Satisfactory academic progress and your grants
The three progress tests a college applies before it pays the next term of federal and state grant money.
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Keeping your grants
A grant is awarded one year at a time and comes with conditions. Learn the progress rules, the yearly FAFSA, verification, and what happens to your grants when you drop a class, withdraw, change majors or transfer.
Who holds the money: Your college's financial aid office
12 articles on keeping your grants
Filing the FAFSA again every year
Why each award year needs a new FAFSA, which dates come first and what to check from one filing to the next.
When the school asks you to verify the FAFSA
What a verification request asks for, why grants wait until it is done and how to finish it before the deadline.
Withdrawing mid-term and the grant money already paid
How federal rules split grant money into earned and unearned when you leave a term early, and who sends what back.
Dropping a class and what happens to your grants
How a dropped class changes a Pell Grant, a state grant and your progress record, and why the census date matters.
Changing majors without losing aid
How a new major affects the timeframe limit, Pell lifetime use and the awards tied to the field you leave.
Taking a term off and coming back to your aid
The difference between an approved leave of absence and a withdrawal, and what each means for grants when you return.
Moving your aid when you transfer
Why grants stay at the old college, what follows you to the new one and how to set up a fresh offer.
Appealing a lost grant after a hard term
How a satisfactory academic progress appeal works, what to write and what an approved plan asks of you.
Grade rules on scholarships and what to do when you slip
How renewal rules differ among state merit awards, college scholarships and private awards, and what to do after a weak term.
When grant money reaches your account
How grants are paid to your student account each term, when a credit balance comes back to you and what holds it up.
Changes to report to the aid office during the year
The scholarships, benefits and life changes the aid office needs to hear about during the year, and why reporting them helps.
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