Important Information About Financial Aid and Flex

Financial Aid is not available for non-credit programs, such as the Substance Use Disorders Counselor Certificate Program.

Financial aid for nonterm programs

If you have received federal financial aid previously, your experience will be different from how financial aid is handled in the UW Flexible Option.

In the UW Flexible Option, students have the flexibility to enroll throughout the entire calendar year and can complete competency sets at their own pace. To support this flexibility, financial aid is administered under the nonterm requirements of federal student aid.

In nonterm, your financial aid eligibility “floats” with you based on how quickly or slowly you earn credit hour equivalencies during your academic year and payment periods.

Click here for more on nonterm federal student aid.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Federal regulations require that a student make Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) toward a degree to be eligible for federal financial aid. SAP is demonstrated by three measurements.

Measurements for SAP:

• Pace (67% Rule) requires that students demonstrate progress toward a degree by completing 66.67% of all credits attempted.
• Maximum Timeframe (150% Rule) requires that students achieve their first degree at Pace, taking no longer than 150% of the published timeframe to complete a program.
• Grade Point Average (GPA) standards are determined by the college or university in which a student is enrolled. Failure to meet program-specific standards may result in disenrollment from a program and therefore make a student ineligible to continue receiving financial aid.

All students receiving aid should become familiar with the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements.

Impact of Withdrawal on Financial Aid

When you withdraw from a UW Flex program, you may be required to repay part of the financial aid funds received. Title IV funds are federal student aid (FSA) funds administered by the U.S. Department of Education. They include Federal Pell Grant, Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), TEACH Grant, Direct Loans (Subsidized Direct Loan, Unsubsidized Direct Loan, and Direct PLUS Loan), and Perkins Loan. FSA funds are awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend the university for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When an FSA recipient withdraws from the university prior to the end of a payment period, a Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculation will be performed to determine the amount of FSA funds earned as of the date of withdrawal.

See the Withdrawal and Return of Funds policy for more information.