Financial Aid

Applying for Financial Aid

Financial aid consists of grants, loans and work programs which provide funds for students to assist them in paying for educational expenses. At Doane University, funds are awarded to students based on their qualifications and/or financial need. Financial aid that is based on need must be applied for and reviewed annually by completing the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA). The financial aid award year begins in August and runs through the summer term.

A new student who wishes to apply for financial aid should

1. Complete the Doane University application for admission.
2. Pay the application fee.
3. Be officially admitted into the university.
4. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at www.fafsa.gov. Doane’s Title IV code is 002544. This must be done each financial aid award year.
5. Complete the Doane University Financial Aid Questionnaire. The site is www.doane.edu/forms-worksheets.
6. Register for classes.

A continuing student who wishes to apply for financial aid should

1. Complete the Renewal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at www.fafsa.gov. Doane’s Title IV code is 002544. This application must be completed annually. Commitments for financial aid based upon financial need are made annually.
2. Complete the Doane University Financial Aid Questionnaire. The site is www.doane.edu/forms-worksheets.
3. Register for classes.

For more information on the types of financial aid, you may refer to the university website or the Financial Aid Newsletter at www.doane.edu/financial-aid-newsletter.

Requirements and Availability of Financial Aid

All types of financial aid are normally awarded for an academic year and credited equally to each term’s charges. Each term, the Financial Aid Office examines the records of students receiving financial aid to determine if they are fulfilling the necessary requirements for the aid awarded to them.

1. Students who already have a baccalaureate degree are not eligible for institutional scholarships and/or grants.
2. Financial aid award notification is based on the enrollment level indicated on the Financial Aid Questionnaire (or actual enrollment if the term has begun or been completed). If a student was awarded at full time enrollment but changes to part-time status before disbursement date, it can affect the financial aid package. You will be notified when your aid is adjusted.
3. Students receiving any additional scholarships or tuition assistance from any outside source or employer must report this resource to the Financial Aid Office or on the Financial Aid Questionnaire. All resources available must be included in the financial aid award. In some instances, it may be necessary to adjust other financial aid. Veteran’s Education Benefits are not factored into the students’ award.

NOTE: Students are not eligible to receive federal grant aid for classes added after Pell Recalculation day a/k/a census day (last day to drop).

Satisfactory Academic Progress for Title IV Federal Financial Aid - Undergraduate Students

Doane University is required by federal regulations to define and monitor standards of satisfactory academic progress (SAP) to ensure that only students demonstrating progress toward completion of their academic program receive federal/state financial aid. These standards are applied consistently within all undergraduate programs and enrollment levels to students whether or not they have previously received financial aid. Federal Title IV aid consists of the following:

1. Federal Pell Grants                                               
2. Federal SEOG (Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant)
3. Federal Work Study
4. Federal Direct Stafford Loan
5. Federal PLUS Loan (Parent Loan For Undergraduate Students)
6. Federal TEACH Grant
7. Federal Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grant

Standards of Satisfactory Academic progress consist of two measurements:

1. Qualitative Measurement = Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) - ensures the student is able to meet the minimum academic grade point average (GPA) to complete a degree at Doane University and
2. Quantitative Measurement = Pace - measures the student’s progress toward a degree by completing 75% of attempted hours.

After each term of enrollment, the financial aid office reviews the transcript of all students to determine if a student is maintaining the required minimum cumulative grade point average and the pace requirements to be eligible to receive Title IV Federal Financial Aid. Below is the minimum grade point average requirements based on the number of attempted credits:

NOTE: Withdrawals, in-completes, in-progress, F, and no pass grades are attempted credits.

Transfer credits are not factored into a student’s cumulative GPA but are considered in the number of attempted and completed credits. For example, if Doane University accepted 60 transfer credit hours from another institution, the student would be required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 to ensure he/she is meeting graduation requirements.

In addition to the minimum cumulative GPA standards, the financial aid office must also ensure the student is completing at least 75% of their attempted hours and is progressing through their program of study towards completion of a degree. Attempted credits are measured by the number of credits the student was enrolled in as of census day (last day to drop and enrollment) each term. At the end of each term, the financial aid office will review all student records to determine if they have completed at least 75 percent of their total hours attempted. The measurement used is

Only credit hours passed (grades A, B, C, D and P) are considered as earned credits. Grades of I and /or IP are not counted as credits earned until they are replaced by a satisfactory letter grade. Grades of I, IP, W, and F are included as attempted credits in the calculation. A student should notify the financial aid office when I and IP’s grades are replaced with a satisfactory letter grade in order to recalculate progress.

Maximum Time Frame

Students can receive financial aid for up to 133% of the published credit hour requirements to complete his/her bachelor’s degree or until a degree is earned.  This is determined by the student’s catalog year of entry.  For example, if 123 credits are required to complete a bachelor’s degree, then the student could attempt up to 164 credits to obtain his/her degree. If it is determined by the university the student is not able to complete his/her bachelor’s degree without surpassing the 133% attempted credits, the student would be placed on Financial Aid Suspension and would not be able to receive federal financial aid. An email notification is sent to the student’s Doane email of their ineligibility.  A student has the ability to appeal this and should contact the financial aid office for instructions.

Financial Aid Warning

Students, who are not meeting either the Qualitative and/or the Quantitative measurements at the end of a term, are placed on Financial Aid Warning their next term of enrollment. Students are allowed to receive financial aid during the Financial Aid Warning period. A student receives only one Financial Aid Warning term while an undergraduate student at Doane University. The student will be notified through his /her Doane email account of their Financial Aid Warning Status.

Financial Aid Suspension

Financial Aid Suspension occurs following the term of Warning or any subsequent term after the Warning term if the student fails to achieve the minimum CGPA and/or the 75 percent completion rate. Students are not eligible to receive Title IV Federal financial aid if on suspension and are notified via Doane email of his/her Financial Aid Suspension status. Students may continue taking coursework; however, they are not able to receive Title IV federal aid funds and will need to pay at their own expense.

Appeals

If the student has experienced extenuating circumstances which have impeded his/her ability to make satisfactory academic progress, the student may appeal his/her suspension. Examples of extenuating circumstances include (but not limited to) death of a relative, personal injury or illness of the student, family medical emergency, etc.

A student must submit their circumstances in writing by the date notated in their suspension letter. The appeal must include the following information:

1. explanation of the circumstance that prevented him/her from making satisfactory progress,
2. explanation of what has changed or been resolved for him/her to make satisfactory progress in the ensuing term and going forward, and
3. supporting documentation of the extenuating circumstance.

The appeal is considered incomplete if any of the three requirements are missing, and it will not be sent to the Financial Aid Appeal Committee for review. If the Financial Aid Appeal Committee grants the appeal, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Probation or on a Financial Aid Academic Monitoring plan. The student is notified via Doane email the minimum requirements needed to meet in order to maintain federal aid eligibility after the enrollment period for which they were placed on Probation or Academic Plan.  Students whose appeal is denied are also notified through their Doane email account.

Financial Aid Probation/Academic Monitoring Plan

Students who have been granted an appeal are placed either on Financial Aid Probation or on a Financial Aid Academic Monitoring plan depending on their situation.

If it is mathematically impossible for the student to return to satisfactory status after the end of term, but has been granted an appeal, the student is placed on a FA Academic Monitoring Plan.  If the student completes the terms and conditions of the academic plan, the student can continue to receive federal/state aid but will continue to be monitored and held to the conditions of the academic plan. A student not meeting the conditions of his/her academic plan will be suspended from federal/state aid.

If the student is able to return to satisfactory status after the term, he/she is placed on Financial Aid (FA) Probation.  If the student has not complied with the terms of the appeal and has not returned to satisfactory status after the term of FA Probation, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension and is not eligible to receive federal financial/state aid.

Reinstatement

A student who is placed on FA suspension and does complete an appeal or whose appeal has been denied can continue to enroll in classes at the university (if meeting Academic Affairs policies) but will not receive federal/state financial aid. Students can request their financial aid eligibility to be reinstated at the end of any term in which the student reaches the 75% percent completion rate and has met the required minimum GPA requirement consistent with graduation requirements. A student who has regained their eligibility may contact the financial aid office if they wish to begin receiving Title IV federal financial aid.

Repeat Coursework

A student may receive financial aid for a course taken previously. The student may only receive financial aid twice for the repeated coursework.

The exception to this rule is when a student receives university credits for his/her participation in membership in one of the major vocal/instrumental music ensembles or physical education courses.  These students are expected to enroll in a certain class on a continuing basis. Even though the course number is the same, the course content is different each term.

Academic Affairs Policy

In addition to the federal aid/state aid rules, a student is subject to Doane University’s institutional academic policies which are determined by the Office of Academic Affairs.

Returning Title IV Federal Aid Upon Student Withdrawal

Federal regulations require a specific calculation be used for those students who are Federal Title IV Aid recipients and withdraw from the institution prior to completing the enrollment period (term) for which they received or were eligible to receive federal aid. Federal financial aid funds are awarded to a student with the assumption that the student will complete the term for which the aid was awarded.  When a student withdraws, he/she may no longer be eligible for the full amount of federal Title IV aid he/she was originally eligible to have received. 

A student is considered to have withdrawn when one of the following conditions occurs

• completely and officially withdraws from the institution before the end of the term,

• stops participating in academic related and/or attending classes before completing the term, or

• receives all failing grades for all coursed registered for at the end of the term.

The withdrawal date is considered the date the student officially notifies the school of his/her intent to withdraw. If the student did not begin the official withdrawal process, then the university uses the Last Day of participating in an Academic related activity.  In the event an LDA cannot be determined, the school will use the mid-point (50%) of the term.  A student who completes more than 60% of the term is considered to have earned the full amount of their scheduled financial aid award and is not subject to the calculation.

Financial aid is disbursed to the student’s account after census day (last day to drop) for the term for which he/she is enrolled.  Funds are earned as the term is completed. If the student withdraws or does not complete more than 60% of the term, a calculation as defined by federal regulations is used to determine the amount of aid earned versus received.  If the student received less aid than he/she was eligible to receive, he/she may be eligible for additional funds.  If more federal aid was received than earned, the excess amount must be returned by the school and/or student to the U.S. Department of Education. 

Procedure for the Return of Title IV Funds Calculation

When a student either officially or unofficially withdraws and has not completed more than 60% of the enrollment period and has received or was eligible to receive Federal Title IV financial aid, the Financial Aid Office is required to use these steps in determining how much aid needs returned (if received too much) or offered to the student (if earned more than received):

1. Determine How Much Title IV Aid the Student Earned.  This is calculated by dividing the number of days a student attended during the term by the number of days in the enrollment period or term. (Note: Weekends are included in the number of days; scheduled breaks of 5 days or more are excluded from the calculation.) This percentage is then multiplied by the amount of aid disbursed or that could have been disbursed to the student.

For example, if 30% of the term was completed, the student earned 30% of the assistance he/she was scheduled to receive. 

2. Determine the amount of Title IV aid to be disbursed to the student.  If the student received less Title IV aid than earned as determined from Step One, a Post Withdrawal Disbursement (PWD) will be made. (This instance happens infrequently and is more likely that excess funds will have to be returned.)
    
3. Determine the amount of Title IV aid to be returned by Doane.  Doane must return the lesser amount of the unearned Title IV aid received or the amount of the institutional charges the student incurred for the term multiplied by the percentage of aid not earned. Doane returns this money to the U.S. Department of Education and results in a repayment obligation to the student. 

Note:  Institutional charges consist of tuition, fees, room and board (if contracted with Doane), and books and supplies.

4. Determine the amount of Unearned Title IV aid to be returned by the student.  Any federal grant aid funds that are calculated to be returned by the student will be returned by Doane in order to prevent an overpayment situation for the student. (Any amount of unearned grant aid that a student is required to return is called an overpayment.) This amount will be included in the amount billed to the student along with the amount determined in Step 3. Loan funds the student is required to return would be returned by the student in accordance with the terms of the Loan Agreement (Master Promissory Note) completed with the U.S. Department of Education.

When a Post Withdrawal Disbursement is Determined in Step 2

If the student did not receive all of the aid he/she earned, a student may be entitled to a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement (PWD).  If the PWD includes loan funds, the financial aid office must obtain the student’s permission to disburse the loans.  A student may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds.  If the PWD includes grant aid, the school can automatically use all or a portion of the grant funds for institutional charges incurred. Institutional charges consist of tuition, fees, room and board (if contracted with the university), and books and supplies.  For other non-institutional charges, the university must obtain the student’s permission to use the PWD grant disbursement to apply toward the student’s account.  If the student does not authorize the use of grant funds toward the non-institutional charges, the PWD grant aid is offered to the student.  However, it may be in the student’s best interest to allow the school to retain the funds to reduce the amount owed to the university.  In some instances, some Title IV funds that a student was scheduled to receive may not be able to be given to the student due to other eligibility requirements. 

When Unearned Aid Must be Returned as Determined in Steps 2 and/or 3

When it is determined that the school is required to return unearned funds, they are restored to the federal aid programs based on the type of aid the student received and the order in which federal regulations indicate the funds should be returned.  The order in which to return is as follows:

1. Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
2. Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
3. Federal Perkins Loan
4. Federal Direct PLUS (Parent or Graduate)
5. Federal Pell Grant
6. Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
7. Federal TEACH Grant

Doane is required to return any unearned Title IV funds it is responsible for returning as soon as possible but no later than 45 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew. Doane will offer any post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds within 30 days of that date.

Once the calculation has been completed, Doane University will notify the student in writing if the student is eligible for a Post Withdrawal disbursement or whether or not excess funds were returned to the U.S. Department of Education and instructions on how to proceed.  A current Statement of Account will be included in the notification so the student is aware of his/her student account balance. 

Doane University does not offer Leave of Absences to students.  Students considering withdrawing from the institution are encouraged to contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing.  Upon request, examples of calculations are available to review. 

Financial Aid Office, Padour Walker Building Second Floor, FAOffice@doane.edu, 402-826-8260

Note:  Doane University has an institutional refund policy. This is a separate policy which pertains to refunds of tuition after withdrawal and is applicable to both Federal aid recipients as well as students not receiving federal financial aid.