Financial Aid Policies at Charter Oak State College

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
Withdrawal Policy
Leave of Absence
Return of Title IV Funds
Privacy Policy

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy

Standards
For a student to receive financial aid, regulations require that he/she maintain satisfactory academic progress toward a degree. The following are the satisfactory academic progress standards for students seeking federal or institutional financial aid at Charter Oak State College.

Definitions
Satisfactory academic progress (SAP) is measured by both quantitative and qualitative standards and is an assessment of a student’s cumulative academic record while in attendance at Charter Oak. This policy is used to evaluate both full-time and part-time students. Therefore, all students receiving Federal Title IV funds and other types of financial aid that are administered, or certified, by Charter Oak must maintain satisfactory academic progress towards the completion of their degree program.
For financial aid purposes, satisfactory grades are defined as: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, and P. Unsatisfactory grades are defined as: W, X, F and I.

The Standards
The Office of Financial Aid will review students' academic records at the end of each semester. Below is a description of the qualitative and quantitative requirements of Charter Oak State College’s Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards.

Quantitative Standard (completion rate)
A student must successfully complete (67%) of the credits he or she attempts by the end of each semester. All attempted credits that result in a grade or a transcript notation will be included in the calculation of SAP. Also included in the calculation are incomplete courses, course withdrawals, repeated courses, transfer credits (attempted or earned), and pass/fail grades.

Qualitative Standard (quality of academic performance)
A student must also maintain a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of “C” 2.0 at the completion of his or her academic year. A student may be placed on probation or withdrawn for academic deficiency when his/her cumulative grade point average is below a 2.0.

Maximum Time Frame for Program Completion
A student may receive financial aid for any attempted credits in his or her degree program that do not exceed 150% of the published educational program length. A student enrolled in a 120-credit program many receive financial aid for a maximum of 180 attempted credit hours (120 x 1.5). Similarly, a student enrolled in a 60-credit program can only receive financial aid for a maximum of 90 attempted credit hours (60 x 1.5).

Notification
The College will notify each student of his or her probation status and inform the student that he or she must meet the academic progress standard by the end of the probationary period in order to maintain eligibility in financial aid programs.

Probation
A student who fails to meet the minimum SAP requirement will be placed on financial aid probation. The probationary period will be the student's next semester of enrollment at the college.

Termination
A student who fails to meet the minimum SAP standard at the end of his or her probationary period loses all financial aid eligibility. The college will notify the student of his or her financial aid termination and inform the student that an appeal process is available.

It is the responsibility of the student to determine when an appeal for reinstatement of financial aid eligibility is appropriate. The College grade report will provide the student with the number of hours completed each term and the grade point average attained.

Reinstatement of Aid
To have financial aid eligibility reinstated, a student may make up the credit hour and/or grade point average deficiencies in a subsequent academic year without receipt of federal aid for that academic year. The student must then submit a written request for reinstatement of eligibility. The request should be forwarded to the Office of Financial Aid, Charter Oak State College, 55 Paul J. Manafort Drive, New Britain, CT 06053.

Appeal Process
A student who believes his/her failure to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards was due to extenuating circumstances beyond his/her control may appeal in writing to the Director of Financial Aid. Some examples of extenuating circumstances are:

A student's serious illness or accident.
Death or serious illness in the student's family.
Other unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the student that caused the student to fall below the satisfactory progress standards.

Reasons for the appeal must be documented, i.e., sickness, accident, death of immediate family member, etc. Official documentation must be attached to the letter of appeal when it is turned into the Office of Financial Aid.
Appeals must be written by the student, unless incapacitated, and submitted to the Office of Financial Aid, Charter Oak State College, 55 Paul J. Manafort Drive, New Britain, CT 06053. The appeal will be reviewed by the Financial Aid Appeals Committee. You will be mailed a written response from the Director of Financial Aid within 30 working days of the committee's decision.

Leave of Absence Policy

A leave of absence (LOA) is a temporary interruption in a student’s program of study. It is a specific time period when a student is not in attendance as specified by his or her academic calendar. A LOA is not required during institutionally scheduled breaks (i.e. academic holidays, spring break). However, a scheduled break may occur during a student’s LOA.

An approved LOA cannot exceed a total of 180 in any 12-month period. A student may be permitted one LOA, on a case-by-case basis, if it does not exceed 180 days and the College determines that it is necessary due to unforeseen circumstances. Additional leaves are permitted for jury duty, military reasons, or circumstances related to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. While multiple leaves are permitted, the total days of all approved leaves cannot exceed 180 days in a 12-month period.

A student granted a LOA is not considered to be withdrawn from Charter Oak State College. All approved LOA’s must meet the following conditions:

Student must be matriculated at Charter Oak.
The student must have an acceptable reason to request a leave. Examples include: illness, injury, a death in the family, and loss of employment for six months or greater. A leave will not be granted because a course is not available during a particular semester.
Before a LOA can be granted, Charter Oak must have a reasonable expectation that the student will return from the leave. Therefore, every student must specify the reason for his or her leave and include supporting documentation, such as a doctor’s note.
All students must return to Charter Oak at the expiration of the LOA. Failure to return from an approved leave will result in the student being reported to the National Student Loan Data System. The Registrar’s Office will use the start date of the LOA as the student’s official withdrawal date.
All Title IV financial aid recipients should be aware of the consequences a withdrawal may have on their student loan repayment terms. This includes exhausting the six month grace period and entering repayment on student loan debt. If a student fails to return from an approved LOA, Charter Oak will report the student’s change in enrollment status to the loan holder. Students will also be responsible for completing exit loan counseling and will be contacted by the Office of Financial Aid to fulfill this requirement as mandated by the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).
Students who fail to return from an approved leave, and who are withdrawn from the College, may have their institutional charges adjusted. Financial aid recipients need to be aware that Charter Oak may perform a Return of Title IV funds calculation. This means that your federal student aid may not cover all unpaid institutional charges (at Charter Oak or at a host institution). The Business Office will complete a Return of Title IV Funds calculation within 45 days of your official withdrawal date.

Withdrawal Process
This form may be obtained from any of the following sources:

access the Charter Oak State College website to download a withdrawal form,
the Distance Learning Office
the student’s Admission Counselor (accepted applicant/re-matriculating),
the student’s Academic Counselor (matriculated students)

It is strongly recommended that a student discusses his or her intent to withdraw with his or her Counselor and instructor prior to submitting the withdrawal form to the Distance Learning Office. There may be advisement that you may receive that will assist you in completing the course.

Official Notification
The following date will be used as a student’s official withdrawal:

The date the student notifies the Distance Learning Office of his or her decision via telephone (860-832-3837).
The date the student notifies the Distance Learning Office of their decision to withdraw by submitting the Course Withdrawal Form via email with the student’s first and last name appearing in the body of the email message.
The fax transmittal date on the withdrawal form. Note: The Distance Learning Office fax number is (860)832-3997 available seven days a week and 24 hours a day.
The U.S. postmarked date or courier service delivery date, or the hand-delivered.

Note: The College is closed most Saturdays and on Sundays.

Unofficial Notification
If a student who receives federal aid, begins to attend class, but then ceases to attend class without providing official notification to the College of their intent to withdraw, the Federal Government considers this to be an "unofficial withdrawal".
For Title IV purposes, the withdrawal date for students who unofficially withdraw is considered to be the mid-point of the semester unless a documented last date of attendance can be determined.

Charter Oak State College's policy is to determine the last date of an academic related activity throught the use of Blackboard and conferring with faculty. This date is used as the official withdrawal date for Title IV purposes.

However, if the College determines that a student did not provide official notice of the intent to withdraw due to illness, accident, grievous personal loss or other circumstances beyond the student’s control, the College will use a date that is related to that circumstance. However, supporting documentation must be submitted (i.e., doctors note, police report, death certificate, etc.)

Note:
The Return of Title IV Funds rules will apply for any Title IV aid recipients who withdraw from all course work for the term. The College will use the Return of Title IV Funds Policy to determine any unearned portion of Title IV aid that must be returned to the appropriate aid program(s).
The student transcript will reflect a "W" for each course from which he/she has withdrawn from.

The student who has not done any work for the courses, and did not complete a withdrawal form or who is a no-show will be administratively withdrawn, and receive a grade of “X”. All other students who stop attending may be assigned a performance grade of "F" based on coursework completed.

Note:
All students who withdraw from courses will receive written confirmation from the Distance Learning Office as verification that their withdrawal request has been received and processed.

Return of Title IV Fund Policy

Charter Oak State College Refund Policy complies with the amended version of 34 CFR Section 668.22 of the Higher Education Amendment of 1998. Students in the following categories will have all charges recalculated under the Return of Title IV Funds calculation formula:

students who withdraw from classes;
students who do not return after an approved leave of absence;
students who are expelled; or
students who stop attending.

All aid will be prorated based on the period of course enrollment up to the 60% point in the course enrollment period. This is determined by dividing the number of completed days by the total number of days in the course enrollment period. No refund will be given after the 60% point in the course enrollment period.

The college must return the lesser of:

the unearned amount of the Title IV assistance
the institutional charges incurred for the period of enrollment, multiplied by the unearned percentage.

The student must return the difference, if any, between the amount of unearned aid and the amount the college must return. In most circumstances, when the student receives Title IV assistance greater than the amount of institutional charges, the student will more than likely be required to return some or all of the funds. However, if a student is required to return grant funds, he/she is given special consideration by the U.S. Department of Education and the grant amount that is due for return is reduced by half. In accordance with federal regulations, when financial aid is involved, refunds are returned in the following order:

Unsubsidized FFELP/ Direct FFELP
Subsidized FFELP/ Direct FFELP
Federal Perkins Loan
FFELP/ Direct PLUS Loan
Federal Pell Grant
Federal SEOG
Other Title IV Programs (not including Federal Work Study)

Repayment of Federal Funds Policy

All students need to be aware of how Charter Oak State College implements these requirements:

This policy affects only students who completely withdraw, officially or unofficially from all courses during a semester. Complete withdrawal means dropping (officially or unofficially) all your courses in a semester. If you stay enrolled in - and complete - at least one course, the policy does not apply.
When a financial aid recipient completely withdraws, she is considered to have "earned" a portion of her aid equal to the percentage of the semester she completed. Example: if you withdraw from all classes after 25% of the semester, you have "earned" 25% of your Pell Grant for that semester.
If you withdraw after 60% (or more) of the semester, you are considered to have "earned" all of your federal aid for the term. No repayment is necessary.
As explained above, if you have to withdraw from all classes, it is in your interest to do so only after 60% of the semester has passed. If you attend at least 60% of the semester before withdrawing, you will not be required to repay federal aid funds. You should also be aware of the Charter Oak State College deadline for withdrawal with a grade of W. Refer to Charter Oak’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for how a grade of W will impact academic progress standards.

A copy of the Return of Title IV Fund Worksheet used to determine the return of Title IV funds can be obtained from the College’s Business Office at (860)832-3906 or (860) 832-3901.

Privacy Policy-Financial Aid Office

About Our Privacy Policy
Charter Oak State College’s Financial Aid Office wants you to know how we protect your privacy and the measures we take to maintain the confidentiality of your non-public personal financial information ("information"). The collection, use and disclosure of this information is regulated by law. Accordingly, we provide this notice to you to describe our current Privacy Policy and our approach to protection of this information in accordance with applicable law. As you read this policy, the words "we", "us" and "our" refer to the Financial Aid Office at Charter Oak State College.

How We Gather Information
We collect and use information from you in order to provide, administer and service financial aid awards and loans. We collect information such as name, address, telephone number and financial information directly from you during the application process. We also collect information concerning your personal earnings and/or parent earnings from the FAFSA form you or your parents fill out.
The Financial Aid Office does not make or provide copies of application documents to anyone other than the signatory of the requested document. If you want a copy of your application data, you must submit your request in writing to the Financial Aid Office, specifying which documents you are requesting. If you are a dependent student and want copies of your parents’ application documents, you must ask you parents to send a written release to the Financial Aid Office, specifying which documents can be released to you. Your parents’ information cannot be discussed with you unless they have provided us with written authorization to do so.

Disclosure of Information to Non-affiliated Third Parties
Your information is regarded by the Financial Aid Office as confidential. As a result, the Financial Aid Office does not disclose your information to non-affiliated third parties except in accordance with applicable law such as, but not limited, to the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). During the normal course of business (which includes verifying your eligibility for loans and grants) we may disclose any of the above information collected about you to our service providers. Our service providers include, but are not limited to, the Inspector General, Federal and State Agencies and lenders. We expect these non-affiliated third parties to maintain the confidentiality of your information and abide by all applicable privacy laws. In addition to the disclosures noted above, we may also disclose any of the information we collect to other non-affiliated third parties as permitted by law on a "need to know" basis or in response to a court order.

Our Former Students
Even if you are no longer a Charter Oak State College student, this Privacy Policy will continue to apply to you.

Our Security Policies and Procedures
The Financial Aid Office maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with our security policy and applicable law (such as the federal Gramm, Leach, Bliley Act) in order to protect the confidentiality and security of your information.

More About our Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy and other policies described above, at any time, in accordance with applicable law. Examples contained within this Privacy Policy are illustrations and are not intended to be exhaustive.