Financial Aid Procedure

Procedure: Assessment and Determination of a Student’s Unusual Enrollment History

Effective Date: April 18, 2016 (8/16)

Procedure Number: FA 11

A. Scope To establish a policy for the institutional selection of a student’s unusual enrollment history (UEH) and the processing of a student’s unusual enrollment history that was institutionally selected or that received a UEH flag from the Department of Education.

B. Institutional Regulations To establish standards in which the financial aid department will utilize to identify and process students who will be reviewed for an unusual enrollment history.

C. Procedure 1. Identifying students for institutional review of UEH a. The student has not been previously flagged as having a UEH by the federal processor as identified by the student’s Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR). b. The student has accessed federal student loans at no less than two institutions prior to attending SWCC and had an aggregate outstanding federal student loan balance equal to or greater than $11,000 or the student has accessed federal student loans at the graduate level prior to attending SWCC. c. The student has previously attended an institution(s) and provides the required transcript detailing that the student did not earn academic credit at the institution(s). d. SWCC may further select a student for UEH at its discretion should the student’s educational purpose be in question or if the student is suspected of an attempt to commit fraud during the application process.

2. Processing students who are institutionally selected for review of UEH or received a UEH flag from the Department of Education a. Students who are selected for institutional UEH review will be notified of the requirement to complete an Unusual Enrollment History Review Form. b. The Unusual Enrollment History Review Form will be submitted to the financial aid department. c. The financial aid office will review the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) to identify the institutions that reported the student receiving Title IV funds. Official transcripts are required to move forward in the process of the review. If the student has not submitted official transcripts, the form will be held until the financial aid office is notified that official transcripts have been received. d. The financial aid office will review academic credit information from the previously attended institutions. i. Academic Credit Earned: If SWCC determines that the student earned any academic credit at each of the previously attended institutions, no further action will be required and the institutional UEH is completed. ii. Academic Credit Not Earned: If SWCC determines that the student did not earn academic credit at the previously attended institution, SWCC will request documentation from the student explaining why the student failed to earn academic credit, and the circumstances that required the student to attend multiple institutions. The financial aid office will determine whether the documentation supports (1) the reasons given by the student for the student’s failure to earn academic credit; (2) the reasons given by the student for the student’s need to attend multiple institutions; and (3) the student did not enroll to only receive credit balance funds. 3. Approving or denying Title IV funds a. The financial aid department will determine if the student has provided sufficient evidence as to why they have an aggregate loan balance over $11,000 or has already accessed graduate level Title IV funding. If the student has provided valid documentation, the student will be awarded Title IV funds. b. The financial aid department will determine the existence of an extenuating circumstance that prevented a student from earning credit at each institution previously attended. If the student has provided valid documentation of extenuating circumstances, the student will be awarded Title IV funds.

______Financial Aid Director

______Chief Executive Officer