’Connor and Van Pelt, “The new federal regulations outline expectations for schools to include in their SAP policies.”
Many students on financial aid at EMU are now vulnerable because of the higher standards now required by the new SAP policy.
“We are prepared to manage an increase in appeals in December and January,” they said.
To anticipate for the access of appeals, the financial aid system of EMU has increased its communication and outreach to students and other offices such as the University Advising and Career Development Center and the Holman Success Center.
The new federal regulations intend to push students on financial aid to arrive at graduation earlier.
As O’Connor and Van Pelt said, “There are increased expectations nationwide for students to make consistent progress towards graduation while receiving financial assistance.”
