Terms and Conditions of Your Award

Awards
Uniform national standards and methodology determine financial need. Financial aid awards from St. Olaf College are based on a packaging policy established by the Financial Aid Committee. The packaging policy is the basis for institutional scholarship and grant aid. All financial assistance is awarded on an annual basis, using costs for a full-time, on-campus student, unless otherwise indicated. If you are in attendance for less than an entire academic year, you will receive a proportional amount of the original award.

Award Renewal
If there are merit-based scholarships in your package, renewal criteria were outlined in the scholarship offer that was sent to you earlier. For need-based institutional gift aid (St. Olaf Scholarships and Grants), if comparable need is demonstrated from year to year, you can expect that that institutional gift aid will be fully renewed each year. You must re-apply each year if you wish to be considered for financial assistance. Renewal is not automatic. You will receive a renewal FAFSA at your permanent address each year in December. A St. Olaf Application for Financial Aid will be mailed to your permanent home address during December 2007.

Four Year Commitment
Our financial aid program is designed to assist you in completing four years of study at St. Olaf College. Students enrolled for a 9th or 10th semester are not eligible for institutional scholarship and grant programs and therefore will have large loan components in a fifth (and subsequent) year of enrollment.

Full Time Status
Your financial aid award has been computed on the basis of full-time enrollment. At St. Olaf, full-time status is defined as 3 or more courses per semester, with 4 courses being the normal course load. If, at any time during a term, you consider dropping to a course load of less than 3, contact the Office of Financial Aid to determine the changes that might be made to your financial aid award. If you are a MN State Grant recipient, you must complete 7.5 courses a year, with minimum enrollment each semester of 3.75 to be considered full-time. Interim enrollment can be split and counted towards both semesters, or can be counted as part of fall and part of spring to the advantage of the student. A student becomes ineligible for a state grant after enrollment in 8 full-time semesters of post-secondary education at any institution whether the student was paid a state grant or not..

Outside Scholarship Policy
Often, students receive grants and scholarships from sources outside of St. Olaf. Federal and state regulations require the incorporation of any outside aid into your need-based financial aid award. Please inform our office of all grants and scholarships you expect to receive that do not appear on your financial aid award. The college policy regarding the incorporation of outside aid is as follows: Outside scholarships will be used to reduce self-help in the following order -- all of the Federal Perkins Loan will be eliminated first, and then reductions will be made evenly in the Student Work and subsidized Federal Stafford Loan programs. If a student receives enough outside aid to completely eliminate the self-help portion of the financial aid package, and the student's need has been fully met, then need-based St. Olaf gift aid will be reduced.

Changes in Financial Situation
We assume your family's financial situation will continue as reflected in your application for financial aid. If, however, your family does experience a financial reversal or crisis, be sure to let us know so that we may reconsider your award.

Satisfactory Academic Progress
In order to maintain eligibility for all types of financial aid, students must achieve the Satisfactory Academic Progress criteria described below.  These criteria are based on federal guidelines, and may differ from standards developed by the Dean of Students Office.  The chart below shows the minimum number of courses that must be completed at St. Olaf and the minimum cumulative St. Olaf G.P.A. requirements to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress criteria.

All periods of enrollment are counted for SAP, including terms in which a student did not receive financial aid. Students must achieve these minimum standards to be considered for financial aid:

Year
1
2
3
4
5
Sem 1 3, 1.50 10, 1.75 17, 1.87 24, 1.90 31, 1.95
Int./Sem 2 7, 1.50 14, 1.75 21, 1.87 28, 1.90 35, 2.00

Key: St. Olaf courses completed, St. Olaf cumulative GPA

All students are reviewed for Satisfactory Academic Progress at the end of Spring semester.  If SAP criteria have not been met, then the student is placed on Financial Aid Probation (FAP).

During FAP, academic progress will be assessed at the end of each term.  A student on FAP must complete three course credits each semester and one credit during Interim, with a semester GPA of 2.00.  If a student does not meet these requirements during FAP, the student may not be eligible to receive financial aid in the subsequent semester.  If the student does meet the FAP requirements, probation will continue until the student achieves the minimum requirement for SAP.  Students will be notified in writing of Financial Aid Probation status or ineligibility for financial aid due to not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements.

Appeals Due to Mitigating Circumstances
A student who is ineligible to receive financial aid due to SAP guidelines may send an appeal letter to the Financial Aid Office describing circumstances that impacted the student’s ability to successfully meet the minimum requirements.