Financial aid suspension

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Hi everyone,

I am currently pre-nursing and this past semester was only able to complete two of the classes that I took. I'm really not sure where else to post this, and no one I know has had this problem so they can't really give me advice or straight answers.

My school requires 67% completion, I met 60%, thus leading to my financial aid being suspended. This was not a case of me slacking off or not caring. I managed to pull an A and a B+ in the classes I was able to complete, but the problem is that my family and I are currently in the midst of a foreclosure and dealing with that and trying to move took up a lot of my time. We are currently living with my aunt and uncle in their house.

I plan to appeal the suspension because I am an otherwise good student with a 3.8 GPA and honestly, I can't continue without some sort of aid.

So far what I know about appealing is that it requires documentation as proof of mitigating circumstances and I have paperwork that we received that stated the bank would be beginning the process of foreclosure after my parents bankruptcy was complete. I will also need to write a letter and sit with a guidance counselor. I have never had any issues like this before, but after an already terrible year, 2014 doesn't seem to be off to a great start. I can't get into school until Thursday, January 2 when they open again and I am so upset and nervous in the meantime.

Have you ever had your financial aid suspended or know someone who has? Did you appeal? What was your experience?

Any information at all is greatly appreciated.

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Hi everyone,

I am currently pre-nursing and this past semester was only able to complete two of the three classes that I took. I'm really not sure where else to post this, and no one I know has had this problem so they can't really give me advice or straight answers.

My school requires 67% completion, I met 60%, thus leading to my financial aid being suspended. This was not a case of me slacking off or not caring. I managed to pull an A and a B+ in the classes I was able to complete, but the problem is that my family and I are currently in the midst of a foreclosure and dealing with that and trying to move took up a lot of my time. We are currently living with my aunt and uncle in their house. It has been an incredibly hard year.

I plan to appeal the suspension because I am an otherwise good student with a 3.8 GPA and honestly, I can't continue without some sort of aid.

So far what I know about appealing is that it requires documentation as proof of mitigating circumstances and I have paperwork that we received that stated the bank would be beginning the process of foreclosure after my parents bankruptcy was complete. I will also need to write a letter and sit with a guidance counselor. I have never had any issues like this before, but after an already terrible year, 2014 doesn't seem to be off to a great start. I can't get into school until Thursday, January 2 when they open again and I am so upset and nervous in the meantime.

Have you ever had your financial aid suspended or know someone who has? Did you appeal? What was your experience?

Any information at all is greatly appreciated.

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As I've read on the financia aid FAQ's site, every FAFSA made by each student is on a case-to-case basis. You can certainly write a letter to the financial aid office of your school and explain your dilemma and attach supporting documents as proof. This way, students who receive not enough grants can request for more. What I do not know is if you can appeal on suspension. I have no experience with that one so I think talking to your schools financial aid office is the best step.

If it cant really be helped, you have to skip this semester since you cant pay for school. Yet again, try your best to tell them you really need the aid.

PS. Dont worry, everything will be fine. My family also got kicked out during my regular semester. I saved up the money I got from Pell grant so we quickly got into an apartment and it didnt affect much of my grades.

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I reached maximum time frame at the community college I was going to. I appealed and was denied. I transferred amd problem solved. So I say appeal and if they don't approve it then transfer if you can.

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Specializes in ICU.

It's a problem with the federal financial aid. Yes, the completion rate needs to be 67%. My friend lost hers because of this. She couldn't complete her classes a couple of semesters ago due to family issues. They put her on academic probation this semester. She took what she thought was the required credits not realizing that the 3 credit hour math class would not count towards her completion rate because it was a zero level class and those don't towards your GPA. So she was terminated after the semester was over and is devastated. I told her to do an appeal and I'm not sure what she is doing. In our area the school we are going to has the best and cheapest nursing program. So yes you have to be very careful with that. This was something that the financial aid adivsors at my school hammered into our heads from day one. It's not always best to drop a class.

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As I've read on the financia aid FAQ's site every FAFSA made by each student is on a case-to-case basis. You can certainly write a letter to the financial aid office of your school and explain your dilemma and attach supporting documents as proof. This way, students who receive not enough grants can request for more. What I do not know is if you can appeal on suspension. I have no experience with that one so I think talking to your schools financial aid office is the best step. If it cant really be helped, you have to skip this semester since you cant pay for school. Yet again, try your best to tell them you really need the aid. PS. Dont worry, everything will be fine. My family also got kicked out during my regular semester. I saved up the money I got from Pell grant so we quickly got into an apartment and it didnt affect much of my grades.[/quote']

Thanks so much for your kind words! Thankfully I can appeal a suspension but I'm just unsure if its going to work in my favor. Fingers crossed!

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I reached maximum time frame at the community college I was going to. I appealed and was denied. I transferred amd problem solved. So I say appeal and if they don't approve it then transfer if you can.

Hopefully I can if this is the case! Thanks for your response!

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It's a problem with the federal financial aid. Yes the completion rate needs to be 67%. My friend lost hers because of this. She couldn't complete her classes a couple of semesters ago due to family issues. They put her on academic probation this semester. She took what she thought was the required credits not realizing that the 3 credit hour math class would not count towards her completion rate because it was a zero level class and those don't towards your GPA. So she was terminated after the semester was over and is devastated. I told her to do an appeal and I'm not sure what she is doing. In our area the school we are going to has the best and cheapest nursing program. So yes you have to be very careful with that. This was something that the financial aid adivsors at my school hammered into our heads from day one. It's not always best to drop a class.[/quote']

Good luck to your friend because this is a really terrible feeling! Best of luck to you in school!

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I have to appeal my financial aid every semester because I withdrew from 4 classes in 2006. It was medically excused, but it will never come off my transcript and as a part time student I won't be able to get up to 67% any time soon. I just keep submitting the same letter over and over again and updating the grades I received for the previous semester. Make sure you bring in any and all documentation you possibly can, one letter may not be enough. A big thing they will want to know is 1. whether the mitigating circumstances are still going to be a factor in the future and 2. how you plan to do better next semester. As far as I can tell, it's pretty simple for them to approve the appeal, the first time I handed all of my paperwork in, the guy in the financial aid office just skimmed it and said "ok, you're good." It was totally painless. You will have the opportunity to sit in front of someone and explain the situation, so tell them everything you said here. You're a good student, you care about your academic success, and in the future you will not let the circumstances at home affect your schoolwork.

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I was placed on financial aid suspension for completion rate as well. I ended up scheduling time to speak with the director of financial aid. I wrote a letter of appeal and that was submitted to the financial aid committee who ultimately reinstated my financial aid. It was an easy, painless process for me and hopefully will be for you as well. Be honest about why you had to drop the class and focus on you academic achievement in your other classes! Best of luck!

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Specializes in med-surg.

I had the same thing happen. I just appealed it and got reinstated as well. Good luck to you!

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My financial aid was suspended for the fall 2013 semester. I lost all of my scholarships last year. I almost didn't make it into the fall 2013 semester. But I appealed the decision and provided proof of my illnesses. They reinstated my financial aid the second week of classes. My advice is to look on your school's financial aid website and see what you need to do. There should be links to information about the appeals process there. Read carefully. Print off anything that needs to be included (my school required an appeals form and an academic success plan to be signed by an academic advisor). Fill out as much of it as you can now. Know what classes you plan to take in the spring and write down alternatives just in case one of your initial choices fills up before your financial aid is reinstated. Write your appeal letter. Get copies of the paperwork to be provided as proof. And take all of this to your counselor as early as you can on Jan. 2nd. The faster you move, the easier this will be. There are templates for writing academic appeal letters on Google. Those could be of help when you construct your statement. In case you do not hear anything from financial aid and classes have started, ask your friends to send you copies of the syllabi for your classes. Read them and do what you can. (I hope you're signing up for most of your classes with a friend or two.) And lastly, do not condemn your spring 2014 semester because of what's happening now. Things will work out. They did for me. If you need anymore advice, just ask. Sorry for the rambling, but I was trying to remember everything I did.

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