Financial Aid Eligibility

Programs must be approved by the Department of Education to be funded by financial aid. The following programs offered at Spoon River College are currently Not Eligible for Financial Aid:

Establishing Eligibility

Students must attend the course to establish eligibility for financial aid. Enrollment in a course does not guarantee the payment for the course. Financial aid will not be paid for any class for which the student has been reported as not attending.

Refunds

The Business Office on our Canton campus processes all refunds.  Register to receive your refund the way you want!  Direct Deposit, Reloadable Debit Card or Paper Check.  It is simple!  Go to www.src.edu and log in to your MySRC account.  Select the "Student" tab and click on the "Paying for College" link on the lift side of the screen.  Then click on "My Payment Portal by Nelnet" on the right to select how you want to receive your refund.  Fill in the necessary information.  Your refund will then be sent using the option you selected.

Losing Eligibility/Return of Title IV Funds Calculations

Students who do not complete any courses successfully may be required to repay a portion of the financial aid funds received. Students will have to repay a portion of aid if student received federal student aid, i.e., Pell Grant, SEOG, and Federal Direct Student Loans; and

• Student withdraws, or fails to attend classes, or is dropped by the faculty from all courses prior to the eleventh week of the semester; fails every course enrolled in for the term; or any combination of any of the above. The amount of repayment will be prorated based on the percent of the semester not completed.
• Students can avoid repayment of aid if they remain in attendance in at least one course through the eleventh week of the semester. If the student ceases attending that class, the faculty may withdraw the student and the student will be required to repay financial aid.
• The last date to attend is posted at each campus. Fall 2019-October 29, 2019. Spring 2020-March 24, 2020. Summer 2020-June 25, 2020.
  
• Students are required to contact the Financial Aid Office prior to any complete withdrawal for information on the amount of aid received that may have to repay. Students who withdraw prior to the disbursement of aid could be eligible for a post withdrawal disbursement. Funds are repaid by students in the following order: Unsubsidized Loan funds, subsidized loan funds, PLUS parent loans, Pell grant, FSEOG grant. The financial aid office notifies students in writing if they owe a repayment of funds due to failure to successfully complete any course, a complete withdrawal or a combination of failing grades and withdrawals.

Standards of Academic Progress

Federal law requires Spoon River College to establish satisfactory progress standards for federal and state financial aid applicants. These laws, United States Department of Education regulations (Public Law 99-498), and Federal Regulations 34CFR, Part 668, as well as published rules of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission are to ensure that any student who receives or applies for federal financial aid is making progress toward a degree. In order to maintain eligibility for financial aid, a student must meet the Standards of Progress as published annually by the Financial Aid Office. Failure to meet these requirements will result in the loss of all Title IV and state aid until action is taken to regain eligibility. Aid programs affected are:

Financial Aid Appeal Process

If special circumstances exist, the student may submit a letter of appeal to the Financial Aid Office stating the reasons the Standards Requirements were not met.

All appeals must be accompanied by a Degree Plan signed by the student and their academic advisor. Attach any other appropriate documentation. Appeals submitted without proper documentation will not be reviewed. The Appeal Committee will review the appeal. If approved, eligibility for federal financial aid will be reinstated for the next term of enrollment and the student will be placed on a one semester Financial Aid Probation. Students must follow their Degree Plan or will not be eligible to receive financial aid.

Download our Standards of Academic Progress Appeal Form:

Appeal Form.doc​ (Microsoft Word Document)
Appeal Form.pdf​​ (PDF Document)

Requirements

Please refer to the Student Handbook for the entire Standards of Academic Progress Policy. Students must meet the following academic requirements of progress. Progress is reviewed following each term.

• Complete 67% of Enrolled Credit Hours. This is the minimum cumulative percentage of enrolled credit hours which the student must successfully complete for each term in which s/he is enrolled. Only grades of "A," "B," "C," "D," "S" are considered successful completion. Grades of "I," "W," "F," or "U" do not count as successful. Enrolled credit hours represent the number of credit hours in which the student is enrolled at the end of the 100% refund period.
• Maximum Hours Permitted to Complete Degree/Certificate. The maximum hours permitted to complete a program is 150% of the total number of credit hours required for each individual program. Hours transferred to Spoon River College count toward the maximum timeframe.
• Maintain Grade Point Average. The minimum cumulative grade point average for financial aid for all terms of enrollment is 2.00. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the Financial Aid Office of any grade changes that may affect their Standards of Academic Progress.

Not meeting academic requirements can result in the following:

• Financial Aid Warning - The first term the student fails to meet the standards, the student will be placed on financial aid probation and will have one term to re-establish eligibility under the standards requirements.
• Financial Aid Suspension - Students will not receive any financial aid while on Suspension and are responsible to pay all costs of education to the college. Students who do not successfully complete any course for a single term will automatically be placed on financial aid suspension. Students will be notified in writing if they are placed on either financial aid warning or financial aid suspension status.

To regain eligibility, a student must complete the following:

• Increase GPA to 2.00.
• Raise completion rate to 67%.​
• Complete a degree program to regain eligibility.
• Pay for classes themselves.

College Return to Title IV Funds and a Complete Withdraw from College

A student may notify Admissions and Records in person or verbally of their intent to completely withdrawal from the college. The student must then complete the withdraw form and obtain the required signatures and return it to Admissions and Records. The Financial Aid Office will use the verbal notification date from Admissions and Records to determine any unearned amount of aid that the student must repay. The student’s academic record will reflect the withdrawal date submitted on the form.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​